You might have seen posters around the campus regarding it. I find this campaign HIGHLY relevant in the face of our colleagues' Virginia Tech "costumes," and specifically the spread of it across the internet.
I thought I'd look into the program a bit more and judge its effectiveness. I've come to the conclusion that the Take Control program is probably very helpful for the computer illiterate. However, I think that the average Penn State student will know enough about the concept of the internet to understand how a Facebook picture could be shared with others.
I think the way they address the consequences of such things, though, definitely highlights some areas students might not consider before posting a picture. It actually made me more conscious of my stupid Facebook profile, which I normally don't give half a regard to.
ITS has managed to get this campaign out there in several ways. One, through posters, Stall Stories, flyers and man-size cardboard cut outs in the HUB. Two, by offering some pretty sweet prizes to encourage interaction with the site. In order to enter the contest a student has to actually read a lot of the material on the site and pass a quiz. I entered a long time ago because either prize is pretty awesome, and I'm sure many more were drawn in by this.
Presentation: 4/5 Fairly effective at getting the word out about the program, but I'd like to see maybe an email or something more convenient for a student to just click and read. The warnings are encapsulated in Facebook-esque profiles, which make them more humorous and easy to digest.
Information: 3/5 Useful for those just getting started with social networking, and to at least put a slight caution of sharing passwords etc in the minds of the students
Overall: 7/10 I think it's great the school is working to protect its students electronically as well as through campus security.
Anyway, enter the contest, but you better not win because I want that stuff.
Comments (5)
There is a Facebook group out there that shows that Penn State STILL supports Virginia Tech. Hopefully this will help others realize that we cannot generalize the actions made by a few Yahoos, and help lighten the angst between the two schools.
Posted by Kenton Martin | December 11, 2007 1:38 PM
Posted on December 11, 2007 13:38
I agree that the ITS campaign is doing alright. I see posters and ads for it all the time. It is good to see that Penn State cares about our online safety.
Posted by Steven Dodge | December 11, 2007 4:56 PM
Posted on December 11, 2007 16:56
This is such a touchy subject for me. I am kind of in conflict with myself. On one hand, I am a supporter of the PATRIOT Act and, therefore, hope that privacy is restricted. However, I know that there are some photos of me that I may not want some people to see (teachers, employers, parents, law enforcement???). Joking about the last one, but seriously I am really torn with this whole privacy issue.
Posted by D. J. Lingelbach | December 13, 2007 1:36 AM
Posted on December 13, 2007 01:36
This also makes me more conscious of the pictures I post on FB. I just hope that my future employers get a chance to speak with me before they look at my FB page. I can sell myself way better than FB can.
Posted by Jamilah Matthews | December 13, 2007 4:43 PM
Posted on December 13, 2007 16:43
Well at least someone is doing sometime to information the technologically retarded. Throughout this whole past semester, all that I have heard about is not to put private or personal information on Facebook. This event really just goes to show.
Posted by Matt Maisel | December 13, 2007 5:26 PM
Posted on December 13, 2007 17:26