Cyber Communities – Emerging Issues Summit

PaperClip Communications is sponsoring a technology summit on Cyber Communities at the University of Tampa in January. I’ll be presenting two sessions on student development theory and the positive aspects of online communities/social networking sites. I’m charged with bringing a positive spin to the summit. I have two hours to educate participants that sites like Facebook and MySpace can add value to a student’s collegiate experience.

The irony of my PaperClip presentation is that they contacted me after they read this post. In the post I expressed my concerns regarding the vilification of technology within student affairs.

The summit is being advertised via email/mail:

The online world is creating real world issues for college administrators: Privacy issues, stalking, free speech issues, safety concerns, identity theft, judicial issues, Internet addiction and more.

The virtual world is making real trouble on campus.

Join us for a conference to specifically address the new breed of challenges developed by community based web profile sites.

At this conference you’ll hear from experts who can address these kinds of issues:

* What are the legal issues? Can an institution consider online actions as having ‘happened’ on campus? Engaging in online behavior can have legal implications in contract law, tort law, copyright law and even constitutional law.
* Examining the new pitfalls of digital living. While Internet addiction is not a new concern – the arrival of a host of cyber communities (from gaming sites to cyber profile communities) – has created a more tempting virtual world to escape from the real world.
* Understanding the digital dangers of today’s Internet. Cyber stalking, cyber harassment – including cyber sexual harassment, identify theft and online fraud are all dangerous issues that are plaguing students today.
* Staff standards and ethics. Should administrators participate in student based community sites? Should staff periodically review sites to search out policy violations? What free speech issues do these issues raise?
* What are the courts saying? What legal precedents already exist? How can you keep your school out of the courts?

Hear from some of the top experts in the country on these emerging issues and stay ahead of the curve in policy development.

This is a can’t miss event for any administrator responsible for developing policy, enforcing policy and keeping students safe.

PaperClip’s advertising is going to drive my presentation on “Cybernoia.”

Social network sites like Facebook and MySpace generate intense discussions about risk and legal issues. How does this “cybernoia” impact and influence decision making amongst student affairs administrators? Does the fear of the unknown drive policy makers into anti-technology paradigms? A discussion on cyber communities from a balanced perspective. presented by Eric Stoller

I truly hope that individuals who are interested in the positive paradigms of cyber communities will register for this summit. Perhaps a second email could be sent out which speaks to a high tech / high touch philosophy on social networking?

Technology can offer tremendous opportunities for learning.

Let’s stop being cybernoid.

Update: PaperClip Communications sent out another Cyber Communities email advertisement today. The ad copy has been slightly modified to include a little bit of positivity. The first sentence is still full of words like: privacy, stalking, issues, safety, concerns, theft, judicial, addiction, and more. However, the next sentence validates my existence and participation at the Cyber Communities Summit.

The online world is creating real world issues for college administrators: Privacy issues, stalking, free speech issues, safety concerns, identity theft, judicial issues, Internet addiction and more.

On the flip side, there are many benefits to utilizing these Cyber Resources.

Join us for a conference to specifically address the new breed of challenges developed by community based web profile sites, as well as how to use them to your advantage.

Update #2: The Cyber Communities – Emerging Issues Summit has been canceled due to low enrollment.