social media

The universal declaration of human rights was written in 1948; yet after more than sixty years there are countries where basic rights are denied. Freedom of speech is one of the most important evaluation criteria of a democracy: the more freedom of speech is allowed, the more a democracy is valid.

Saudi Arabia's regime, which profusely distances itself from the idea of democracy, is very keen on censoring: in 2005 it blocked Blogger, Google’s popular weblog tool; in 2010 it banned the use of Blackberry and temporarily blocked Facebook. Social networks are the latest target; the Saudi Arabian authorities have recently warned of blocking Twitter (defined a forum for unjust, incorrect communication) Skype, and applications such as WhatsApp and Viber.

As pointed out in a survey by the Opennet website, the attempt of censoring disturbing contents such as pornography seems to be an excuse to censor whatever the Saudi Arabia regime does not fancy:

Erik Redli is a university graduate from Slovakia who is currently living in London. Each week he gives his view on the events of the last seven days. This week, he looks at migration policy, binge drinking and feminism.

Free Online Educational Courses

A new craze is sweeping education, with free online educational courses called MOOCS growing in popularity. 

"Many graduates boast about their university degree certificate. But most employers look at your skills and what the prospective employee can bring to the company. If you earn money, no one will dig into where you learnt your skills. Therefore the main asset of education should be the skills and knowledge, not the piece of paper.

I think these online courses hit on the fact that a degree does not automatically stand for knowledge. For example, I completed two courses recently. Although I did not earn the certificates (the maths too difficult for me), I learned a lot of new things that I have already used in my life and job. This makes for a good excuse for the large percentage of students who do not complete their courses. They took what they needed and left the certificates for the academics.

In today's business economy, nothing can be more important than a skill such as the mastery of social media. When a person can communicate effectively using Facebook or Twitter, he or she can attract thousands of new people to a business's products or services. Businesses now have a growing demand for qualified individuals who have social media expertise. If you want to make yourself stand out in today's competitive job market, then developing skills in being able to use technology will help you land your dream job.

Take Social Media Courses

Online colleges now offer social media courses for individuals. You do not have to enroll in a degree program to take one of these classes. You may find that taking only one or two specialized courses gives you the knowledge that you need to master the use of social media. You can also contact students who have taken particular courses to find out whether they had a positive experience in taking the course. If you are truly concerned about the material that will be covered in a social media course, then you may also want to get in touch with a professor before the start of the semester.

"A 56-day jail sentence could be awaiting Liam Stacey if his appeal today is unsuccessful. Stacey is the 21-year-old student who tweeted racist comments about Fabrice Muamba and was found guilty of inciting racial hatred under the Public Order Act 1986. A little bit of legal lingo before my comment on the case begins.

Section 17 of the Public Order Act 1986 defines racial hatred as ‘hatred against any group of persons in Great Britain defined by reference to colour, race, nationality or ethnic or national origins'. There are two basic requirements: the words or behaviour used must be ‘threatening, abusive or insulting' and secondly, the words or behaviour must either have been intended to incite racial hatred or were likely to do so.

Stacey tweeted: "LOL. F*** Muamba he's dead!!! #haha". His tweet caused anger amongst Twitter users, before he went on to send further tweets, and according to the Huffington Post, he suggested one of his detractors "go pick some cotton". Some could argue that Stacey had no intention to incite racial hatred, but was simply doing it for a laugh. It becomes the judges' task when it comes to comments on Twitter whether tweets are likely to incite racial hatred even if unintended.