Me and communication technologies..

    * How long have you been using these communication technologies?

Personally i have been using communication technology since I was fairly young. Being only 18, I supposed when I was younger I was more inclined to be around it. I think I had my first mobile phone when i was 10 or 11 years old. With having working parents and having to catch the bus home by myself they wanted a way to be able to contact me other than the house phone or getting the neighbors to check up on me. And because my dad's job was an office job and had a lot to do with the computer he would always bring his work laptop home. Eventually both myself and my little sister would start playing games etc. on it, until it became the 'norm' to have MySpace or AIM. 

    * What influenced you to start using these particular technologies?  How did you find out about them?

As mentioned in my previous statement, one of the main influences was my dad and wanting to be 'cool like him'. As for the mobile phone it was mostly influenced by both of my parents wanting to have ways to communicate with me, but one other great influence was family friends. Having spent most of my childhood around older kids than myself, I thought that it was the cool thing to do and have at the time. Because the older kids were always on their mobile phones talking to their friends all the time I thought that's what it took to be cool. 

    * Is privacy an issue for you when using new technologies?  What do you think of companies like Facebook and Google who collect information about their users?   (How do you deal with issues around privacy?)

For me personally, I don't have a privacy issue for when I use new technologies. I am very cautious when I use these technologies so that's why I don't think its such an issue. I don't mind the companies like Facebook and Google, because I don't give all of the information it asks for. I give the amount of information I feel comfortable with. 

    * Do you have friends whom you know only from the internet and have never met in person?   Is this different to people that you know in person?  Describe the difference.

I personally don't have close friends whom I only know from the internet and haven't met in person but my mum does. Over time they have just gotten to know one another and now hes one of the closest family friends we have. I don't really see there being a difference because your still talking to them like you would any other person, just over the internet or webcam.