I believe that everyone should be required to take a course on privacy and safety before they are turned loose online. They should also maintain a healthy low-grade paranoia at the same time. Every day at the library we find novices to the internet that we educate about internet safety to help them protect themselves. The internet has opened us up to so many wonderful opportunities that it is easy to forget that caution must be exercised. That said, learning to use new means of communication online can be wonderfully liberating and bring a sense of closeness with those that you care about.
Currently, I am taking a course online that enables me to discuss topics and ideas with classmates in real time, but because it is in a secure environment we can have wide-ranging and personal discussions that we know cannot be accessed by the general public. I have a relative living abroad that I can keep in touch with easily despite a 7 hour time difference because of communication forms like IM, Skype, Flickr, and her blog. These communications weren't available when I lived abroad and I find it helps ease my anxieties about her being so far away.
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I enjoyed your post on feeling more connected to family by using online tools. Maybe you will have an opportunity to talk a bit more about Skype in a future post, to explain the advantages/challenges to using it and what you need to do to set it up. I think others might find it interesting on the iHCPL circuit. Thanks.
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