We were set to watch this video as part of my Social Networking subject. I had seen it before but the associated task really got me thinking 🙂

 

Below are five policy issues identified in the “Did You Know” video. They are are all intriguing and complex, and I must admit to giving little thought to Information Policies and how the behaviours of the general populace impact on the need for, and development of, information policy development of organisations. Here are my very new and probably very basic thoughts:

1. More video was uploaded to You Tube in the last 2 months than if the 3 US commercial TV channels had been airing continuously since 1948.

Access to information in it’s variety of forms is rapidly changing, resulting in changing business practices, government policies and governmental control of broadcasting and news services (Dearnley and Feather, 2001 pg 85).

With global collaboration and sharing now achievable by individuals with computer access, information policy makers have wide ranging and overwhelming decisions and viewpoints to take account of: from those of multinational interests to the rights and responsibilities of governments and individuals.

The huge and unimaginable amounts of information being constructed shared and accessed globally challenges many current information policies in a myriad of ways.

2. Social networking sites (myspace, You Tube, Facebook) get, collectively,  250 million unique visitors every month. None of these sites existed 6 years ago.

Positive information policies can actually enable and encourage the uptake of new means of communication and uses of technology on a large scale, when policies acknowledge converging technologies and are able to respond to these by using and adapting regulations.

As the information needs and wants of people change and adapt to technological change, governments and global policy makers are capable of moving forward and responding positively to change. Unfortunately there is a time lag as issues are debated and settled, but this can also allow time for considered and adaptable innovations to policies that will take our new Information society forward (Deranley, 2001, pg 77).

3. 95% of songs downloaded weren’t paid for.

Information policy covers the area of copyright and the unlawful copying or use of an author’s (in this case the lyricists’ or composers’) work; as well as the intellectual property and financial investment of an individual and the right to be recompensed for the work/innovation.

In the sharing and collaborative web2.0 world copyright standards are changing to encompass creative commons – which has a number of levels of sharing, remixing and adapting work to make new works, sometimes even for commercial purposes.

4. 17% of large US companies have disciplined an employee for violating social networking policy.

This demonstrates the need for not only having an Information Policy, but in requiring staff to be aware of the policy and how it relates to them in fulfilling their job and the day to day interactions they have at work.

With social networks and social media crossing the boundaries between work and private use, companies must spell out their requirements and policies so that their social media needs are being met by individuals in their employ while the individual’s need to connect and share are not flying in the face of anyone else’s rights and responsibilities.

5. Mobile device will be the world’s primary connection tool in 2020.

The mobile nature of information is a huge jump for policy makers to understand and cater for in a considered and pre-emptive manner. Ubiquitous use of information across a variety of formats places huge demands on governments to ensure equity of access, security of information, privacy and freedom of speech.

There must be “a compromise between the rights of individuals and the needs and demands of business and the state” (Dearnley and Feather, 2001, pg 76).

Reference:

Dearnley, J. & Feather, J. (2001). Information policy. In The wired world : an introduction to the theory and practice of the information society (pp. 60-93). London : Library Association.