While recently searching the web for stories relating to computer mediated communication, I came across an article from a local TV News program in Pittsburgh, KDKA.com about a new type of social networking sites for babies. (http://kdka.com/consumer/tot.spot.com.2.818725.html) They are calling the new site “Myspace for babies.” Michael Broukhim and Adam Katz launched what they call “Tot Spot” last June. Its main function is that it gives parents the ability to create online baby books and share them with their friends and family. Angie Kanter, a mother of two, is obsessed with the new site. She uses the site on a daily basis to upload all of her daughter’s first moments. "Her first smiles, all her pictures, they're on there," she said about her little girl Abagail. "It's a really good way for me not to sit down with a pen and a baby book to keep track off." Michael Broukhim and Adam Katz were inspired to create the site from their own personal experiences with their own children.
The creators of the site, Broukhim, and Katz claim that the site is very safe to use and it is very private. "Unless the parent invites someone to the site, no one can get access to the content that the parents put up there," said Broukhim. Although I think this could be a very useful tool in showing pictures to relatives on a daily basis without having to keep up with mailing them family updates, I think there is also some danger involved. Most of these social networking sites like Myspace and Facebook also claim that they are completely private but are they really? Hackers have ways of hacking into anything. I will not post anything on my Facebook page that I would not want my parents to see or information that I would not want strangers to see. I think the same thing goes with posting pictures of your children up on this “Tot Spot” page. There are a lot of strange people out there who have fascinations with young children. It is a scary thought but it is a reality. If I ever have my own children someday I will stick to putting their pictures in photo albums and just show them to family when they visit!
Another thing to consider about relying on a site like “Tot Spot” as your baby book is that site’s can crash or close. If a person posts every memory about their child and the site closes because of lack of participation or for other reasons you will lose your entire baby book. Most sites close without warning, you just log in one day and all you will see is that the webpage has been removed. That would be very upsetting if you were counting on a site for all of your information and then you log in one day and it’s no longer available to you. If a person is going to use a site like this I suggest that they also use a real baby book too. Those moments like your baby’s first step only happen once after all.
2 comments:
I completely agree with you and your concerns involving this website. The obsessed mother is another concern I would have. The more she gets addicted to this site the less it’s about her child and the more it’s about this online community.
This article makes me wonder what they will come up with next. I just saw an article about online dating for animals. It really seems like we are now just over using Internet technology.
“Tot Spot” is a very interesting concept, but I also have my worries about it. As you stated, how private is private? Everything you post on the Internet runs the risk of being hacked or lost. I would not want to take these chances with my children’s special moments. The concept is great but do the positives outweigh the negatives in the long run. Although e-mail is not 100% safe either, I would much rather rely on sending pictures through email rather than posting them on the Internet. This article is a perfect example of the extent to which CMC has evolved within the last decade.
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