HW 6: Long term paper topics

I am interested in many different areas of social computing technologies. Instant messaging would be a very interesting topic to write about. I am extremely familiar with this social computing tool. I have had a lot of personal experience using it. Also I would be interested in researching the affects, which blogs have on marginalized groups. I do not have much experience with blogs, however they are a fast growing phenomenon which I would enjoy learning about. Social networking is also an area in which I would enjoy researching. Social networking has recently become extremely popular, especially with my generation. I would enjoy finding out about the overcoming of sexism because I feel that this is still an issues, which still occurs in the business world and it is an issue, which needs to be addressed. Also I am interested in the overcoming of racism because even today you will still hear people make unnecessary racial remarks. I would like to research the issue of overcoming homophobia because people are often judged and excluded for their sexual preference and this should not be the case. As far as geographical areas I would like to research the U.S. or Europe because I live in the U.S. and I would be interested in learning more about Europe.