CCC - Course on Computer Concept - Email Social Networking and eGovernance Services (CHAPTER-7)

 

Chapter N0 7

Email Social Networking and eGovernance Services

      1.      Structure of email

2.      Using emails

3.      Opening Email account

4.      Mailbox: Inbox and Outbox

5.      Creating and Sending a new email

6.      Replying to an E-mail message

7.      Forwarding an email message

8.      Searching emails

9.      Attaching files with email

10.  Email Signature

11.  Social Networking & e-Commerce

12.  Facebook

13.  Twitter

14.  Linkedin

15.  Instagram

16.  Instant Messaging

17.  Introduction to Blogs

18.  Basics of Ecommerce

19.  Netiquettes

20.  eGovernance Services

21.  Digital Locker

22.  eHospital (ORS)

Objective of the Chapter

This chapter includes Structure of E-mail, Using E-mails, Social Networking, Introduction to Blogs, E-Commerce, Netiquettes, E-Governance, Accessing E-Governance Services on Mobile using UMANG App, Digital Locker.

Introduction

E-mail is a method of sending messages, data, video, voice and graphics over digital communication link such as the Internet. An E-mail message consists of three components: Message envelope, Message header and Message body. Social networking is the use of internet-based social media programs to make connections with friends, family, classmates, customers and clients. Social networking can be done for both social and business purposes. E-Governance refers to the use of information technologies (such as Internet and mobile computing) by government agencies. These technologies have the ability to transform relations with citizens, business and other arms of government.

What is an E-Mail?

Sending some messages like letters to other people through a network is called E-mail. Electronic mail can be defined as a system for sending and receiving messages electronically over a computer network. Today’s E-mail systems are based on a store-and-forward model.

E-mails are routed to different E-mail accounts through E-mail server. E-mail servers accept, forward, deliver and store messages. E-mail may be defined as a system of world wide electronic communication in which a computer user can compose a message at one terminal that can be regenerated at the recipient’s terminal when the recipient Login. Users can also read their E-mails offline. E-mails allow users to communicate with each other in less time and at nominal cost as compared to traditional phone or mail services. There are many software platforms available for sending and receiving E-mails.

Advantages of E-Mail

1. The delivery of messages is very fast.

2. The cost of E-mailing is almost free as it involves negligible amount of telephone and Internet Service Provider (ISP) charges.

3. Multiple copies of the same message can be sent to a group of people at the same time and can be sent as easily to a single person.

4. Pictures, documents and other files can also be attached to messages.

Disadvantages of E-Mail

1. Viruses attached with an E-mail could seriously affect recipient’s computer.

2. E-mails cannot really be used for official business documents. They may be lost and you cannot find them.

3. E-mails may be intercepted by hackers as E-mail, before it is delivered to the recipient, ‘bounces’ between servers located in different parts of the world.

4. If an E-mail is too long or not drafted properly by the sender, the reader may lose interest to read the mail till the end. Structure of an E-mail There is a standard structure of an E-mail whose parts are described below :

1. Header

The E-mail header gives us information about the message such as unique identity of the message. The E-mail header consists of the following parts :

I. Subject It is a description of the topic of the message and displays in most E-mail systems that list E-mail message individually.

II. Sender (From) This field specifies the sender’s E-mail address. Usually, it will be the ‘reply to’ address.

III. Date and Time Received (on) This is the date and time message received.

IV. Reply to This field describes the E-mail address that will become the recipients of the reply to the particular E-mail. When you reply, it will go to this E-mail address despite the sender E-mail address.

V. Recipient (To) This is the first/last name of E-mail recipient as configured by the sender.

VI. Recipient E-mail Address The E-mail address of the recipient is specified here.

VII. Attachments Some E-mails could be attached with files such as text, image, audio, video etc. These files are specified here.

2. Body

The actual content is stored in this part. This will be in the format of text. This field could also include signatures or text generated automatically by the sender’s E-mail system.

The content of the E-mail can be varied according to the different E-mail systems used by each user.

E-mail Addressing

An E-mail address is composed of two separate parts :

1. Your personal identity or account name (user name) on that mail server.

2. The domain name of the mail server computer on which you have an E-mail account.

An E-mail address is generally of the form username@domain name. Some examples of E-mail address are – arihant@gmail.com, webmaster@yahoo.com, etc.In E-mail address, symbol ‘@’ is used as an separator. It separates your account name and mail server name.

Applications or Using of an E-mail

There are many applications to use of an E-mail as follows :

 

Opening an E-mail Account

There are various web-portals (websites), which allow you to create free E-mail account. e.g. www.gmail.com, www.yahoo.com, www.hotmail.com, www.rediffmail.com, www.msn.com, etc.

 

Some steps for opening an E-mail account are as follows :

1. Enter the URL address as www.gmail. com. Gmail Homepage will appear.

2. Click on Create an account hyperlink. The Registration Form will appear.

3. Fill those details which are mandatory. You can also skip some of the personal details.

4. After completing the registration form, click on Next step button.

5. Create your public Google+ profile page will appear. If you want to create a profile, click on Create your profile button otherwise click on No thanks button.

6. After the creation of an E-mail account, the confirmation information will be given to the user and the following web page will display on the browser.

 Viewing an E-mail

After the creation of an E-mail account, the user can Sign in, means that user can open his/her E-mail account and view his/her mails. Enter your E-mail ID in E-mail textbox and password in the Password text box of that E-mail ID. Click on Sign in button.If your E-mail ID and password are correct then the E-mail account of the user will open E-mail Account Window. Usually, the contents of Inbox folder will display first which means that the list of received mails will appear. These mails show the date, sender’s name, subject information of the received mails. To read a message just bring the cursor on that message and click there when the mouse pointer will convert into hand sign. Mailbox : Inbox and Outbox A mailbox is the storage location of electronic mail messages that is found on a remote server. Software E-mail commonly divide the mailbox into separate folders, notably the inbox, outbox, sent items, deleted items, etc.

Inbox A place where E-mail messages are received. The inbox is the default location for all incoming mails unless rules have been setup to forward messages to another program or folder.

Outbox A term used to describe the location or folder where E-mail is stored before being sent. It gives the opportunity to the user to review, edit and delete messages before they are sent.

Drafts The drafts folder contains items that have not yet been sent. An E-mail is saved to the drafts folder when a user composes an E-mail and then click the Save and Close button.

Sent Items This folder contains all items that have been sent but not deleted. It saves all the messages that were successfully sent.

Delete Items When an E-mail is deleted, it is automatically sent to the trash. Items in your Trash will remain there for approximately 30 days before it is automatically emptied and permanently deleted.

Creating and Sending a New E-mail

After login, if a user wants to create an E-mail click on COMPOSE button and New Message window will display on the screen.

In this window, To text box carries the E-mail address of the recipient, Subject carries the heading for E-mail or subject of the E-mail and the whole body of text matter comes within the Body option. For sending an E-mail, click on Send button. E-mail delivers to the recipient’s end instantly. Instead of this, if a user wants to send a file (.doc, .pdf, .jpg, etc.) then click on Attach files for the attachment of files. There are various options which are accessible within an E-mail like Text Formatting, Cc (Carbon Copy), Bcc (Blind Carbon Copy) etc.

Some of these are as follows :

● Cc (Carbon copy) This allows an E-mail to be send to a large number of people by writing their respective addresses separated by commas.

● Bcc (Blind carbon copy) This is Cc, except that the recipient does not see the list of people in the Bcc field.

● Signature This is one of the basic elements of an E-mail message. By this, you are often able to set a signature, meaning a few lines of text which will be added to the end of the document.

Replying to an E-mail Message

For replying to an E-mail message, follow these steps:

1. Open the E-mail which you have to answer.

2. Click on Reply option.

3. Click on Reply to all option for answering the all recipients of to and Cc boxes.

Forwarding an E-mail Message

To forward an E-mail message, follow these steps:

1. Open the E-mail which a user wants to forward.

2. Click on Forward option.

3. Enter the names of the recipients in To, Cc and Bcc boxes.

4. Click on Send button.

Forward is used to send a copy of received E-mail to someone else.

Searching E-mails

To search an E-mail, follow these steps:

1. Firstly, enter the sender’s name, subject of the E-mail, etc on the top of the text box for that E-mail which a user wants to search.

2. Click on Search button.

3. After this, the list of the E-mails will display according to the searching action.

Sending Documents by E-mail/ Attaching Files with E-mail

The files which are stored in computer can be sent through E-mail. With the help of Attach files option in New Message window, user can send .doc, .pdf and .jpg file.

To send a soft copy in the form of attachment, follow these steps :

1. Click on COMPOSE button on Gmail account window. New Message box will display on the screen.

2. Type the E-mail address of the recipient in To: line or you can also select E-mail address from your address book. 

3. Type the subject of the E-mail in the subject line.

4. To attach any soft copy, click on Attach files button ( ) and the Open dialog box will display on the screen.

5. Select the file which you want to attach. After selecting the file, click on Open button.

6. When the file gets attached to E-mail, click on Send button.

E-mail Signature

An E-mail signature is a block of text appended to the end of an E-mail message which often contains the sender’s name and contact information. Use this space to shareessential contact information and to advertise your business in a condensed form. To setup a signature automatically added to e-mails youcompose in Gmail follow below steps :

1. Click the Settings in your Gmail toolbar.

2. Select Settings from the menu.

3. Go to General tab.

4. Under Signature block, type the desired  signature in the text field.

5. Click on Save Changes. 

Social Networking

Social network is a way of making internet based connections. People use social networking sites to connect with their family, friends, colleagues etc. Using these sites, they can share their information and ideas with the persons they want to connect.Through the social networking, we come to know what is happening in all around the world and we also can give our reaction about it.

How Social Networks  can be Used Appropriately?

Social networking is something which we do on daily basis. So, we should know the appropriate use of social network so that we can utilise it in best possible manner.

1. Always use appropriate language on social network, because it will help you to create good social image.

2. Think before posting on social networking site because the activities you perform on social networking site create your digital foot print on web.

3. On social media, you can follow the person you admire. You can keep an eye on their activities.

Common Social Networking  Sites

Some common social networking sites are mentioned below :

LinkedIn

It is founded by Reid Hoffman in 2002. LinkedIn is an American site which provides business and employment oriented services.

LinkedIn is a platform that allows business people and professionals all over the world, regardless of their industry, to connect with other professionals.

It’s great for meeting customers, getting in touch with vendors, recruiting new employees and keeping up with the latest in business or industry news.

Facebook

It is an American social networking which was founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg. Facebook is a social networking site which user uses to connect with their family, friends and one they know or want to know. Now a days, facebook is very popular among the people.

Facebook allows you to upload photos and maintain photo albums that can be shared with your friends. It supports interactive online chat and the ability to comment on your friends’s profile pages to keep in touch.

Twitter

It is an American company which provides social networking services besides this Twitter also provides online news. Twitter was founded in 2006 by Jack Dorsey, Noah Glass, Biz Stone and Evan Williams. It enables the user to send and read short 140 characters messages called tweets.

Registered users can read and post tweets while those who are not registered can only read them.

Instagram

It is a free, online photo sharing application and social network platform that was acquired by Facebook in 2012. Instagram allows users to edit and upload photos and short videos through a mobile app.

Users can add a caption to each of their posts and use hashtages and location based geotags to index these posts and make them searchable by other users within the app.

Instant Messaging

Instant Messaging (IM) is an Internet service that allows people to communicate with each other in real time through an instant messaging software. Unlike E-mail, instant messaging allows message from one person to appear right away on the other person’s computer screen right after the send button is pressed.  Instant Messaging allows effective and efficient communication, allowing immediate receipt of acknowledgement or reply. However, IM is basically not necessarily supported by transaction control.

Many instant messaging services offer video calling features, voice over IP and web conferencing services. Web conferencing service can integrate both video calling and instant messaging abilities.

Common Instant Messaging Software

Some common instant messaging softwares are as follows :

WhatsApp

It was founded in 2009 by Brian Acton and Jan Koum former employees of Yahoo. WhatsApp messenger is a cross platform instant messaging application that allows iPhone, BlackBerry, Android, Windows phone and Nokia smartphone users to exchange text, image, video and audio messages for free. It is especially popular with end users who do not have unlimited text messaging. In addition to basic messaging, WhatsApp provides group chat and location sharing options.

Facebook Messenger

It is an instant messaging feature built into Facebook that orignially launched in 2011. Facebook messenger is a mobile app that enables chat, voice and video communications between the social media site’s web based messaging and smartphone.

Telegram

It is an online messaging app that works just like popular messaging apps WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger. This means that you can use it to send messages to your friends when connected to Wi-Fi or your mobile data. Telegram is cloud based and claims that is prioritises security and speed, making it a good alternative to other popular messaging apps. The service launched in 2013 and since then it has reached 200 million active monthly users.

Introduction to Blogs

A blog is a website or a web page, in which an individual records opinion links to other sites on regular basis. A blog content is written frequently and added in a chronological order. It is written online and visible to everyone. A typical blog combines text, images and links to other blogs, web pages and other media related to its topic. In education, blogs can be used as instructional resources. These blogs are referred to as edublogs. The entries of blog are also known as posts. A person who writes a blog or a weblog is known as blogger. Blogging is the act of posting content on a blog. There are some popular websites which offer blog service as follows :

● Joomla         ● WordPress.com

● Drupal          ● Blogger

● Tumblr         ● Weebly

Creating a Blog Account in WordPress

WordPress is a free personal publishing platform. It is an easy to use, fast and flexible  blog script. It comes with a great set of features, designed to make your experience as a publisher as pleasant as possible. The steps to create a Blog Account in WordPress are as follows :

1. Open a web browser e.g. Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome etc., for creating a blog account.

2. Type the URL www.wordpress.com in the address bar and press Enter key.

3. Now, click on Sign Up button and after this, a page will appear.

4. Above page shows different fields such as E-mail Address, Username, Password etc.

● E-mail Address WordPress will sent an activation link to your E-mail id after clicking on Create Blog button. So, provide a valid E-mail address.

● Username This name will manage your blog.

● Password You must use strong password for securing purpose. You can use uppercase and lowercase letter with numbers and special symbols.

● Blog Address This address is used by viewer to view your blog.

● Language Here, you can choose language in which you want to write a blog.

5. Click on Create Blog button.

6. Now, you will get an activation link on your E-mail account. Open your E-mail and check to WordPress E-mail.

7. Open that E-mail and click on Confirm Now link, your blog will be activated.

8. After activating the blog, WordPress Blog Account will appear on your screen.

E-Commerce

E-Commerce (Electronic Commerce or EC) is the buying and selling of goods and services on the Internet. E-Commerce draws on technologies such as mobile commerce, electronic funds transfer, supply chain management, Internet marketing, online transaction processing, electronic data nterchange, inventory management systems and automated data collection systems. There is no special software to install other than a web browser and many banks do not charge for this service.

Types of E-Commerce

E-Commerce business models can generally be categorised into the following categories as follows:

Business-to-Business (B2B)

It applies to businesses buying from and selling to each other over the Internet. Online access of data, including expected shipping date, delivery date and shipping status, provided either by the seller or a third party provider is widely supported by B2B models. It describes transactions between businesses, such as a business between a manufacturer and a wholesaler, or between a wholesaler and a retailer.

Business-to-Consumer (B2C)

It describes activities of business serving and consumers with products and services. Common B2C E-Business models include E-Ships and E-mails. An example of a B2C transaction would be a person buying a pair of shoes from a retailer. The transactions that led to the shoes being available for purchase, which is the purchase of the leather, laces, rubber etc. However, the sale of the shoes from the shoemaker to the retailer would be considered a (B2C) transaction.

Consumer-to-Business (C2B)

It applies to any consumer that sells a product or service to a business over the Internet. One example of this E-Business model is Priceline.com where customers set their prices for items such as airline tickets or hotel rooms and sellers decide whether to supply them. The demand for C2B E-Business will increase over the next few years due to customer’s desire for greater convenience at lower price.

Consumer-to-Consumer (C2C)

It involves the electronically facilitated transactions between consumers through third party. A common example is the online auction, in which consumer posts an item for a sell and other consumer id to purchase it, a third party generally charges a commission. E-Bay is the most successful C2C online auction website.

Business-to-Government (B2G)

B2G model is a variant of B2B model. Such websites are used by governments to trade and exchange information with various business organisations. Such websites are accredited by the government and provide a medium to businesses to submit application forms to the government.

Government-to-Business (G2B)

Governments use G2B model websites to approach business organisations. Such websites support auctions, tenders and application submission functionalities.

Netiquettes

The word netiquette is a combination of net (from Internet) and etiquette. It means respecting other users, views and displaying common etiquette when posting your views to online discussion groups. The need of netiquette arises mostly while sending or distributing E-mail posting on usenet groups or chatting. It is short for ‘Internet etiquette’. Etiquette is a code of polite behaviour in society, netiquette is a code of good behaviour on the Internet. This includes several aspects of the Internet, such as E-mail, social media, online chat, web forums, website comments and other types of online communication. Below are the rules to follow for good netiquette :

● Avoid posting inflammatory or offensive comments online.

● Respect other’s privacy by not sharing personal information, photos or videos that another person may not want published online.

● Never spam others by sending large amounts of unsolicited E-mail.

● Do not troll people in web forums or website comments by repeatedly nagging or annoying

them.

● Do not use offensive language.

● Do not trust others when you are new.

● Avoid replying to negative comments with more negative comments.

● Stick to the topic when posting in online forums or when commenting on photos or videos, such as Youtube or Facebook comments.

E-Governance

It refers to the use by government agencies of information technologies (such as Internet and mobile computing) that have the ability to transform relations with citizens, businesses and other arms of government. Through E-Governance, government services are made available to citizens in a convenient, efficient and transparent manner.

Scope of E-Governance

Scope of E-Governance can be described as below :

1. Government-to-Citizen (G2C) This relation is the most important aspect of E-Governance. This relationship also describes facilities or services provided by the government to citizen like post, medical, education registration, passport etc.

2. Government-to-Business (G2B) This relation tells all aspect of Government to business. Business/corporate sectors pay taxes to the government. These payments involve Information and Communication Technology (ICT). ICT reduces time, cost and physically activities to pay taxes and also helps in cross checking the funds.

Benefits of E-Governance

The anticipated benefits of E-Governance include :

● It greatly simplifies the process of information accumulation for citizens and businesses.

● It empowers people to gather information regarding any department of government and get involved in the process of decision making.

● E-Governance strengthens the very fabric of democracy by ensuring greater citizen participation at all levels of governance.

● E-Governance leads to automation of services, ensuring that information regarding every work of public welfare is easily available to all citizens, eliminating corruption.

E-Governance in Railway Reservation

An E-Ticket (Electronic Ticket) is the digital ticket equivalent of a paper ticket. IRCTC (Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation) is used to book and cancel rail tickets.

  

The ministry of railway has setup the IRCTC for transferring all responsibility for tourism and catering to this new corporation. This has been done to ensure professionalism and upgradation of service through private–public collaborations.

To book the ticket on IRCTC, follow the given steps :

1. Open the IRCTC site by www.irctc.co.in address. The home page of IRCTC will appear on the screen.

2. Enter in From and To fields, class type and click on Find Trains option.

3. Search the train and click on Check Availability and Fare to find the availability of train and book now.

4. The following page will display.

5. If you have an account on IRCTC, then enter User Name and Password otherwise click on REGISTER button.

6. Individual Registration page will appear,

 

7. Now, fill the details and click on Register button.

8. After this, a window will appear as shown below.

9. Enter the required fields and click on Continue Booking.

10. Travelling Passengers page will be appear as shown below.

11. Click on Continue Booking. Payment options page will be display on the screen. Select the appropriate option and enter details.

12. Payment Page will be appear as shown below.

13. Now, fill your bank details and click on Proceed button.

14. E-Ticket will be generated on screen as well as sent to your registered E-mail ID.

Passport

A passport is a travel document issued by a country ’s government to its citizens that verifies the identity and nationality of the holder for the purpose of international travel. Passports are small booklets that typically contain the bearer’s name, place of birth, date of birth, the date of issue, date of expiry, passport number, photo and signature. Follow the below steps to apply for passport online:

1. Go to the Passport Seva Website and click on Register now.

2. Login to the Passport Seva Online Portal with the registration login id.

3. Click Apply for Fresh Passport/ Re-issue of Passport link.

4. Fill in the required details in the form and submit.

5. Click the Pay and Schedule Appointment link on the view saved/submitted applications screen to schedule an appointment.

6. Online payment can be made using any one of the following modes

● Credit card/Debit card

● Internet banking

● SBI bank challan

7. Click the ‘Print Application Receipt’ link to print the application receipt containing Application Reference Number/Appointment Number.

8. Visit the Passport Seva Kendra (PSK)/ Regional Passport Office (RPO) where appointment has been booked, along with original documents.

E-Hospital (ORS)

Online Registration System (ORS) is an online portal where citizens having Aadhaar can enrol for appointments in hospitals across various states and Union Territories of India. Through this service, getting an OPD appointment, lab reports and blood availability in any government hospital has become online and easy.

ORS is one of the Digital India program launched by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi out of the 13 launches made at the Digital India Week.

As of September 2016, 46 hospitals covering 478 departments are providing this service.

How to Book an Appointment Using E-Hospital Portal?

1. The portal helps in booking appointments through online mode in different hospitals across various departments. One can book an appointment.

2. By using e-Know Your Customer (eKYC) data of Aadhaar number, if the patient’s mobile number is registered with the Unique Indentification Authority of India (UIDAI).

3. If the mobile number of the patient is not registered with UIDAI, the portal uses patient’s name.

4. Any new patient who is enrolling for the first time in the portal will get a Unique Health Identification (UHID) number.

5. In case if the Aadhaar number is already linked with UHID number, then a new appointment number will be generated and the UHID number will remain the same.

Accessing E-Governance Services on Mobile Using UMANG App

Unified Mobile Application for New-age Governance (UMANG) has been developed by National e-Governance Division (NeGD) and Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (Meity) with the aim of driving mobile governance in India. UMANG app is a unified application that can be used to avail a number of pan India e-Government Services such as filing income tax, making Aadhaar and provident fund queries, booking a gas cylinder, passport seva, among others.

The application will enable users to access e-Government services from the central government, the state government, local bodies and their agencies. UMANG App Key Features UMANG App key features are as follows :

● It brings together all government departments and their services on a single platform to provide better and easier services to citizens.

● It provides seamless integration with other digital India services like Aadhaar, Digilocker, PayGov, etc.

● It is designed to enable citizens to discover, download, access and use all government services easily.

● It supports Aadhaar based and other authentication mechanisms for service access.

● The sensitive profile data is saved in encrypted format and no one can view this information.

How to use UMANG App?

Follow the below steps to use UMANG App on your mobile :

1. Download UMANG App from Google Play Store or Apple App Store.

2. Create your profile by providing personal details such as name, mobile number, age, etc. There is also an option to upload a profile photo.

3. You can also link your Aadhaar number to the app and other social media accounts.

4. After profile creation, you can log in and go to the sort and filter section to browse through the services and categories.

5. Go to the search option to look for particular services.

Digital Locker/DigiLocker

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 1st July, 2015 launched digital locker facility to help citizens to digitally store their important documents like PAN card, passport, mark sheets and degree certificates.

With the help of this portal, the sharing of the e-documents will be done through registered repositories thereby ensuring the authenticity of the documents online.

On the other hand, organisations like the CBSE, Registrar office or Income Tax department can also push electronic copies of documents and certificates directly into your E-lockers.

How to use DigiLocker?

To use DigiLocker, follow the below steps :

1. Go to DigiLocker website or download DigiLocker app on your phone. Using Aadhaar number and

mobile number. You can create a user ID using an OTP. (One Time Password)

2. If some organisation has uploadedany of your e-document, you can see it in the account. You can

also upload your own documents and e-sign.

3. You also get the facility of sharing documents with others by sharing a link to the e-document.