IntroductionJVB

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INTRODUCTION

Social media refers to the means of interactions among people in which they create, share,

and exchange information and ideas in virtual communities and networks. Andreas

Kaplan and Michael Haenlein define social media as "a group of Internet-based applicationsthat build on the ideological and technological foundations ofWeb 2.0 and that allow the

creation and exchange of user-generated content. Furthermore, social media depend on

mobile and web-based technologies to create highly interactive platforms through which

individuals and communities share, discuss, and modify user-generated content. It introduces

substantial and pervasive changes to communication between organizations, communities and

individuals. Social media differentiates from traditional/industrial media in many aspects

such as quality, reach, frequency, usability, immediacy and permanence. There are manyeffects that stem from internet usage. As internet users continue to spend more time with

social media sites than any other type of site. At the same time, the total time spent on social

media in the U.S. across PC and mobile devices increased by 37 percent to 121 billion

minutes in July 2012 compared to 88 billion minutes in July 2011.

Much of the criticism of social media are about its exclusiveness as most sites do not allow

the transfer of information from one to another, disparity of information available, issues with

trustworthiness and reliability of information presented, concentration, ownership of mediacontent, and the meaning of interactions created by social media. However, it is also argued

that social media has positive effects such as allowing the democratization of the

internet while also allowing individuals to advertise themselves and form friendships.

Most people associate social media with positive outcomes, yet this is not always the case.

Due to the increase in social media websites, there seems to be a positive correlation between

the usage of such media with cyber bullying, online sexual predators and the decrease in face-

to-face interactions. Likewise, media seem to be influencing kids' lives in terms of exposing

them to images of alcohol, tobacco, and sexual behaviors. This issue is becoming even more

prominent as kids are starting to engage with such media sites at younger ages. Instead of

giving a kid a toy at the dinner table to keep them quiet, parents are now resorting to IPads

and other technological devices that are more advanced. Kids are thus learning how to

operate technological devices at ages where they are able to become experts as infants.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andreas_Kaplanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andreas_Kaplanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_2.0http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User-generated_contenthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User-generated_contenthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_2.0http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andreas_Kaplanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andreas_Kaplan


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higher time pressure, higher stakes, or increased ambiguities, experts use intuitive decision

making rather than structured approaches, following a recognition primed decision approach

to fit a set of indicators into the expert's experience and immediately arrive at a satisfactory

course of action without weighing alternatives. Recent robust decision efforts have formally

integrated uncertainty into the decision making process. However, Decision Analysis,

recognized and included uncertainties with a structured and rationally justifiable method of

decision making since its conception in 1964.

Wikipedia states that a social network is a social structure made of nodes(which are

generally individuals or organizations) that are tied by one or more specific types of

relations (Social network, 2007). With the rapid growth ofpeople who use or have accessto the Internet, social networking websites are a must for the Internet community to stay in

touch with each other. Social networking web sites help people keep in touch with old

friends, make new friends, distribute new data or product, and many more aspects of our

everyday lives.

The first official social networking web site was Classmates.com which was founded in 1995

(Social Network, 2007). What followed was a slow but steady growth in numbers of social

networking websites to the overwhelming number of sites we have today. The reason that

social networking websites work so well is that, like their inception, they start of small and

then grow exponentially. The site starts off with a few people who then tell their friends

about the site, then those friends tell their friends about the site and soon the site is a huge

database of users connected by friends, acquaintances, or just random people. The web sites

are made to allow users to create a "profile" describing themselves and to exchange public

or private messages and list other users or groups they are connected to in some way. (Social

Network 2007).

Most social networking websites are often designed to fit a certain type of community such as

the college community being mirrored by Facebook.com or a music/party community

mirrored by MySpace.com. With the rapid growth of social networking web sites and their

global scale usage, whatever one feels concerning social networking web sites is irrelevant

because social networking web sites are on a popularity rise and are here to stay.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intuition_(psychology)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recognition_primed_decisionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robust_decisionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decision_Analysishttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decision_Analysishttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robust_decisionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recognition_primed_decisionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intuition_(psychology)


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SOCIAL NETWORK SITES (SNS): A DEFINITION

We define social network sites as web-based services that allow individuals to:

(1) Construct a public or semi-public profile within a bounded system,

(2) Articulate a list of other users with whom they share a connection, and

(3) View and traverse their list of connections and those made by others within the system.

The nature and nomenclature of these connections may vary from site to site.

While we use the term "social network site" to describe this phenomenon, the term"social

networking sites" also appears in public discourse, and the two terms are often used

interchangeably. "Networking" emphasizes relationship initiation, often between strangers.

While networking is possible on these sites, it is not the primary practice on many of them,

nor is it what differentiates them from other forms of computer-mediated communication

(CMC).

What makes social network sites unique is not that they allow individuals to meet strangers,

but rather that they enable users to articulate and make visible their social networks. This can

result in connections between individuals that would not otherwise be made, but that is often

not the goal, and these meetings are frequently between "latent ties" (Haythornthwaite, 2005)

who share some offline connection. On many of the large SNSs, participants are not

necessarily "networking" or looking to meet new people; instead, they are primarily

communicating with people who are already a part of their extended social network. To

emphasize this articulated social network as a critical organizing feature of these sites, we

label them "social network sites."

HOW DOES Social Networking Sites (SNS) WORK

While SNSs have implemented a wide variety of technical features, their backbone consists

of visible profiles that display an articulated list of Friends who are also users of the system.

Profiles are unique pages where one can type oneself into being. After joining an SNS, an

individual is asked to fill out forms containing a series of questions. The profile is generated

using the answers to these questions, which typically include descriptors such as age,

location, interests, and an "about me" section. Most sites also encourage users to upload a

profile photo. Some sites allow users to enhance their profiles by adding multimedia content

or modifying their profile's look and feel. Others, such as Facebook, allow users to add

modules("Applications") that enhance their profile.

The visibility of a profile varies by site and according to user discretion. By default, profiles

on Orkut or hi5.com are crawled by search engines, making them visible to anyone,


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regardless of whether or not the viewer has an account. Alternatively, siteslike MySpace

allow users to choose whether they want their profile to be public or Friends only."

Facebook takes a different approachby default, users who are part of the same "network"

can view each other's profiles, unless a profile owner has decided to deny permission to those

in their network. Structural variations around visibility and access are one of the primary

ways that SNSs differentiate themselves from each other.

After joining a social network site, users are prompted to identify others in the system with

whom they have a relationship. The label for these relationships differs depending on the site

popular terms include "Friends," "Contacts," and "Fans."

Most SNSs require bi-directional confirmation for Friendship, but some do not.

These one-directional ties are sometimes labelled as "Fans" or "Followers," but many sites

call these Friends as well. The term "Friends" can be misleading, because the connection does

not necessarily mean friendship in the everyday vernacular sense, and the reasons people

connect are varied (Boyd, 2006).

The public display of connections is a crucial component of SNSs. The Friends list contains

links to each Friend's profile, enabling viewers to traverse the network graph by clicking

through the Friends lists. On most sites, the list of Friends is visible to anyone who is

permitted to view the profile, although there are exceptions.

Most SNSs also provide a mechanism for users to leave messages on their Friends' profiles.

This feature typically involves leaving "comments," although sites employ various labels for

this feature. In addition, SNSs often have a private messaging feature similar to webmail.

While both private messages and comments are popular on most of the major SNSs, they are

not universally available.

Beyond profiles, Friends, comments, and private messaging, SNSs vary greatly in their

features and user base. Some have photo-sharing or video-sharing capabilities; others have

built-in blogging and instant messaging technology. Many SNSs target people from specific

geographical regions or linguistic groups, although this does not always determine the site's

constituency. Orkut, for example, was launched in the United States with an English-only

interface.

While SNSs are often designed to be widely accessible, many attract homogeneous

populations initially, so it is not uncommon to find groups using sites to segregate themselves

by nationality, age, educational level, or other factors that typically segment society, even if

that was not the intention of the designers.


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Advantages And Disadvantages Of Social Media

As it relates to social networking in the workplace, there is no one-size-fits-all approach.

Benefits of social networking platforms vary based on platform type, features and the

company itself.

Social networking platforms may allow organizations to improve communication and

productivity by disseminating information among different groups of employees in a more

efficient manner, resulting in increased productivity. While it is not meant to be all-inclusive,

the list below outlines some of the possible advantages and disadvantages.

Possible advantages:

Facilitates open communication, leading to enhanced information discovery and delivery.

Allows employees to discuss ideas, post news, ask questions and share links.

Provides an opportunity to widen business contacts.

Targets a wide audience, making it a useful and effective recruitment tool.

Improves business reputation and client base with minimal use of advertising.

Expands market research, implements marketing campaigns, delivers communications

and directs interested people to specific web sites.

Possible disadvantages:

Opens up the possibility for hackers to commit fraud and launch spam and virus attacks.

Increases the risk of people falling prey to online scams that seem genuine, resulting in

data or identity theft.

May result in negative comments from employees about the company or potential legal

consequences if employees use these sites to view objectionable, illicit or offensive

material.

Potentially results in lost productivity, especially if employees are busy updating profiles,

etc.


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Social Networking User Policy

Social networking use policy generally includes the following elements:

Defines what social networking is particular to your organization, so employees know

exactly what is meant by the term.

Establishes a clear and defined purpose for the policy.

Communicates benefits of social networking and of having a policy.

Provides a clear platform for educating employees.

Takes into consideration any legal ramifications of not following laws.

Refers to confidentiality of employer trade secrets and private or confidential

information. Talks about productivity in terms of social networking. Provides guidance regarding social networking outside of company time/property that

could be associated with the company, employees or customers. Some employers may

prohibit posting of company information on social networking sites without explicit

consent.

Provides examples of policy violations.

Outlines disciplinary measures to be taken for policy violations.

What may be the most concerning aspect of social networking platforms is that they

encourage people to share personal information. Even the most cautious and well-

meaning individuals can give away information they should not; the same applies to what

is posted on company-approved social networking platforms.

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