Risks in Social networking sites

Gilberto MarzanoRezeknes University of applied sciences, Latvia

IntroductionInternet-based social networking sites have

created a revolution in social connectivity. However, they can hide many risks and cause problems, especially if are used by public institutions.

Public employees should be educated about how their own online behavior could negatively impact the institution.

This lecture proposes some reflections on social media, and reports on the case of a Facebook service at an Italian University.

http://www.pewinternet.org/

Social media and young peopleFrom October 23 through November 19, 2006,

Amanda Lenhart and Mary Madden conducted in USA a survey, by telephone, among a national sample of 935 youths ages 12 to 17.

The survey found that older teens, particularly girls, are more likely to use social networking sites.

This survey also showed that for girls, social networking sites are primarily places to reinforce pre-existing friendships; for boys, the networks also provide opportunities for flirting and making new friends.

Social networking site definitionThe two authors define a social networking

site as

“an online place where a user can create a profile and build a personal network that connects him or her to other users”.

It is a very general definition.Not only Myspace and Facebook are SNS, but

also Linkedin, AcademiaEdu, ResearchGate, …

Social media: the identity problemPeople can constitute and experiment their

identity in the online domain.

One knows that identities are constituted through interaction with others.

But what is the consequence on identity constitution if interaction is a mix of physical and virtual interactions, and virtual interactions are not only with real persons but also with electronic programs and with virtual fake profiles built by physical persons?

Social identityTechnology is reconfiguring the possibilities

for social identity construction in ways that are not yet fully understood.

However, one observes driving online and mobile communication growth and the young people’s strong desire to connect with peers anywhere, anytime - to stay in touch, express themselves and share daily experiences.

Empirical research shows there is any sharp line between online and offline, or virtual and face-to-face interaction.

Social identityContrary to popular ideas about young isolated

loners who stay at home and chat to strangers online, virtual communication is a current habit for all young sociable people with healthy face-to-face social lives.

Online communication are primarily used to sustain local friendships already established offline, rather than to make new contacts with distant strangers (Boneva, Quinn, Kraut, Kiesler, & Shklovski, 2006; Gross, 2004; Mesch & Talmud, 2007), and this applies equally to social networking (Ellison, Steinfield, & Lampe, 2007; Valkenburg & Peter, 2007).

Personal identityIt has been observed that at the heart of the

explosion in online communication is the desire to construct a valued representation of oneself which affirms and is affirmed by one’s peers (Livingstone & Brake, 2009).

 

Most social networking sites are intended for teenagers and adults, though some have no lower age limit and some target younger children

Personal identityIn 2008, Amanda Leanhart wrote:However, these new tools seem to ignore a

fundamental disconnect between our online and offline identities. In the offline world, we don't present ourselves in the same way to all people in our lives - we show different sides of ourselves to our mothers, our friends, our employers. And even in the age of fine-grained privacy tools, those tools do not eliminate the complexity of figuring out how to best present oneself in a multi-use public space, particularly for those who have personal, professional and family contacts on these sites

http://www.pewinternet.org/2008/12/02/facebook-connect-and-a-failure-to-understand-online-identity-management/

Social network useCommenting the results of her survey (2006),

Amanda Lenhart observed:"There is a popular idea that every American

teenager is using social networks, and that they’re plastering personal information over their profiles for anyone and everyone to read, … [Survey] findings change that story – not every teenager is using a social networking website, and of those that do, more than half of them have in some way restricted access to their profile."

Social network use (2008)Ofcom’s survey (2008) found that most users visit

social networking sites daily or every other day, with parental restrictions on use reported by 62% of middle class users (74% of under 13’s), but fewer than half of working class users of any age; further, middle class and younger children are also more likely to have set their profile to ‘private’ (i.e. accessible only to friends or family) - 61% of social network users overall have restricted access to their profile in the UK and similar figures apply in the US.

Ofcom. (2008). Social Networking: A quantitative and qualitative research report into attitudes, behaviours and use. London: Office of Communications.

Social network use (2011)Fully 95% of teens are online, a percentage that

has been consistent since 2006. Yet, the nature of teens’ internet use has

transformed dramatically during that time — from stationary connections tied to desktops in the home to always-on connections that move with them throughout the day. In many ways, teens represent the leading edge of mobile connectivity, and the patterns of their technology use often signal future changes in the adult population. Teens are just as likely to have a cell phone as they are to have a desktop or laptop computer.

Social network use (2011)And increasingly these phones are affording teens

always-on, mobile access to the internet — in some cases, serving as their primary point of access.

Smartphone ownership among teens has grown substantially since 2011; 37% of American youth ages 12-17 now have a smartphone, up from 23% in 2011.

Tablets are also taking hold, as close to one in four teens say they have one of these devices. Taken together, teens have more ways than ever to stay connected throughout the day — and night.

Social network use (2011)

PrivacyOur offline identities and the manner in

which we manage them are complex. Even with advances in privacy controls we

still do not have perfect online analogs for the subtleties of offline interactions and relationships.

PrivacyRecently, Amanda Leanhart wroteAll of these new technologies may be promoted

as a time saving tool but ultimately they also require a loss of flexibility in how I share my personal information that overwhelms whatever time savings I reap from avoiding the onerous burden of typing variations of my information into yet another web site registration form. On top of that, they burden me with a constant self-surveillance of my online activities beyond what’s already required as a part of my participation in an online social network.

PrivacyShe continues posing some questions:

And now, Facebook is adding yet another layer of complexity on top of this, yielding a new round of personal behavioral scrutiny: is it OK for my coworker or professional colleague to know that I was watching a video yesterday? Or that I shopped at the Discovery Kids website? Do I want them to know that about me? And what about my child who uses these services?

PrivacyAnd again:More essentially, do I want these other websites

to have access to all the personal information that I have (or my child has) provided to Facebook (or Yahoo or Google?) Or do I want them to have access to a more limited amount of information? Or do I want to use a different identity with them? Maybe I want to use my work address? Or home address? Maybe I want my interaction with a particular site to be purely professional or purely personal? The core of these questions boils down to: Do I trust them?

An Italian case of bad social media use by a public institution

The institution is an Italian public university. A service, named “HelpUniud”, was created using Facebook facilities by this university with the aim of giving to students a place where posting their questions, exchanging comments, and complaints.

An Italian case of bad social media use by a public institution

From the university site:“If you have any question about academic life, if you

have any advice to give to your University, if you want to vent your disappointment or if you want to make a compliment ... you're in the right place! This group is promoted and managed from the External Relations of the University in order to convey information quickly and provide "documented" answers which will be the result of collaboration between the staff of the University and the relationships that the University has with external parties.” (sic! Sorry but also in Italian the last sentence doesn’t make sense!) [https://www.facebook.com/groups/helpuniud/]

An Italian case of bad social media use by a public institution

This service generated a very big problem, when a student used the site to wrongly accuse and offend a University employee who was not warned about the situation from the responsible of the site.