Background information

Issues with the use if social – networking sites

Addiction: internet addiction can happen not only with computer games but also with social – networking sites. In general people can be addicted to social – networking sites. Even they can be addicted to always have access to their favourite site eg: facebook.

Predators: chat rooms can be used by dishonest human beings to follow and trick young people with fake guarantees. In such cases it is very difficult to recognize among truth and fiction, and trustworthy and misleading people – there is often no way of checking.

Privacy: now a day growth of the internet and other technologies has meant that information can be sent further, farter and by more people at once than ever before. People need to think about whether they would want their information to be still online when they are older as it might be viewed by future partners, friends, bosses and institution. The basic rule is to not put online pictures or comments that you would not want parents, bosses coaches or teachers to see and read.

Cyber bullying: cyber bullying is a form of bullying that is done by email, chat room, discussion group, online social – networking, instant messaging, web pages and increasingly through mobile – phone texting and transmission of images. It involves malevolent mischievous and making fun of others, spreading rumours and publishing private information online, sending unwanted messages and outright insult and character homicide. The best way to counter cyber bullying is not to respond, tell someone you trust and who can help you. If there is very big problems the contact the police or some other authority.

Copyright issues: when people make a video that they want to put on You-tube or another site, images, sound and video that belong to someone else, such as a record company or independent artist, might be inserted. 

Security information: there is the issue of security, when all the data has been put on social – networking sites; which is stored in databases. The data could be used by the site for purposes that you do not like, for example selling information to others for their use, not deleting data from their databases; which can be found through a search engine and used later against the person, coincidently deleting important data, not stopping the data from being chopped not and stolen.

How to avoid problems with using social – networking sites

Steps to avoid social – networking sites and avoid becoming a victim.

Be doubtful: it is engaging and useful to find who share your internet and to set up a network of friends, but be careful about anyone you do not know much.

Be careful of the information you provide: remember that others can search for and use the information you put on your page which you did not intend it to be used.

Report suspicious behaviour: if you have reason to believe that someone is not behaving normally, report them to site mangers.

Communicate with vulnerable other: when using social – networking sites make sure you, your friends and your family are aware of the threats to privacy.

Watch your privacy settings: make sure you review your privacy settings regularly so that information about you can be reached only by trusted people who will not use it or send it on to others who will abuse your privacy.

Be aware of intellectual property and copyright consideration: content that has been put on a social – networking sites, or any other information – sharing site usually belongs to a person or organisation and so is subject to intellectual property and copyright consideration and laws.

Use an alias: often it is use an alias for your online persona that only your friends know about it.

Social networking

Social networking is the interaction between groups of people who have a common interest. The interest can be shown simply through talking, sharing ideas and comments, and writing to one another, or by joining with one another in an activity. Members of a social network have a place where they meet; it can be a club house or a social networking site on the internet. There are many social networking sites such as Facebook, My space and others which have a particular purpose, like making friends, dating and sharing photos. Examples of Social Networking site, LinkedIn is a famous website used by business people and Twitter is an example of a blogging site.

Often groups will use Facebook to create a mini-social-networking site, as it is easy to use and cheap. Groups that want more control over their site will make an independent site and use specialised social networking hosting service that is more customised than Facebook.

Benefits of Social Networking:

·         Connect to exiting friends and family

·         Building professional relationship

·         Marketing cheaply and effectively

·         Publicising issues and causes

·         Making new friends with common interests

·         Finding lost friends

·         Enhancing your social life, such as dating

·         Finding detailed and special news about people and events.

·         Keeping up with trends

·         Sharing ideas and information

·         Contacting and communicating with others when your own activities are restricted by work, location or illness

·         Communicating easily in different forms-text, audio and images.

·         Contacting many more people than your normal day allows

·         Publicising and advertising, your business or organisation

·         Influencing people and events

·         Communicating at almost any time and any place

·         Organising social events

·         Finding people with common problems

·         Educating yourself about people, places and issues

·         Collaborate with others

These benefits show how social networking sites have improved people’s life however it has a number of issues as well. Such as addiction, it’s likely for predators to prey on younger people, privacy, cyber bullying, copyright and security of information. There are many issues which arise because if the increased use of new technology such as: Mobiles, laptops, tablets and normal PS which people have access to 24/7. Most of the issues are social issues. The social life of stakeholders using these sights has changed a lot because they became known. Number of legal and ethical issues has risen as well, for example stalking, bullying, copyright and pornography.

Social-networking technology

Social networking sites like wikis and other interactive technologies are example of second generation of web-based communities. Web 2.0 describes applications that let for shared communication between users. The most common example of Web 2.0 applications are networks in which users share content, communicate, search for information and interact socially. Which include social-networking sites, video sharing sites, wikis, RSS feeds, blogs, mashups and folksonomies?

Web 2.0 is a way of developing websites using a range of technologies based around the following three important principles:

1.     The web is the platform for developing applications.

2.     The user controls the content.

3.     Data is categorised in a way that enables others to access and use it easily.

Behind Web 2.0 technologies, there is always a database to hold the data and process it. The web application accesses and displays the data. Many types of the issues can arise, like privacy, information security and intellectual property.

The main features to the technology used in Web 2.0 applications are:

·         The technologies often used in developing Web 2.0 applications are Java, AJAX and Adobe Flash. These are called client-side technologies.

·         On the server, side languages like PHP, Ruby, and ColdFusion, Perl, python and ASP are used by developers to dynamically access data from files and database, and to send it to client side to be displayed.

·         To share its data with other websites, a website must be able to generate output in common, machine –readable formats, like XML and RSS, available in one of these formats, another website can use it to integrate the first website’s  data into own pages, linking the two sites and the data together.

What is social networking?

Social networking sites provide teens and young adults with a virtual environment where they share stories, pictures, and videos and participate in chat rooms with their friends and acquaintances. By providing information about you using blogs, chat rooms, E-mail or instant messaging; you can communicate either within a limited community or with the world at large.

Types of social networking sites:

·         General sites geared toward teens

·         Schools and colleges

·         Cultures (e.g., African American, Hispanic, European, Canadian, Indian)

·         Business

·         Music and videos

·         Sports (e.g., football, golf)

Examples of social networking sites

·         Facebook – general

·         Myspace.com – general

·         Classmates.com – school, college, work and the military

·         Twitter-micro-blogging

·         YouTube – videos

·         Craigslist – classifieds and personal ads

Facts and figures

·         As of 2007, there were more than 300 known social networking sites.

·         32% of teens have experienced some types of harassment online.

·         94% of teens are online or have access to the Internet.

·         49% of teens who use social networking websites use it to make friends with people they don’t know.

·         65% of teens have at least 1 online profile.

·         Of those 65%, 32% have received some type of harassment online.

Ø  15% have had private info forwarded without their permission

Ø  13% received threatening messages

Ø  13% said someone spread a rumour about them online

Ø  6% had someone past an embarrassing picture of them online without permission

·         2 in 5 teens tell their parents nothing about what they do online.

·         1 in 4 teens who have restrictions online can find a way around them.

·         44% of parents do not limit that their children do online whatsoever.

·         50% of all teens have a computer in their bedroom.

Tips for safe online social networking

·         Think about how different sites work before deciding to join a site.

·         Keep some control over the information you post

·         Keep vital information to yourself.

·         Make sure your screen name doesn’t reveal too much about you.

·         Post only information that you are comfortable with others seeing and knowing about you.

·         Remember, once your information is posted, you can’t take it back. Someone can forward this information and millions of people have access.

·         Consider not posting your picture.

·         Don’t flirt with strangers online.

Tips for parents

·         Use the internet with your children

·         Teach your children never to give out personal information

·         Instruct your child never to plan a face-to-face meeting with online acquaintances.

·         Establish clear ground rules for Internet use within your family.

·         Tell your children not to respond if they receive offensive or dangerous email, chat requests or other types of communication and to tell you when this occurs

·         Place your computer in a room that’s open and accessible to all family members.

·         Consider installing software filters that prevent your child from entering personal information.

·         Consider installing monitoring software that prevents your child from entering personal information.

·         Many networking sites have valuable safety information.

Tips for youth

·         Remember, your profile is on a public space.

·         People aren’t always who they say they are.

·         Harassment, hate speech, and inappropriate content should e reported. Tell your parents or an adult if this happens.

·         Don’t mislead people into thinking that you’re older or younger than you really are.

·         Don’t post anything that would embarrass you later.

·         Always follow your family’s rules for using the Internet.

·         Don’t open up email, files or web pages that you get from people you don’t really know or trust.

·         Don’t ever do anything that could cost your family money unless your parents are there to help you do it

·         Don’t ever give out your password.

Reporting trouble: Who to contact for help

·         Local police:

Ø  There is no national agency that deals with every type of Internet crime. Your local law enforcement is your best resource.

·         National child advocacy groups

Ø   Suicide Prevention Hotline: 800-SUICIDE

Ø   Runaway Hotline: 800-231-6946

Ø   National Council for Child Abuse and Family Violence:  800-222-2000

Ø   Child Help USA National Child Abuse Hotline: 800-4-A-Child

Ø   National Clearinghouse for Alcohol and Drug Information: 800-729-6686

Ø   The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (child sexual exploitation): 800-843-5678

·         Federal Law Enforcement

Ø   Federal Bureau of Investigation (child-luring, an adult meets a child face-to-face): Call your state office.

Ø   US Customs Service (child pornography): 800-BE-ALERT

Ø   US Postal Inspection Service: usps.gov

Ø   Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms: 888-ATF-TIPS
Ø   Drug Enforcement Administration: usdoj.gov/dea