Asia Pacific Institute Of Information Technology

Published Date: 02 Nov 2017

Description: logohttp://intranet.apiit.edu.my/Apiit.jpg

Individual Assignment

Social Networking

Module Code & Title

CE51100-1 Fundamental of Computer Network

Prepared By

Mohammed Irfan Faiz (CB004309)

Date of Submission

[04-01-2013]

Instructor

Ms Nadeera Ahangama

Submitted in partial fulfillment for the degree of

Bachelor of Science (Hons) in Business and Information Technology

Word Count:

4700

Abstract

Social network is one of the growing popularity among the world. Today 1.5 billion people all across the world are having their own social network profile. Moving on this documentation describes the history, development, safety and types of social networking. Further it describes about the effects of the social networking taking place in today’s world and the impacts on businesses, teens, etc. finally the author end this documentation with a critical evaluation about whether the social network suits to today’s world or not.

Acknowledgement

The Author Mohammed Irfan Faiz would like to thank the Lecture Ms Nadeera Ahangama for helping the author to clear the doubts and correcting mistakes to finalize this assignment and also author like to thank his parents and friends for supporting the author during their busy times and most importantly the author would also thank Asia Pacific Institute of Information Technology for providing the necessary library and computer lab facilities to conclude this assignment well on time and successfully.

Contents

List of tables

Introduction

The Author as describes clearly about the history of social networking, what is social networking, the advantage and the disadvantages of social networking and many more in this project using simple use of language which can be understand by the readers.

In today’s world the internet and online social networking have enabled a communication revolution. Because years back the ability to send and receive information through letters consumed more time but now a days to send and receive timely information everywhere has changed the way we live. The online social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn etc. enables to collect personal information about users and store in the users profiles, the main reason that the social networking became popular is because it enable people to connect with users who as similar interests, build and maintain relationship with friends and feel more connected to their family in ways that were never before.

What is Social Networking?

According to the Electronic Commerce (2010:436-435) "Social Network is defined as a place where people create their own space, or homepage, on which they write blogs (web blogs); post pictures, videos, or music; share ideas; and link to other web location they find interesting."

Future of Social Networking

The Love to know social network (2012) "Given the rapid growth and popularity of social networks in the coming years, it doesn't appear that the concept is going to go away. The evolution of the Internet is now forming itself around the characteristics of social networks. Bloggers and website developers are using tools like RSS feeds, Digg or Technorati to communicate and interact with other bloggers. Through blog comments and tagging, websites and blogs are also integrating into what experts now call Web 2.0. The entire Internet itself is fast becoming a giant, interactive and powerful social network."

The History of Social Networking

Table : History of Social Networking

Year

Description

1971

The first email is sent between two computers stat right next to each other.

1978

Bulletin Board System exchanged data over phone line with other users and the first copies of early web browser are distributed through UseNet.

1994

One of the world first social networking sites GEOCITIES is founded. The main use of this website it to make users to make their own websites

1995

The globe.com gave users the freedom to personalize their own online experiences by publishing their own content

1997

AOL Instant Messenger is launched and the sixdegrees.com launches allowing profile creation and listing friends.

2000

Fueled for years by the growing internet, including early social networking sites, the .com bubble bursts, sending the stock market crashing, and web entrepreneurs back to the drawing boards.

2002

Friendster is launched, pioneering the online connection of real- world friends. Its user- base grows to 3 million users in the first three months.

2003

MySpace is launched, first conceived as a Friendster clone. This was created by an internet marketing firm.

2004

Facebook is launched, originally as a way of connecting college students, first launched at Harvard College, more than half of the 19,500 students signed up within the first month.

2006

Twitter is launched. Approximately 3,283 tweets per second published by twitter users during the close of the 2010 Japan versus Denmark world cup soccer game.

Table 1 Source (Online Schools 2012)

Technologies used in Social Media

According to the Chron (2012) states that now a day’s mobile device technology as enable to connect internet through cell phones and tablets. There are many mobile social applications that have been developed to connect social media websites. And also using mobile devices people all across the world can go through various social media sites. Apps have also taken online social media marketing to the next level. Companies take the advantage of generating revenue through social media sites. For example company can create apps for social media sites to allow user to do different task such as to order and share photos stored in social media accounts like Instagram applications etc.

Social Networks using Web 2.0

The IBM (2012) states "web 2.0 taps the power of humans connected electronically through its new ways at looking at social collaborations. This is commonalities between social networks and web 2.0"

According to whatls (2012) the components of web 2.0 for social networking are

Blogging

Google Base

File Sharing/Podcasting

Wikis

Mash Ups

Communities

Ajax and other new technologies

Social networking Architecture

The Web trend (2012) states that the overall architecture of a social networking is based on 4 basic elements that includes having profiles, friend, blog spots and widgets.

Profiles – this contains detail about yourself and basic information and personality question like for e.g. who’s your favorite actor and what your favorite book etc.

Friends - in social networking sites are trusted members that are allowed to post comments on your profile or send you private messages.

Groups - Now a day’s most social networks use an element called Groups, which enable the members to engage in group discussion on certain topics.

Blogs - the Esoft Load website (2012) states that some social networks have consider allowing the members of the site to create their own blogs entries. The 5 social network sites to promote using blogs post are: Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, and Google Plus.

Widgets – the Ideal Ware website (2010) states the popular feature among social networking is the widgets it is a small application that can be executed within a web page. The main use of widgets is to spread information and awareness among user in social network sites with aim of fundraising, direct advocacy etc.

Why should you engage in Social Networking?

A place for entertainment, meeting great people with similar interest and also effective technique for entrepreneurs, writers, actors, musicians or artists to express their information and to share and to reach out to others who have the same interest is nowhere other than social networking.

What is the best Social Networks suite you?

Before moving into a social network site you should know what do you want out from the website? Does the site fit your purpose? Or are you looking into social network sites for business reasons? If it is for business purpose then going with social networks like Facebook , My space, Twitter and LinkedIn are the best of social media to publish advertisements about your products and services for free to target the your audience. If your aim is on music Last.fm would be the best social network, because it allows you to create your own playlist and allow you to share and listen to music.

What is Niche Social Network?

If you are interested in specific subject then joining to niche social network would be ideal one. According to How Stuff Work website (2012) niche social networking is one that is targeted only on specific segment of general population, these networks allow the members to connect with fewer people with same interest, hobbies etc.

The types of Niche social networking:

The types of niche social networks are categorized under specific topics. They are describes briefly in the Table 2.

Table : types of niche social networking

Topics

Niche Social Networks

Animals

Animal Social Network, My Cat Space, My Dog Space, Wagger, Fuzzster and Dog Network.

Art & Design

Visual Progression ,My Art Space, My Art Space, and Behance Network

Heath

Diabetic Connect, iMedix, Inspire, Care Pages, My Hope Space, Ozmosis and iMed Exchange

Movies and Music

Flixster , Red Karaoke and Muso City

Coffee

Barista Connection , Coffeenatic and Barista Exchange

Crafting

Etsy, Art Fire, Get Crafty, Crafters Community, SuperNaturale, Revelry

Reading / Books

Good Reads, Library Thing and Shelfari

Travel

Mister Contact, Wayn and Real Travel

Food

Group Recipes, Bake Space, Food Candy and Nibble dish

Table 2 Source (Raven Tools 2009)

The Objectives of Social Networking

According to the wall post (2012) there are 3 objectives of social networking they are:

The first objective is to make social network sites the main primary source of communication in today world.

The second objective is to increase the business development level through social network sites. Because now day’s businesses are using social network sites as main tool to advertise their products and services to target worldwide audience. This would save time and money for the businesses

The third objective to increase the level of contribution in personal development. Since many users use social network to share different ideas and interests

Types and Statistics of Social Networking

Facebook

The Tech Terms (2008) Facebook is one of the famous free social networking website that allows registered users to create and customize their own profiles. Upload photos and videos, send messages and keep in touch with friends and family and colleagues. According to Wise Geek (2012) "Facebook is a website intends to connect friends, families and business associations. And it is the largest of the networking sites with the runners up being My Space."

Twitter

According to Pc Mag (2012) "Twitter is a popular instant messaging system that lets a user send brief text messages up to 140 characters in length to a list of followers. Twitter was designed as a social network to keep friends and colleagues informed throughout the day."

LinkedIn

According to Pc.net (2010) LinkedIn is a social networking site designed mainly for the business community. Unlike Facebook, LinkedIn profiles are designed to be professional rather than personals.

YouTube

YouTube is social networking site which enables people to upload short videos for private or public viewing. YouTube’s main advantage is it is always free available and searchable. According to YouTube corporate website (2012) "Founded in February 2005, YouTube allows billions of people to discover watch and share originally-created videos and provides a forum for people to connect, inform, and inspire others across the globe and acts as a distribution platform for original content creators and advertisers large and small"

Facts and figures Social Networks

Table : statistic of social network

Social Networks

Statistics of Social Network

(facts and figures)

Facebook

Monthly active users now total nearly 850 million

250 million photos are uploaded every day

20% of all page views on the web are on Facebook

425 million mobile users

100 billion connections

2.7 billion "likes" per day

57% of users are female

Twitter

There are over 465 million accounts

175 million tweets a day

1 million accounts are added to twitter every day

Top 3 countries on Twitter are USA at 107 million, Brazil 33 million and Japan at nearly 30 million

Busiest event in Twitter’s history is now "Castle in the Sky" TV screening 25,088 tweets per second

LinkedIn

2 new members join every second

USA leads membership at more than 57 million, Europe has more than 34 million members

60% of its members live outside the USA

In 2011 there were 4.2 billion professionally oriented searches on the LinkedIn platform

LinkedIn now has over 2,116 employees (at the beginning of 2010 it had only 500)

The fastest growing demographics are students and recent college graduates

Revenues for 2011 reached $522 million

LinkedIn is the 36th most visited website in the world

YouTube

3rd most visited website

2 billion views per day

It handles 10% of the internet’s traffic

Average YouTube user spends 900 seconds per day

44% of YouTube’s users are aged between 12 and 34

Over 829,000 videos are uploaded every day

Average video duration is 2 minutes 46 second

Table 3 Source (Jeff bullas 2012)

The Advantages of Social Networking

Social networking enables individuals to share interests with other individuals, since most of social networking is done over the network; you get to meet new people and exchange ideas about their cultures. And also interact on basis of some common factors which could be anything from music to science and faith. The best part of becoming a member of social network is that majority of these is free. This means that every individual has the right to make new friends and look at other profiles without paying a fee.

Social Websites like Facebook, My space etc. you can search a friend with whom you have lost contact or create different groups to keep in touch with school/college friends and office colleagues simultaneously. And helps keep in touch with family members that live far away can become much easier by the use of social networks. By sharing updates, photos, videos and messages family members can stay connected if they live across the country or the world. You can also form a private group where you can discuss important topics in the comfort of your room. For example instead of meeting in a certain place, you and your friends could discuss a school or office activity by a conference in a certain site that you and you all friends are present of. This would result save your time and effort.

According to Spring Wise (2012) the writer Susanna Haynie states that around 50 million Adults with disabilities are in the United States only, therefor social network websites like Disaboom is launched aiming on disable adults or adults facing other challenges can communicate with other individuals with similar problems using. This would result to decreases their sense of isolation and allows for mutual support.

And also social networking media platforms have changed the landscape of the internet throughout the years and have become a mainstream source of news and glued to Facebook and twitter streams, especially during times of disasters. The SAP (2012) published an article about the resent natural disaster on 25/Oct/2012, Hurricane Sandy which hit the area Philadelphia was published in the social media played before, and after the storm and updates from government agencies that were ramping up their communication channels and using social media outlets as a source of information for constituents.

Also social network did help people during the disaster when there was no power or service to make a call, they still had network access and were able to log into Twitter or onto Facebook, and serve as their only lifeline and give the information they need. According to the Hot Suite (2012) it is said that citizens and people around the world did communicate with their loved once through Facebook status updates which were truly very useful status updates –The most posted term on Facebook was the sentence; "We are okay" written by people reassuring their distant friends and relatives. This shows the usefulness of social network among people across countries in a crisis situation.

According to Prweb (2012) Emotional Mirror is social networking site which is something unique comparing to other social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace. EM social website enables people to express him or her while protecting their privacy and security. By becoming member users can expressly feelings and emotions freely and openly. This would track individual’s emotions in a secure environment to support and strengthen relationships.

From business point of view social networks like for example Multiply, MySpace, Friendster, Facebook and Classmates. With so many around, business individuals won’t have a hard time looking for a social network that suites business needs. These websites would enable business to post ads here so business can inform other members of an event that the businesses are hosting.

The abc (2012) the author Annabel McGilvray sates that Social networking leads to health benefits sites like Patientslikeme.com provides a range of online communities for patients with diseases such as multiple sclerosis, HIV/AIDS and depression, to share their experience. Elsewhere you can find internet discussion groups for diabetes, heart disease, eczema, asthma and much more.

The main advantage of social network is that once again you could make new friends, promote your business and most importantly it won’t cost you a thing. But there are also some social networks which require you to pay a fee. Before you sign up consider if this value for you money.

YouTube is also a social network that is growing strong these days, this has enabled billons of users around the world to view videos posted by different people around the globe. And at the same time it has also helped individuals mainly students to get knowledge and skilled by going through some tutorials related to different fields. Businesses could also take the advantage of publishing theirs advertising brand videos in YouTube this would reduce their cost in advertising campaign.

Social network as increase in schools also networks like Facebook ,Moodle ,Second life, Digs and other sites are often used by teachers and to communicate with students or for out of classroom discussions. This would clear student’s doubt on related tasks and subjects.

Youth can explore topics that they are interested through online social networks by making connections with other people who have the same interest; kids can earn and exchange knowledge with others they may not have had the opportunities interact with. And young adults can gather information’s about topics that are to discuss with parents and teaches such as the use of drugs the consequences of it, and also about sexual health. Adults in secondary and post-secondary education will often use social networking to discuss schoolwork and share discussions about assignments. This would lead to increase their skill and talents in the education level.

The Pacific website (2012) states social networking sites offer students the opportunity to create a positive self-image. The profile gives you a chance to create the image of themselves that you want people to see by putting your best qualities. This shows that you care about your reputation and what people think about you. This would result to create a positive impact on peers, university administrators and job employers.

The Disadvantages of Social Networking

There are more advantages of social networking to talk about but at the same time there are drawbacks also involved on Social Networking. Studies and surveys reveal that social networking exposes teens to certain risks such as

Cyber bulling this is one of the biggest online dangers to kids. It’s same as the bulling that takes place at school but can be just as damaging. What is cyber bulling? According to the Education (2012) Cube bulling is where an unknown individuals sending mean, vulgar, or threatening messages or images and posting sensitive, private information’s about another person. This would result in order to make a person look bad.

Cyber bulling as affected many teens and adults around the world. According to Link Paper (2012) expressed that "a 15 year old teen from Port Coquitlam, Who was harassed, stalked, and bullied online and off, took her life on 11/Oct/2012."

Social networking sites like Facebook and My Space have become a place for establishing connection and meeting friends and family online, they have also become a likely place for identity theft and frauds. Because since users have to provide certain information such as name email address and location address. People get into illegal activities by using the information’s posted on social network profiles and pretend to be you and hack and get everything they need to know about you.

And certain user do have the sickness of updating their status every minutes about how they feel today , an unexpected incident etc. that’s not bad but you users should know what information you update because millions of users watching. There are many activities that took place where certain status update have resulted to greater or terrible loss. For example few years back there was an incident that took place, According to CBSNEWS (2010) "there were a two girls named as Keri McMullen and Kurt Pendleton left a status update on Facebook Saturday night that said they wouldn't be home because they were going to a concert in nearby Louisville at 8 p.m. At 8:42 p.m., two burglars entered their house, using a screwdriver to force open a back door. However, luckily for McMullen and Pendleton, they had recently installed a surveillance system in their home. The cameras caught the entire episode on tape. The video shows the two men going through McMullen's purse, stealing electronics -- more than $10,000 worth -- including a plasma television right off the wall." Therefor be aware of friend you add because everyone you consider a "friend" on Facebook, may not have the friendliest intentions.

Teens should also notice that everyone you interact with whether it is family or friends you should understand that there is lack of face to face interaction. Because users don’t know with whom he/she is communicating with.

Social networking does also impact schooling and employment. Students are getting into trouble with university administrators for updating inappropriate information or pictures on their social networking profiles like Facebook, My Space etc. because it is against the violation of school policy or the code of conduct. According to the Pacific (2012) it is stated that student fall into a danger where their jobs and even interviews are being turned down by employers because of the information employers are finding out about students on their social network profiles.

Social networks like Facebook and other websites enable to create propel across the world to make new relationships but the social networking could also destroy relationships and make life miserable. The Hindustan Times (2012) states that "flirt messages and photographs found on social network site like Facebook are now leading to at least one in five divorces in the US, according to the survey conducted. A new survey by the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers also says around 80 per cent of divorce lawyers have reported a spike in the number of cases that use social media for evidence of cheating, according to the Daily Mail."

On the other hand posting information about yourself on online profiles could fall into huge risk like for example Inappropriate pictures and comments could come back to hurt youth future as they start applying to colleges or looking for jobs. Since information has been shared on the internet, it’s out there forever. Therefore getting back the information’s that others have read and captured is nearly impossible. This would result to affect the youth’s future

There are also some individuals who belong to illegal actives they are called as Money Swindlers these individuals can take the advantage of users by creating fraud business pages and posting it on social network sites. And motivate users to pay attention towards it leading users to get trap to them In terms of spending money.

Many Social network sites does allow users at any ages to join Facebook this would result users such as the small age user to expose into cyber bulling, sexual harassments etc. According to the Todays TMJ4 (2009) states that a man called "Stancl was accused of posing as a girl online and persuading more than 30 classmates into sending him naked pictures themselves, then using the image to blackmail them for sex. Further authorities found more than 30 folders of on Stancl’s computer containing about 300 nude images of other male students at New Berlin Eisenhower High School in southeastern Wisconsin."

Social networks can benefit for business in number of ways but it can have a negative influence on workers’ productivity. Employees may waste crucial time using social networks such as Facebook and Twitter. This would result to attack the company reputation.

The employee Assistance Program (2012) states that there could be mental issues to be exist due to the addiction of social networking anyone of any age may be affected negatively, there for everyone should understand the signs of an unhealthy social networking situations signs such as:

Loss of ability to concentrate leading to focusing problems.

Communication skills depreciates –because lack of talking when communicating through social networks like Facebook, My Space.

Unconcerned about the real world – because user tend to show more interest in checking status update and communicating on the internet than participating in other activities off the computer.

Individual could be affected with symptoms such as agitation, fidgeting, aggressiveness etc. when unable to participate in social networking for period of time.

According to the A word about Social networking (PDF) it is stated that Disclosures Individuals tend to be far bolder and less discretionary with information shared online versus individuals. This would result on a greater risk of giving out information including the presence of a disability that, given a second thought, that individuals might have not wanted to disclose.

Further social network isolates those who may already feel isolated and can ultimately lead to depression and loneliness.

Socialize Safety online

Due to the Drawbacks listed above does this mean that we should all stop social networking? Not really ,but parents should take notice of their kids ,teenagers and adults to time limit on social networking, incorporate with plenty of non-computer activities, interact with people and watching out for the unhealthy signs can help your kids and teenagers keeping online relationship in check for a healthier life.

Do not leave your kids to use their laptop or computers in their bedrooms, ask them to use it in front of your sight therefor parents should set rule and regulations at home to restrict their young once from falling into trouble.

The parents’ guide to social network sites PDF (2012) states that to encourage you kids to talk to their parent if they are being cyber bullied or have encounter online predators or if they are feeling uncomfortable to speak with to their parents ask them to talk to their trusted adults like to an uncle, aunt, teacher or siblings to help.

According to the Cheating Spouse Alert (2012) the author Sally Webb states that the 5 signs to sure that your spouse is involved in cyber cheating are:

Your partner spends excess time online.

The use of computing continues even after its bed time.

The computer screen shuts by your partner when you come close.

You don’t know any password or anything about his email address

Internet history is always cleared, because one easy way to catch online affairs is by check online activity

Educate you teens about the risk of social networking and how to face them and at the same time how avoid them. From knowing what to do if he/she bullied online, and train you’re teen how to use the privacy settings on he/she online profile, to protect him/her online. And remind your children to think twice before posting comments, photos, or videos online and before they do any.

The Education (2012) clearly states to encourage your children to spend more time with friends and family by spending themselves available to listen and talk. Don’t allow your children to use their smartphone or tabs at the dinner table instead of that draw your children into conversation and keep them engaged.

According to the Stay Smart Online Website (2012) it is stated that to stop and think before you write message or post a picture, think twice and before they do any ask them to get guidance from their parents because many users have the addiction of posting unnecessary information online like private information, including their cell phone number; home address, class schedules, social plans, etc. Do not post these details online at any cost unless you prepared to get track down or kidnapped, anytime of the day or night. Because everyone you add in face book is not your friends, there are people who are there in motive of illegal activities.

According to Webroot website (2012) The other major issue the user of social networks sites facing is that most of user profile are being hacked, according to the survey conducted it shows that 41 percent use the same password for multiple accounts ,Only 16 percent create password more than 10 characters in length, 4 in 10 people have share password with one or more people in past years and almost 47 percent of Facebook passwords is used on other account and 62 percent of users stick to the same password. To overcome this problems users should make sure to make their social network website passwords unique as possible by using numbers and special characters to strengthen the password, and also make sure to change your password on a monthly basic and most importantly say no when browser ask u to save your password. Further use internet security software for e.g. Web root, Adware Internet Security and many more internet security software to be protected from online threats. If you are successful with above guideline then no one will be able hack your social network sites.

Many organizations during interviews the interviewers do ask the applicants questions like "are you on social networking sites?" and what is you profile?" be prepared to answer those questions honestly and truthfully because employers will most like to check or look at your social networking accounts themselves if they haven’t.

Critical Evaluation

According to the author the argument between the pros and cons discussed above of social networking has become clearly understandable. The positive outweighs the negative for teenager participation on social networks. Many people can argue that the social networking could bring ends to their own life due to some negative effects such as online bullying etc. due to this it would lead people to believe that teenagers should be banned from social networking sites. But however the social networking would be essential and is necessary in today’s world to foster relationship. The English Forum (2012) state foster is define as "to promote the growth and development"

Because social networking has been a major tool that allows people around the world to communicate and spread interesting information. Websites like Facebook etc. the main benefit of these locations is that they give people the freedom of reconnecting alongside friends and families who have not been alongside for a long time. On the other hand teachers on their portion additionally find internet as an interesting instrument because it will be helpful to enhance students’ skills and clear the doubts of the students. Besides everything discussed above the social networking sites, offer services like free messaging, storing images and playing games among others; that people can use to spend their free time and also to share memorable events with the family and friends. For this reason I do agree that the fact of considering social networking as important tool for the people to foster relationship

In solution for the argument for "social networking could bring ends to their own life due to some negative effects such as online bullying etc." adults should teach the youth to make safe and responsible decisions online until they are capable of making safe and responsible decisions on their own. And also educating youth about social networking communities must be grounded in the providing of knowledge, skills, and values so that eventually they can be expected to independently exercise good judgment.