Impact of Social Networking Sites on Children

Impact of kindly Networking Sites on Children br differently engagementing sum up ins offer lot virgin and varied authoritys to channel via the internet,whether through their PC or their mobile ph iodine. Examples include MySpace, Facebook andBebo. They allow slew to easily and precisely create their stimulate online rogue or indite and to take a leak and display an online lucre of contacts, a lot called friends. Users of these positions bottom of the inning progress via their visibleness both with their friends and with wad outdoor(a) their list of contacts. The rapid growth of tender networking sites in juvenile years indicates that they ar now a mainstream confabulations technology for many citizenry. kindly networking sites argon some democratic with adolescents and young adultsResearch shows that just all over one twenty per centum (22%) of adult internet exercisingrs aged 16+ andal or so half (49%) of children aged 8-17 who work the internet nour ish set up their own profile on a cordial networking site.4 For adults, the likelihood of setting up a profile is highest among 16-24 year olds (54%) and decreases with age.Some under-13s argon by-passing the age restrictions on well up-disposed networking sitesDespite the circumstance that the minimum age for most major sociable networking sites is usually 13(14 on MySpace), 27% of 8-11 year olds who argon certain of accessible networking sites grade thatthey adopt a profile on a site. While some of these younger exploiters are on sites intended foryounger children, the presence of unde craziness intentionrs on well-disposed networking sites intended forthose aged 13 or over was overly confirmed by qualitative seek .The average adult friendly net player has profiles on 1.6 sites, and most users check their profile at least every former(a) day.Adult genial networkers use a variety of sites, with the main ones be Bebo, Facebook andMySpace. It is common for adults to relieve oneself a profile on to a greater extent(prenominal)(prenominal) than one site on average eachadult with a fond networking page or profile has profiles on 1.6 sites, and 39% of adults cook profiles on two or more sites. Half of all current adult amicable networkers say that theyaccess their profiles at least every other day. The site concourse choose to use varies depending on the user. Children are more likely to use Bebo (63% of those who stand a fond networking site profile), and the most public site for adults is Facebook (62% of those who make water a favorable networking profile). ii-thirds of parents claim to set rules on their childs use of amicablenetworking sites, although entirely 53% of children utter that their parents set much(prenominal) rulesFor many children, the rules and restrictions that their parents set on affectionate networking siteusage are an important influencing factor in the childs use of sociable networking sites. Two thirds of parents whose children stick a social networking page say they set rules on theirchilds use of these sites. Most commonly these interested meeting in the raw people online and heavy(p) out soulal details. However, signifi stooltly fewerer children (53% of those with socialnetworking profiles) say that their parents set rules on their use of these sites.Attitudes and behaviours towards social networking sites loving networkers fall into lucid pigeonholings genial networkers differ in their attitudes to social networking sites and in their behaviourwhile utilize them. Qualitative enquiry indicates that site users tend to fall into tailfin obvious groups establish on their behaviours and attitudes. These are as followsAlpha Socialisers (a minority) people who utilise sites in intense short bursts to flirt,meet new people, and be entertained.Attention Seekers (some) people who craved charge and comments from others, a huge deal by posting word pictures and customising t heir profiles.Followers (many) people who joined sites to keep up with what their peers weredoing.Faithfuls (many) people who typically apply social networking sites to conflagrate oldfriendships, lots from school or university.Functionals (a minority) people who tended to be single-minded in development sites for aparticular purpose.Non-users of social networking sites also fall into distinct groupsNon-users also have the appearance _or_ semblance to fall into distinct groups these groups are based on their reasonsfor non apply social networking sitesConcerned nearly rubber people concerned about safety online, in particular makingpersonal details available online.Technically in go throughd people who lack confidence in exploitation the internet andcomputers. expert rejecters people who have no interest in social networking sites and seethem as a waste of snip.IntroductionINDUSTRY OVERVIEWSocial Networking sites- OverviewAsocial network servicefocuses on building and reflecting ofsocial networksorsocial relationsamong people, e.g., who deal out interests and/or activities. A social network service basically consists of a representation of each user (often a profile), his/her social links, and a variety of matchitional work. Most social network serve are nett basedand raise sloppeds for users to interact over theinternet, much(prenominal)(prenominal)(prenominal)(prenominal) ase-mailand rank messaging. Althoughonline conjunctionservices are some whiles considered as a social network service in a broader sense, social network service usually ungenerouss an individual-catered service whereasonline communityservices are group-centred. Social networking sites allow users to parting ideas, activities, events, and interests within their individual networks.The main types of social networking services are those which restrict category places (such as former school-year or classmates), means to tie with friends (usually with self-descript ion pages) and a recommendation system linked to trust. Popular methods now combine many of these, withFacebook,Beboand peepwide used worldwideMySpaceandLinkedIn creation the most widely used in North the States1HYPERLINK http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NexopiaNexopia(mostly in Canada)2Bebo,3Hi5,Hyves(mostly in The Netherlands),StudiVZ(mostly in Germany),iWiW(mostly in Hungary),Tuenti(mostly in Spain),Decayenne,Tagged,XING4,BadooHYPERLINK cite_note-45andSkyrockin parts of Europe6OrkutandHi5inSouth AmericaandCentral America7andFriendster,Mixi,Multiply,Orkut,Wretch,renrenandCyworldin Asia and the Pacific Islands andOrkutandFacebookin India.There have been some attempts to standardize these services to keep off the requirement to duplicate entries of friends and interests (see theFOAFstandard and theOpen extraction Initiative ), entirely this has led to some concerns about privacy.Although some of the largest social networks were beed on the notion of digitizing objective world conne ctions, many other networks as seen in theList of social networking websitesfocus on categories from books and music to non-profit business to motherhood as ship canal to provide both services and community to individuals with overlap interests. typic structureIn general, social networking services allow users to create a profile for themselves, and shadow be broken down into two broad categories home(a) social networking (ISN) and remote social networking (ESN) sites suchasMySpace,Facebook, peepandBebo. Both types peck subjoin the feeling of community among people. An ISN is a closed/ individual(a) community that consists of a group of people within a company, association, society, education provider and organization or even an invite only group created by a user in an ESN. An ESN is open/public and available to all web users to communicate and are designed to attract advertisers. ESNs can be smaller vary communities (i.e. linked by a single common interest e.g. TheSocialGo lfer, ACountryLife.Com, Great Cooks Community) or they can be large generic social networking sites (e.g. MySpace, Facebook etc).However, whether specialized or generic in that stance is commonality across the general approach of social networking sites. Users can upload a picture of themselves, create their profile and can often be friends with other users. In most social networking services, both users must confirm that they are friends before they are linked. For example, ifAlicelists Bob as a friend, whence Bob would have to approve Alices friend request before they are listed as friends. Some social networking sites have a favorites feature that does not fate approval from the other user. Social networks usually have privacy controls that allows the user to choose who can view their profile or contact them, etc.Social networking sites typically have a section dedicated to comments by friends. On Friendster, this section is called Testimonials. On Facebook, this section is c alled The Wall. In the beginning, this was a feature that encouraged people to write messages about the person in the profile. But over clock period, people started writing creative testimonials back, creating a form of conversation.32Some social networking sites are created for the benefits of others, such as parents social networking site Gurgle. This website is for parents to talk about pregnancy, birth and bringing up children..com. This social network allows professionals to exchange information, opportunities, and ideas. Professionals are able to stay advised with new knowledge about their fieldSome social networks have additional features, such as the ability to creategroupsthat share common interests or affiliations, upload or stream live videos, and hold discussions in forums.Geo social networking co-opts internet mapping services to organize user participation virtually geographical features and their attributes.There is also a path for moreinteroperability between social networksled by technologies such asOpenIDandOpen Social.Lately, mobile social networking has bugger off popular. In most mobile communities, mobile phone users can now create their own profiles, return friends, participate in chit-chat rooms, create chat rooms, hold cloak-and-dagger conversations, share photos and videos, and share blogs by using their mobile phone. Mobile phone users are basically open to every option that someone sitting on the computer has. Some companies provide wireless services which allow their customers to build their own mobile community and note it, but one of the most popular wireless services for social networking in North America is Facebook Mobile. Other companies provide new innovative features which extend the social networking experience into the real world. some other social networking feature in a professional aspect is LinkedIn.Emerging trends in social networksAs the increase in popularity of social networking is on a constant rise, new uses for the technology are constantly cosmosness observed.At the forefront of emerging trends in social networking sites is the concept of real time and location based. Real time allows users to contribute content, which is then broadcasted as it is universe uploaded the concept is similar to live television broadcasts. Twitterset the trend for real time services, where users can broadcast to the world what they are doing, or what is on their minds within a 140 character limit.Facebookfollowed suit with their Live leave where users activities are streamed as soon as it happens. While Twitter focuses on words,Clixtr, another real time service, focuses on group photo sharing where users can update their photo streams with photos while at an event. Friends and nearby users can contribute their own photos and comments to that event stream, thus contributing to the real time aspect of broadcasting photos and comments as it is being uploaded. In the location based social network ing space,Foursquaregained popularity as it allowed for users to check-in to places that they are frequenting at that moment.Gowallais another such service which functions in much the comparable way that Foursquare does, leveraging theGPSin phones to create a location based user experience. Clixtr, though in the real time space, is also a location based social networking site since events created by users are automatically geotagged, and users can view events occurring nearby through the ClixtriPhoneapp. Recently,Yelpannounced its introduction into the location based social networking space through check-ins with their mobile app whether or not this becomes detrimental to Foursquare or Gowalla is yet to be seen as it is distillery considered a new space in the internet technology industry.35 superstar popular use for this new technology is social networking between businesses. Companies have found that social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter are great slipway to bu ild their brand image. According to Jody Nimetz, author of Marketing Jive36, there are five major uses for businesses and social media to create brand awareness, as an online reputation management tool, for recruiting, to learn about new technologies and competitors, and as a lead gen tool to lay off potential prospects.36. These companies are able to drive traffic to their own online sites while encouraging their consumers and clients to have discussions on how to improve or change products or services. whiz other use that is being discussed is the use of Social Networks in the Science communities. Julia Porter Liebeskind et al. have published a study on how spic-and-span biotech Firms are using social networking sites to share exchanges in scientific knowledge.They state in their study that by sharing information and knowledge with one another, they are able to increase both their learning and their flexibility in ways that would not be possible within a self-contained hierarc hical organization. Social networking is allowing scientific groups to throw a fit their knowledge base and share ideas, and without these new means of communicating their theories cleverness become isolated and irrelevant.Social networks are also being used by teachers and students as a parley tool. Because many students are already using a wide-range of social networking sites, teachers have begun to familiarize themselves with this trend and are now using it to their advantage. Teachers and professors are doing everything from creating chat-room forums and groups to extend classroom discussion to posting assignments, tests and quizzes, to assisting with homework outside of the classroom setting. Social networks are also being used to foster teacher-parent communication. These sites make it possible and more convenient for parents to ask questions and voice concerns without having to meet face-to-face.Social networks are being used by activists as a means of low-cost grassroots organizing. Extensive use of an array of social networking sites enabled organizers of the 2009National Equality Marchto mobilize an estimated 200,000 participants to march on Washington with a cost savings of up to 85% per participant over previous methods.38Theuse of online social networks by librariesis also an increasingly prevelant and growing tool that is being used to communicate with more potential library users, as well as extending the services provided by individual librariesIssuesPrivacyOn large social networking services, there have been growing concerns about users giving out too much personal information and the flagellum ofsexual predators. Users of these services also need to be aware of information theftorviruses. However, large services, such asMySpaceandNetlog, often work with law enforcement to try to prevent such incidents.citation neededIn addition, there is a perceived privacy threat in relation to placing too much personal information in the hands of large corporations or governmental bodies, allowing a profile to be produced on an individuals behaviour on which decisions, detrimental to an individual, may be taken.Furthermore, there is an issue over the control of datainformation that was modify or removed by the user may in fact be retained and/or passed to 3rd parties. This danger was highlighted when the moot social networking siteQuechupharvested e-mail addresses from users e-mail bills for use in aspammingoperation.43In medical and scientific research, asking subjects for information about their behaviors is normally rigorously scrutinized byinstitutional review progresss, for example, to ensure that adolescents and their parents haveinformed consent. It is not clear whether the same rules apply to researchers who collect data from social networking sites. These sites often contain a great deal of data that is hard to obtain via traditional means. Even though the data are public, republishing it in a research paper capabi lity be consideredinvasion of privacy.44Privacy on Facebook is undermined by three principal factors users disclose too much, Facebook does not take adequate steps to protect user privacy, and third parties are energeticly seeking out end-user information using Facebook. Every day teens go on social networking sites and let out their most interior thoughts for the whole world to see. Information such as street address, phone number, Instant Messaging name are disclosed to an inexplicable population in cyberspace. Whats more, the creation of a Facebook, MySpace, Twitter etc. account is a fairly easy process to do and no identification is required, which can lead to identity theft or impersonation. For the Net generation, social networking sites have become the preferred forum for social interactions, from posturing and role playing to simply sounding off. However, because such forums are relatively easy to access, posted content can be reviewed by anyone with an interest in the users personal information.There has been a trend for social networking sites to send out only positive bills to users. For example sites such as Bebo, Facebook, and Myspace get out not send notifications to users when they are removed from a persons friends list. Similarly Bebo volition send out a notification if a user is moved to the top of another users friends list but no notification is sent if they are moved down the list.This allows users to purge undesirables from their list extremely easily and often without confrontation since a user will rarely identity card if one person disappears from their friends list. It also enforces the general positive atmosphere of the website without drawing economic aid to unpleasant happenings such as friends falling out, rejection and failed relationships.Many social networking services, such as Facebook, provide the user with a choice of who can view their profile. This prevents unauthorized user(s) from accessing their information.4 9Parents have become a big problem to teens who want to avoid their parents to access their MySpace or Facebook accounts. By choosing to make their profile private, teens are able to select who can see their page and this prevents unwanted parents from lurking. This will also mean that only people who are added as friends will be able to view the profile. Teens are constantly trying to create a structural prohibition between their private life and their parentA common misuse of social networking sites such as Facebook is that it is occasionally used to unrestrainedly abuse individuals. such actions are often referred to as trolling. It is not rare for confrontations in the real world to be translated online. Online bullying (aka Cyber-bullying) is a relatively common occurrence and it can often government issue in emotional trauma for the victim. Depending on the networking outlet, up to 39% of users admit to being cyber-bullied?.54danah boyd, a researcher of social networks quo tes a teenager in her article, why Youth (Heart) Social Network Sites. The teenager expresses frustration towards networking sites like MySpace because it causes drama and too much emotional stress.55There are not many limitations as to what individuals can post when online. Inherently individuals are given the power to post offensive remarks or pictures that could potentially cause a great amount of emotional pain for another individual.Interpersonal communicationInterpersonal communication has been a growing issue as more and more people have turned to social networking as a means of communication.Benniger (1987) describes how mass media has gradually replaced interpersonal communication as a acculturation force. Further, social networking sites have become popular sites for youth culture to explore themselves, relationships, and share cultural artefacts. Many teens and social networking users may be harming their interpersonal communication by using sites such as Facebook and M ySpace. Stated by Baroness Greenfield, an Oxford University Neuroscientist, My fear is that these technologies are infantilizing the brain into the state of small children who are attracted by buzzing noises and bright lights, who have a small attention span and who live for the momentIt is not unusual if you often hear your siblings or your friends talk about the people they have met and do friends with through the net profit as social networking is one of the phenomena that have taken the world of Internet by storm. or so every Web surfer has an account in at least one of thesocial networking sites, for these sites are the more enjoyable places to hang about in.ProsSocial networking siteshave paved the way for easier communication to your friends, family, or colleagues. One example is that instead of meeting in a certain place, you and your classmates could discuss a school activity by having a throng in a certain site that you are all members of, thus saving you time and eff ort. Virtual communities are also formed, which are composed of people connected in concert by common interests, purpose, and goal. People of different races also get to mingle with each other in just a few clicks.The idea of socializing with millions of people of different backgrounds excites the Web surfers. This is one thing that you can hardly do outside the virtual world.Communication with distant family and friends. hit new people, be creative, and be yourselfIt entertains you when youre boredSocial networkingwebsitesare a great way of keeping in touch with family andfriends. You can post blogs, share photos, use instant messaging (Myspace has its own instant messaging service), make comments and add people to your friends list. SocialnetworkingHYPERLINK http//www.blurtit.com/q430795.htmlHYPERLINK http//www.blurtit.com/q430795.htmlsitesallow you to create a profile, where you can share your interests with other users and also, you can make new friends. These type of sites, My space in particular, are also used people such as bands or authors to build up friends in place to generate interest in their music and booksConsSocial networking sites require or give you the option to provide personal information such as your name, location, and email address. Unfortunately some people can take this as an opportunity for identity theft. They can copy your information and pretend to be you when engaging in illegal activities. Bad news So be cautious with what you enter into an online networking site.You could fall into the trap of someone who pretends to be somebody else. For example, they power offer you a job or want to meet up with you just to get your money. This can lead to cyberstalking, where the stalker uses electronic media such as the Internet to tag or harass you.there is also the chance of peoples profiles being hacked or identities being stolen some other downside is that sites such as Myspace, which allow users to add their own background, are ofte n very slow due to backgrounds taking up a lot of memory. This has led to userscomputerscrashing every time they got onto a profile which uses up a lot of memory. Also, because these types of sites have millions of users, errors can often occur.It hampers the students the most. Students waste a lot of time on the social networking sites. This disturbs their education. It distracts you from your work that is needed to be done.Social Networking-Stats and figuresThe way we communicate online has gone through a sea-change over last few years. In fact, majority of net users spend most of their time on social Media / Networking sites. Even thoughIndia Software companies are lagging behindin adoption of social media, others are flocking them in large numbers.Twitter has been a rage over past 1 year, Facebook has become one of the most visited sites on the web, Professionals are flocking Linkedin and keep their profiles updated.Facebookclaimsthat 50% of active users log into the site each d ay. This would meanat least 175m users every 24 mos.Twitternow has75m user accounts, but only around 15m are active users on a continuous basis.LinkedInhas over50m members worldwide..Facebook currently has in excess of350 million active users on global basis.Six months ago, this was 250mThis means over 40% growth in less than 6 months.Flickr now hosts more than4 billion images. more(prenominal) than 35m Facebook users update their status each day.Wikipediacurrentlyhas in excess of14m articles, meaning that its 85,000 contributors have compose nearly a million new posts in six months.Photo uploads to Facebook haveincreased by more than 100%.Currently, there are around2.5bnuploads to the site each month.Back in 2009, the average user had 120 friends within Facebook. This is now around 130.Mobile is even big than before for Facebook, withmore than65m users accessing the site through mobile-based devices.In six months, this is over 100% increase.There are more than3.5bn pieces of co ntent(web links, news stories, blog posts, etc.) shared each week on Facebook.There are now11m LinkedIn users across Europe.Towards theend of last year, the average number of tweets per day was over27.3 million.The average number of tweets per hour was around1.3m.15% of bloggers spend10 or morehours each week blogging, according to Technoratis newState of the Blogosphere.At the current rate, Twitter will process intimately10 billiontweets in a single year.About 70% of Facebook users are outside the USA.India is currently the fastest-growing country to use LinkedIn, with around 3m total users.More than 250 Facebook applications have over amillioncombined users each month.70%of bloggers are organically talking about brands on their blog.38% of bloggers post brand or product reviews.More than80,000websites have implemented Facebook Connect since December 2008 and more than60mFacebook users engage with it across these external sitesTop Social Networking sites in India 2010Orkut.comFac ebook.comTwitterBharatstudent.comhi5.comibibo.ComMySpace SitesLinkedIn.comPerfSpot.comBIGADDA.comFropper.comfriendsterLiterature ReviewLiterature reviewSocial Networking in EducationBY Geetha KrishnanaOverall, an astonishing 96 portion of students with online access report card that they ever used any social networking technologies, such as chatting, text messaging, blogging and visiting online communitiesStaggering as the 96 percent statistic is, it is intriguing to wonder what the other 4 percent is doing. Just e-mail and web surfing?Further, students report that one of the most common topics of conversation on the social networking scene is education. Almost 60 percent of students who use social networking talk about education topics online and, surprisingly, more than 50 percent talk specifically about schoolwork.Tempting as this statistic might sound to champions of the social-networking-for-education cause, it may be worth considering that most of the discussions that people have on education could be to do with help on homework and difficult topics, classical problems that would otherwise get discussed in the college canteen perhaps.It may not mean a new avenue for learning something new it is just a new strength to get problems shared and solved. That is not to say it is not a good thing, but it may not be much more than that.Nonconformistsstudents who step outside of online safety and behavior rulesare on the cutting edge of social networking, with online behaviors and skills that indicate leadership among their peers. The report offers some recommendations for school board members as well. research social networking sites.This is an important recommendation because most often we tend to condemn something without really understanding it.Consider social networking for staff communication and professional development.This could well help achieve the previous point as well. It will also serve to integrate students and staff in the networking space. Find ways of harnessing the educational evaluate of social networking.This is a seemingly motherhood statement, but it could be worthwhile for teachers to consciously think of projects and assignments to be executed through networking approaches. master equitable access.An frank point, strengthen the access mechanisms for students to technology.Pay attention to nonconformists.This has already been touched on earlier in this post.Re examine social networking policies.Another obvious point, come at social networking as an integral component of the education process, not as a diversion.Facebook Impact on Student Grades Raises New Questions for BusinessBY Lawrence WalshAn Ohio State University study links Facebook use to lower grades. The study comes as businesses worry about the impact of social networking tools on worker productivity, integrity of their quick property and data security. Security vendors such as Websense, Fortinet and Trend Micro release new tools to combat embedded threats in social networks.As enterprises grapple with whether social networking creates security risks and productivity losses, a new study from the Ohio State University suggests there is a link between the use of Facebook and lower grades among college students.According to the slew of 219 students, those who said they use Facebook have grade point averages between 3.0 and 3.5 and study 1 to 5 hours per week. Conversely, non-Facebook users have GPAs between 3.5 and 4.0, and study 11 hours or more per week.The study found that 79 percent of Facebook users believe that it has no impact on their academic performance.Research methodologyResearch methodologyProblem commentaryIn todays era, education is seriously getting hampered through these social networking sites. In the name of connectivity, students and teens are actually wasting a huge amount of time in facebooking and orkuting. The sick person is none other than them, and the worst part is that they do not even realise it. 80% of the teens and students in India have atleast one active account in either facebook or orkut. So the need of the hour is to find out whether these social networking sites are useful or is it a pure waste of time.Hence, the research objective is to find the factors that motivates the students to open an account in the social networking sites and thus wasting time.Research Objectives1)To find out whether Social networking sites are a threat or a helping hand for education2)To find out the reasons that compel the students to join the networking chain3) To find out ways bywhich the social media can be used constructively in the field of educationResearch MethodologyThe research design that will be used would be exploratory researchImpact of Social Networking Sites on ChildrenImpact of Social Networking Sites on ChildrenSocial networking sites offer people new and varied ways to communicate via the internet,whether through their PC or their mobile phone. Examples include MySpace, F acebook andBebo. They allow people to easily and simply create their own online page or profile and toconstruct and display an online network of contacts, often called friends. Users of thesesites can communicate via their profile both with their friends and with people outside their list of contacts. The rapid growth of social networking sites in recent years indicates that they are now a mainstream communications technology for many people.Social networking sites are most popular with teenagers and young adultsResearch shows that just over one fifth (22%) of adult internet users aged 16+ andalmost half (49%) of children aged 8-17 who use the internet have set up their own profile on a social networking site.4 For adults, the likelihood of setting up a profile is highest among 16-24 year olds (54%) and decreases with age.Some under-13s are by-passing the age restrictions on social networking sitesDespite the fact that the minimum age for most major social networking sites is usuall y 13(14 on MySpace), 27% of 8-11 year olds who are aware of social networking sites say thatthey have a profile on a site. While some of these younger users are on sites intended foryounger children, the presence of small-scale users on social networking sites intended forthose aged 13 or over was also confirmed by qualitative research .The average adult social networker has profiles on 1.6 sites, and most users check their profile at least every other day.Adult social networkers use a variety of sites, with the main ones being Bebo, Facebook andMySpace. It is common for adults to have a profile on more than one site on average eachadult with a social networking page or profile has profiles on 1.6 sites, and 39% of adultshave profiles on two or more sites. Half of all current adult social networkers say that theyaccess their profiles at least every other day. The site people choose to use varies depending on the user. Children are more likely to use Bebo (63% of those who have a s ocial networking site profile), and the most popular site for adults is Facebook (62% of those who have a social networking profile).Two-thirds of parents claim to set rules on their childs use of socialnetworking sites, although only 53% of children said that their parents setsuch rulesFor many children, the rules and restrictions that their parents set on social networking siteusage are an important influencing factor in the childs use of social networking sites. Two thirds of parents whose children have a social networking page say they set rules on theirchilds use of these sites. Most commonly these concerned meeting new people online andgiving out personal details. However, significantly fewer children (53% of those with socialnetworking profiles) say that their parents set rules on their use of these sites.Attitudes and behaviours towards social networking sitesSocial networkers fall into distinct groupsSocial networkers differ in their attitudes to social networking sites and in their behaviourwhile using them. Qualitative research indicates that site users tend to fall into fivedistinct groups based on their behaviours and attitudes. These are as followsAlpha Socialisers (a minority) people who used sites in intense short bursts to flirt,meet new people, and be entertained.Attention Seekers (some) people who craved attention and comments from others,often by posting photos and customising their profiles.Followers (many) people who joined sites to keep up with what their peers weredoing.Faithfuls (many) people who typically used social networking sites to rekindle oldfriendships, often from school or university.Functionals (a minority) people who tended to be single-minded in using sites for aparticular purpose.Non-users of social networking sites also fall into distinct groupsNon-users also appear to fall into distinct groups these groups are based on their reasonsfor not using social networking sitesConcerned about safety people concerned about safety online, in particular makingpersonal details available online.Technically inexperienced people who lack confidence in using the internet andcomputers.Intellectual rejecters people who have no interest in social networking sites and seethem as a waste of time.IntroductionINDUSTRY OVERVIEWSocial Networking sites- OverviewAsocial network servicefocuses on building and reflecting ofsocial networksorsocial relationsamong people, e.g., who share interests and/or activities. A social network service essentially consists of a representation of each user (often a profile), his/her social links, and a variety of additional services. Most social network services areweb basedand provide means for users to interact over theinternet, such ase-mailandinstant messaging. Althoughonline communityservices are sometimes considered as a social network service in a broader sense, social network service usually means an individual-catered service whereasonline communityservices are group-centred. Social networking sites allow users to share ideas, activities, events, and interests within their individual networks.The main types of social networking services are those which contain category places (such as former school-year or classmates), means to connect with friends (usually with self-description pages) and a recommendation system linked to trust. Popular methods now combine many of these, withFacebook,BeboandTwitterwidely used worldwideMySpaceandLinkedInbeing the most widely used in North America1HYPERLINK http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NexopiaNexopia(mostly in Canada)2Bebo,3Hi5,Hyves(mostly in The Netherlands),StudiVZ(mostly in Germany),iWiW(mostly in Hungary),Tuenti(mostly in Spain),Decayenne,Tagged,XING4,BadooHYPERLINK cite_note-45andSkyrockin parts of Europe6OrkutandHi5inSouth AmericaandCentral America7andFriendster,Mixi,Multiply,Orkut,Wretch,renrenandCyworldin Asia and the Pacific Islands andOrkutandFacebookin India.There have been some attempts to standardize these s ervices to avoid the need to duplicate entries of friends and interests (see theFOAFstandard and theOpen Source Initiative ), but this has led to some concerns about privacy.Although some of the largest social networks were founded on the notion of digitizing real world connections, many other networks as seen in theList of social networking websitesfocus on categories from books and music to non-profit business to motherhood as ways to provide both services and community to individuals with shared interests.Typical structureIn general, social networking services allow users to create a profile for themselves, and can be broken down into two broad categories internal social networking (ISN) and external social networking (ESN) sites suchasMySpace,Facebook,TwitterandBebo. Both types can increase the feeling of community among people. An ISN is a closed/private community that consists of a group of people within a company, association, society, education provider and organization or e ven an invite only group created by a user in an ESN. An ESN is open/public and available to all web users to communicate and are designed to attract advertisers. ESNs can be smaller specialized communities (i.e. linked by a single common interest e.g. TheSocialGolfer, ACountryLife.Com, Great Cooks Community) or they can be large generic social networking sites (e.g. MySpace, Facebook etc).However, whether specialized or generic there is commonality across the general approach of social networking sites. Users can upload a picture of themselves, create their profile and can often be friends with other users. In most social networking services, both users must confirm that they are friends before they are linked. For example, ifAlicelists Bob as a friend, then Bob would have to approve Alices friend request before they are listed as friends. Some social networking sites have a favorites feature that does not need approval from the other user. Social networks usually have privacy cont rols that allows the user to choose who can view their profile or contact them, etc.Social networking sites typically have a section dedicated to comments by friends. On Friendster, this section is called Testimonials. On Facebook, this section is called The Wall. In the beginning, this was a feature that encouraged people to write messages about the person in the profile. But over time, people started writing creative testimonials back, creating a form of conversation.32Some social networking sites are created for the benefits of others, such as parents social networking site Gurgle. This website is for parents to talk about pregnancy, birth and bringing up children..com. This social network allows professionals to exchange information, opportunities, and ideas. Professionals are able to stay informed with new knowledge about their fieldSome social networks have additional features, such as the ability to creategroupsthat share common interests or affiliations, upload or stream liv e videos, and hold discussions in forums.Geo social networking co-opts internet mapping services to organize user participation around geographic features and their attributes.There is also a trend for moreinteroperability between social networksled by technologies such asOpenIDandOpen Social.Lately, mobile social networking has become popular. In most mobile communities, mobile phone users can now create their own profiles, make friends, participate in chat rooms, create chat rooms, hold private conversations, share photos and videos, and share blogs by using their mobile phone. Mobile phone users are basically open to every option that someone sitting on the computer has. Some companies provide wireless services which allow their customers to build their own mobile community and brand it, but one of the most popular wireless services for social networking in North America is Facebook Mobile. Other companies provide new innovative features which extend the social networking experie nce into the real world.Another social networking feature in a professional aspect is LinkedIn.Emerging trends in social networksAs the increase in popularity of social networking is on a constant rise, new uses for the technology are constantly being observed.At the forefront of emerging trends in social networking sites is the concept of real time and location based. Real time allows users to contribute content, which is then broadcasted as it is being uploaded the concept is similar to live television broadcasts. Twitterset the trend for real time services, where users can broadcast to the world what they are doing, or what is on their minds within a 140 character limit.Facebookfollowed suit with their Live Feed where users activities are streamed as soon as it happens. While Twitter focuses on words,Clixtr, another real time service, focuses on group photo sharing where users can update their photo streams with photos while at an event. Friends and nearby users can contribute t heir own photos and comments to that event stream, thus contributing to the real time aspect of broadcasting photos and comments as it is being uploaded. In the location based social networking space,Foursquaregained popularity as it allowed for users to check-in to places that they are frequenting at that moment.Gowallais another such service which functions in much the same way that Foursquare does, leveraging theGPSin phones to create a location based user experience. Clixtr, though in the real time space, is also a location based social networking site since events created by users are automatically geotagged, and users can view events occurring nearby through the ClixtriPhoneapp. Recently,Yelpannounced its entrance into the location based social networking space through check-ins with their mobile app whether or not this becomes detrimental to Foursquare or Gowalla is yet to be seen as it is still considered a new space in the internet technology industry.35One popular use for this new technology is social networking between businesses. Companies have found that social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter are great ways to build their brand image. According to Jody Nimetz, author of Marketing Jive36, there are five major uses for businesses and social media to create brand awareness, as an online reputation management tool, for recruiting, to learn about new technologies and competitors, and as a lead gen tool to intercept potential prospects.36. These companies are able to drive traffic to their own online sites while encouraging their consumers and clients to have discussions on how to improve or change products or services.One other use that is being discussed is the use of Social Networks in the Science communities. Julia Porter Liebeskind et al. have published a study on how New Biotechnology Firms are using social networking sites to share exchanges in scientific knowledge.They state in their study that by sharing information and knowledge with one another, they are able to increase both their learning and their flexibility in ways that would not be possible within a self-contained hierarchical organization. Social networking is allowing scientific groups to expand their knowledge base and share ideas, and without these new means of communicating their theories might become isolated and irrelevant.Social networks are also being used by teachers and students as a communication tool. Because many students are already using a wide-range of social networking sites, teachers have begun to familiarize themselves with this trend and are now using it to their advantage. Teachers and professors are doing everything from creating chat-room forums and groups to extend classroom discussion to posting assignments, tests and quizzes, to assisting with homework outside of the classroom setting. Social networks are also being used to foster teacher-parent communication. These sites make it possible and more convenient for parents to ask questions and voice concerns without having to meet face-to-face.Social networks are being used by activists as a means of low-cost grassroots organizing. Extensive use of an array of social networking sites enabled organizers of the 2009National Equality Marchto mobilize an estimated 200,000 participants to march on Washington with a cost savings of up to 85% per participant over previous methods.38Theuse of online social networks by librariesis also an increasingly prevelant and growing tool that is being used to communicate with more potential library users, as well as extending the services provided by individual librariesIssuesPrivacyOn large social networking services, there have been growing concerns about users giving out too much personal information and the threat ofsexual predators. Users of these services also need to be aware ofdata theftorviruses. However, large services, such asMySpaceandNetlog, often work with law enforcement to try to prevent such incidents.cita tion neededIn addition, there is a perceived privacy threat in relation to placing too much personal information in the hands of large corporations or governmental bodies, allowing a profile to be produced on an individuals behaviour on which decisions, detrimental to an individual, may be taken.Furthermore, there is an issue over the control of datainformation that was altered or removed by the user may in fact be retained and/or passed to 3rd parties. This danger was highlighted when the controversial social networking siteQuechupharvested e-mail addresses from users e-mail accounts for use in aspammingoperation.43In medical and scientific research, asking subjects for information about their behaviors is normally strictly scrutinized byinstitutional review boards, for example, to ensure that adolescents and their parents haveinformed consent. It is not clear whether the same rules apply to researchers who collect data from social networking sites. These sites often contain a grea t deal of data that is hard to obtain via traditional means. Even though the data are public, republishing it in a research paper might be consideredinvasion of privacy.44Privacy on Facebook is undermined by three principal factors users disclose too much, Facebook does not take adequate steps to protect user privacy, and third parties are actively seeking out end-user information using Facebook. Every day teens go on social networking sites and reveal their most inner thoughts for the whole world to see. Information such as street address, phone number, Instant Messaging name are disclosed to an unknown population in cyberspace. Whats more, the creation of a Facebook, MySpace, Twitter etc. account is a fairly easy process to do and no identification is required, which can lead to identity theft or impersonation. For the Net generation, social networking sites have become the preferred forum for social interactions, from posturing and role playing to simply sounding off. However, be cause such forums are relatively easy to access, posted content can be reviewed by anyone with an interest in the users personal information.There has been a trend for social networking sites to send out only positive notifications to users. For example sites such as Bebo, Facebook, and Myspace will not send notifications to users when they are removed from a persons friends list. Similarly Bebo will send out a notification if a user is moved to the top of another users friends list but no notification is sent if they are moved down the list.This allows users to purge undesirables from their list extremely easily and often without confrontation since a user will rarely notice if one person disappears from their friends list. It also enforces the general positive atmosphere of the website without drawing attention to unpleasant happenings such as friends falling out, rejection and failed relationships.Many social networking services, such as Facebook, provide the user with a choice o f who can view their profile. This prevents unauthorized user(s) from accessing their information.49Parents have become a big problem to teens who want to avoid their parents to access their MySpace or Facebook accounts. By choosing to make their profile private, teens are able to select who can see their page and this prevents unwanted parents from lurking. This will also mean that only people who are added as friends will be able to view the profile. Teens are constantly trying to create a structural barrier between their private life and their parentA common misuse of social networking sites such as Facebook is that it is occasionally used to emotionally abuse individuals. Such actions are often referred to as trolling. It is not rare for confrontations in the real world to be translated online. Online bullying (aka Cyber-bullying) is a relatively common occurrence and it can often result in emotional trauma for the victim. Depending on the networking outlet, up to 39% of users a dmit to being cyber-bullied?.54danah boyd, a researcher of social networks quotes a teenager in her article, Why Youth (Heart) Social Network Sites. The teenager expresses frustration towards networking sites like MySpace because it causes drama and too much emotional stress.55There are not many limitations as to what individuals can post when online. Inherently individuals are given the power to post offensive remarks or pictures that could potentially cause a great amount of emotional pain for another individual.Interpersonal communicationInterpersonal communication has been a growing issue as more and more people have turned to social networking as a means of communication.Benniger (1987) describes how mass media has gradually replaced interpersonal communication as a socializing force. Further, social networking sites have become popular sites for youth culture to explore themselves, relationships, and share cultural artefacts. Many teens and social networking users may be harmi ng their interpersonal communication by using sites such as Facebook and MySpace. Stated by Baroness Greenfield, an Oxford University Neuroscientist, My fear is that these technologies are infantilizing the brain into the state of small children who are attracted by buzzing noises and bright lights, who have a small attention span and who live for the momentIt is not unusual if you often hear your siblings or your friends talk about the people they have met and made friends with through the Internet as social networking is one of the phenomena that have taken the world of Internet by storm. Almost every Web surfer has an account in at least one of thesocial networking sites, for these sites are the more enjoyable places to hang around in.ProsSocial networking siteshave paved the way for easier communication to your friends, family, or colleagues. One example is that instead of meeting in a certain place, you and your classmates could discuss a school activity by having a conference in a certain site that you are all members of, thus saving you time and effort. Virtual communities are also formed, which are composed of people connected together by common interests, purpose, and goal. People of different races also get to mingle with each other in just a few clicks.The idea of socializing with millions of people of different backgrounds excites the Web surfers. This is one thing that you can hardly do outside the virtual world.Communication with distant family and friends. Meet new people, be creative, and be yourselfIt entertains you when youre boredSocial networkingwebsitesare a great way of keeping in touch with family andfriends. You can post blogs, share photos, use instant messaging (Myspace has its own instant messaging service), make comments and add people to your friends list. SocialnetworkingHYPERLINK http//www.blurtit.com/q430795.htmlHYPERLINK http//www.blurtit.com/q430795.htmlsitesallow you to create a profile, where you can share your interests wit h other users and also, you can make new friends. These type of sites, Myspace in particular, are also used people such as bands or authors to build up friends in order to generate interest in their music and booksConsSocial networking sites require or give you the option to provide personal information such as your name, location, and email address. Unfortunately some people can take this as an opportunity for identity theft. They can copy your information and pretend to be you when engaging in illegal activities. Bad news So be cautious with what you enter into an online networking site.You could fall into the trap of someone who pretends to be somebody else. For example, they might offer you a job or want to meet up with you just to get your money. This can lead to cyberstalking, where the stalker uses electronic media such as the Internet to pursue or harass you.there is also the chance of peoples profiles being hacked or identities being stolenAnother downside is that sites suc h as Myspace, which allow users to add their own background, are often very slow due to backgrounds taking up a lot of memory. This has led to userscomputerscrashing every time they got onto a profile which uses up a lot of memory. Also, because these types of sites have millions of users, errors can often occur.It hampers the students the most. Students waste a lot of time on the social networking sites. This disturbs their education. It distracts you from your work that is needed to be done.Social Networking-Stats and figuresThe way we communicate online has gone through a sea-change over last few years. In fact, majority of net users spend most of their time on social Media / Networking sites. Even thoughIndia Software companies are lagging behindin adoption of social media, others are flocking them in large numbers.Twitter has been a rage over past 1 year, Facebook has become one of the most visited sites on the web, Professionals are flocking Linkedin and keep their profiles up dated.Facebookclaimsthat 50% of active users log into the site each day. This would meanat least 175m users every 24 hours.Twitternow has75m user accounts, but only around 15m are active users on a regular basis.LinkedInhas over50m members worldwide..Facebook currently has in excess of350 million active users on global basis.Six months ago, this was 250mThis means over 40% growth in less than 6 months.Flickr now hosts more than4 billion images.More than 35m Facebook users update their status each day.Wikipediacurrentlyhas in excess of14m articles, meaning that its 85,000 contributors have written nearly a million new posts in six months.Photo uploads to Facebook haveincreased by more than 100%.Currently, there are around2.5bnuploads to the site each month.Back in 2009, the average user had 120 friends within Facebook. This is now around 130.Mobile is even bigger than before for Facebook, withmore than65m users accessing the site through mobile-based devices.In six months, this is ov er 100% increase.There are more than3.5bn pieces of content(web links, news stories, blog posts, etc.) shared each week on Facebook.There are now11m LinkedIn users across Europe.Towards theend of last year, the average number of tweets per day was over27.3 million.The average number of tweets per hour was around1.3m.15% of bloggers spend10 or morehours each week blogging, according to Technoratis newState of the Blogosphere.At the current rate, Twitter will process almost10 billiontweets in a single year.About 70% of Facebook users are outside the USA.India is currently the fastest-growing country to use LinkedIn, with around 3m total users.More than 250 Facebook applications have over amillioncombined users each month.70%of bloggers are organically talking about brands on their blog.38% of bloggers post brand or product reviews.More than80,000websites have implemented Facebook Connect since December 2008 and more than60mFacebook users engage with it across these external sitesTop S ocial Networking sites in India 2010Orkut.comFacebook.comTwitterBharatstudent.comhi5.comibibo.ComMySpace SitesLinkedIn.comPerfSpot.comBIGADDA.comFropper.comfriendsterLiterature ReviewLiterature reviewSocial Networking in EducationBY Geetha KrishnanaOverall, an astonishing 96 percent of students with online access report that they ever used any social networking technologies, such as chatting, text messaging, blogging and visiting online communitiesStaggering as the 96 percent statistic is, it is intriguing to wonder what the other 4 percent is doing. Just e-mail and web surfing?Further, students report that one of the most common topics of conversation on the social networking scene is education. Almost 60 percent of students who use social networking talk about education topics online and, surprisingly, more than 50 percent talk specifically about schoolwork.Tempting as this statistic might sound to champions of the social-networking-for-education cause, it may be worth considering that most of the discussions that people have on education could be to do with help on homework and troublesome topics, classical problems that would otherwise get discussed in the college canteen perhaps.It may not mean a new avenue for learning something new it is just a new medium to get problems shared and solved. That is not to say it is not a good thing, but it may not be much more than that.Nonconformistsstudents who step outside of online safety and behavior rulesare on the cutting edge of social networking, with online behaviors and skills that indicate leadership among their peers. The report offers some recommendations for school board members as well.Explore social networking sites.This is an important recommendation because most often we tend to condemn something without really understanding it.Consider social networking for staff communication and professional development.This could well help achieve the previous point as well. It will also serve to integrate student s and staff in the networking space.Find ways of harnessing the educational value of social networking.This is a seemingly motherhood statement, but it could be worthwhile for teachers to consciously think of projects and assignments to be executed through networking approaches.Ensure equitable access.An obvious point, strengthen the access mechanisms for students to technology.Pay attention to nonconformists.This has already been touched on earlier in this post.Re examine social networking policies.Another obvious point, come at social networking as an integral component of the education process, not as a diversion.Facebook Impact on Student Grades Raises New Questions for BusinessBY Lawrence WalshAn Ohio State University study links Facebook use to lower grades. The study comes as businesses worry about the impact of social networking tools on worker productivity, integrity of their intellectual property and data security. Security vendors such as Websense, Fortinet and Trend Micr o release new tools to combat embedded threats in social networks.As enterprises grapple with whether social networking creates security risks and productivity losses, a new study from the Ohio State University suggests there is a link between the use of Facebook and lower grades among college students.According to the survey of 219 students, those who said they use Facebook have grade point averages between 3.0 and 3.5 and study 1 to 5 hours per week. Conversely, non-Facebook users have GPAs between 3.5 and 4.0, and study 11 hours or more per week.The study found that 79 percent of Facebook users believe that it has no impact on their academic performance.Research methodologyResearch methodologyProblem DefinitionIn todays era, education is seriously getting hampered through these social networking sites. In the name of connectivity, students and teens are actually wasting a huge amount of time in facebooking and orkuting. The sufferer is none other than them, and the worst part is that they do not even realise it. 80% of the teens and students in India have atleast one active account in either facebook or orkut. So the need of the hour is to find out whether these social networking sites are useful or is it a mere waste of time.Hence, the research objective is to find the factors that motivates the students to open an account in the social networking sites and thus wasting time.Research Objectives1)To find out whether Social networking sites are a threat or a helping hand for education2)To find out the reasons that compel the students to join the networking chain3) To find out ways bywhich the social media can be used constructively in the field of educationResearch MethodologyThe research design that will be used would be exploratory research