Social Networking Essay Example for Free

Social Networking Essay Social networking sites such as Friendster, Linkedin, Spoke, Face book, MySpace and Twitter all vary slightly, yet the one main feature they have is that they enable users to create a profile within the website to represent themselves and allows uses to interact through email, instant messaging and other integrated communication channels within the site (Papacharissi, 2009). The popularity and growth of social networking sites over the past five years has been colossal, as many people from all over the world join up to this social phenomenon for varied reasons. Today, there are more than 500 million active users on face book and users spend over 700 billion minutes per month on this social networking site (Facebook, 2011). As the technology of Web 2. 0 improves and advances, social networking sites have an even bigger impact on society and human relationships, both positive and negative. This paper argues that social networking sites have a negative influence on children, teenagers and adults, increase the ease and prominence of cyber bullying, increase personal insecurities and feed addictions and weaken strong personal ties. This paper also argues that social networks create distraction and decrease productivity and profits within the workplace and can also can jeopardise a company’s reputation. Social networks also increase the ease of identity theft and bring to light other privacy issues as well as lead to an overall decrease in our face to face social skills and confidence. This paper will demonstrate that social networking sites do cause more harm than good. Identity Theft Identity theft is a huge problem in today’s society and has come about as a result of the rapid expansion and availability of internet technology and the increase in personal data found on social networking sites. In fact â€Å"A total of 806,000 Australians aged 15 years and over were victims of at least one incident of personal fraud in or identity theft in 2008† (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2008). Sites such as MySpace, Facebook and Twitter facilate identity theft in two mains ways. The first being is that sites encourage you to ‘edit your profile’ this includes adding your interests, full name, where you live, who your top friends are, your email address and even personal details like your phone number an relationship status. â€Å"Users share a variety of information about themselves on their Facebook profiles, including photos, contact information, and tastes in movies and books. †(Jones amp; Soltren, 2005). This information disclosure causes a huge problem as the more information you have on your profile the easier it is for identity thieves to verify themselves as being you. The second main issue is the privacy settings on these social networking sites also help faccilate personal fraud. Whilst there are built in features that allow users to change their privacy settings and not allow other users to view such personal details, these settings are never default, so that users are usually unaware how much information they are sharing not only with their friends, but with the rest of the world â€Å"By default, profiles on Friendster and Tribe. net are crawled by search engines, making them visible to anyone, regardless of whether or not the viewer has an account† (Boyd amp; Ellison, 2007). A general lack of awareness amongst users and the fact that digital identity can be easily hacked makes social networking sites a hub for identity theft which results in unwanted legal hassles, loss of money and years of trying to re-establish a victim’s credit and good name (Acquisti amp; Gross, 2006). This is why it is important for â€Å"users of social network systems to be aware of the value of the data they are making available online and of the ways that is can pote3nitally be used† (Donath amp; Boyd 2004). Furthermore another privacy issue that social networking sites face is that they encourage users to overshare very private information that can easily be used against them. For example the location based social networking site Foursquare encourages users to ‘check in’ at various locations to win points and earn badges and discounts. However these ‘check ins’ are in real time and essentially users notify others where they are, but more importantly when they aren’t home. For strangers and thieves this is the perfect opportunity to take advantage of such knowledge and rob someone’s house while they are out. A web site called â€Å"Please rob me† has been set up to raise awareness about over-sharing and highlights these kinds of privacy issues that social networks create â€Å"Location based services also raise myriads of privacy issues due to the ability to collect, store, use and disclose the locations of users. † (Anuar amp; Gretzel, 2010). In this respect social networks like these pose serious privacy concerns. Cyber bullying Cyber bullying refers to â€Å"bullying through information and communication technologies† (Webster, n. ), mediums such as, emails, mobile phone text messages, phone calls, internet chat rooms, instant messaging and most importantly and recently, social networking websites such as MySpace, Facebook and Bebo (Webster, n. d). Whilst cyber bullying is not physical it’s emotional and psychological effects are devastating for the victim and can often lead to suicide and depression (Hinduja amp; Patchin, 2010). Cyber bulling in terms of s ocial networks is a huge issue as more than 50% of American teenagers aged from 12 to 17 use social networking sites (Hall, 2010). Online bullying is often seen as the easy way out. Social Networking sites act as a platform where bullies can say things they might not usually say to someone in person, anonymity and less physical proximity act as a wall between the bully and the victim, none the less, the words or rumours that are shared are still just as hurtful. Bullies often feel more confident online and they can contact their victims any time, anywhere, day or night, not just in the school yard (Smith et al. , 2008). For example in 2009 a 14 year old girl committed suicide as a direct result of cyber bulling. The daughter’s mother spoke out in an ABC news report and explained that â€Å"Friday night she was on the internet and told me about some message that had come through, and she wanted to die because of the message. I laid in bed with her and we discussed it for about an hour and she left me fairly happy. I can guarantee you if she didn’t go on the internet Friday night she’d be alive today. † (Dikeos, 2009). Additionally another well know case of cyber bulling that resulted in suicide was the case of Megan Meier who was constantly teased tormented and riven to her death from intense cyber bulling. â€Å"13 year old Megan began receiving nasty messages from a boy after a few weeks of an online flirtation with him, via her MySpace account, ending with one that suggested ‘the world would be a better place’ without her. Megan, believing she had been rejected by â€Å"Josh,† committed suicide in her home. † Times Topics, Megan Meier. (2011). The sad part was that Josh was ust a fictional character, created by a mother of one of Megan’s former friends. These two case studies bring to light the fact that cyber bulling is a massive problem that is not only exists all over the world, but is only made possible by the use of social networking sites. Without such platforms for bullies to target their victims the rate of teen suicide and depression would most likely drop. Groups on facebook can be created to make fun of or abuse particular people or ideas. On facebook I found groups titled â€Å"I hate Kevin Rudd† and on their wall things like â€Å" F**k you Kevin! and â€Å"I can’t believe they let this di***ead become foreign minister†. Also a recent incident that was covered on the news showed the negative comments towards babies and their parents over facebook surrounding the ‘Bonds Baby Search’. Some comments under a photos said â€Å"A child only a mother could love† and another baby was called an â€Å"ugly duckling† (Cute baby competition turns ugly, 2011). Comments like these are spiteful not only to the babies, but for their parents as well. This in itself is another form of cyber bullying that has been made possible via the increased use of social networking sites. It is clear that social networking sites aid in the prominence of cyber bulling which is just one of the negative impacts that social working sites has on society today. The weakening of strong ties amp; isolation The way we communicate with our peers and with strangers over the internet is changing. Another negative impact that social networks have on our relationships is the fact that whilst they might strengthen our weak ties we have with acquaintances and people we don’t see often, they are in fact weakening our strong ties and also bring about physical social isolation. The term ‘social networking’ misleads people into believing they are being social, â€Å"Facebook isn’t considered a social network but more a public phone book or search engine. Contact is minimal and impersonal (Carr, 2010). The news feed feature on facebook and twitter keeps us in the loop with everything that our close friends and family are doing. Why would one call their friend to ask them what they got up to on the weekend, when clearly all they have to do is look at their news feed and find all the details along with pictures entailing their lives. Traditionally we would regularly call each other, or go out of the way to catch up. Nowadays the urge to contact each other over the phone or even face to face isn’t as important because we feel like we are still connected via social networks ( Thomas, 2007). This idea of constantly being connected is awful in the way that personal interactions between friends are more superficial than they were before Facebook and other social networking sites. Users are also more likely to let more time pass between face to face encounters because they still feel like they are in contact as they constantly have tabs on all of their friends. A case study that was done in America revealed that â€Å" twenty-five percent of the respondents in the 2004 survey appear to have no close ties, up from ten percent in 1984. Additionally a similar study amongst college student found that â€Å"1 in 7 say that social networking sites increase feelings of isolation† (Katonda News Network, 2010) As well as â€Å"Nearly 70% report reading posts from someone close to them that seemed like a cry for emotional help, and while most students would offer support in some way, fewer than half would make a personal visit† (Katonda News Network , 2010). It is clear that the rise of social networks has increased social and emotional isolation and diluted the strength our human relationships. Workplace interference Social networking sites can have a negative impact in the workplace, for both employers for employees and future employees. They create distraction, decrease productivity, cost companies money, can jeopardise a company’s reputation and legal liability and for those users who don’t have their profiles set to private can often result in unemployment. If every employee in a 50-strong workforce spent 30 minutes on a social networking site every day, that would work out to a loss of 6,500 hours of productivity in one year! † (Kelleher, 2009). Social networking sites can also be damaging for prospective employees looking for work ,as facebook and MySpace are fantastic resources for companies as they offer revealing information about a candidate’s true colours. Several profiles often contain awkward and embarrassing information that job seekers would not want their future managers to know about themselves. According to a new study conducted by Harris Interactive for CareerBuilder. com, 45 percent of employers questioned are using social networks to screen job candidates† (Wortham, 2009).. Moreover, there have been many instances where personal status updates or blog posts have hurt or damaged a companies reputation, thus seeing many employees loose their jobs over mindless updates that they didn’t think twice about. For example in 2010, Jaguar ambassador and swimmer Stephanie Rice tweeted â€Å"Suck on that f**gots,† (Robertson, 2010) after a rugby game the Wallabies had won. Many twitter users and public figures referred to it as a gay slur and even after a public apology, Jaguar Australia general manager Kevin Goult announced that â€Å"Jaguar Australia today terminated its relationship with Stephanie Rice, who has been an ambassador for the Jaguar brand in Australia since the start of 2010. †(Robertson, 2010). Another fine example of one employee who damaged his reputation before he even stared at his new job was a Cisco employee who tweeted â€Å"Cisco just offered me a job! Now I have to weigh the utility of a fatty pay check against the daily commute to San Jose and hating the work† It wasn’t long before Tim Levad, a channel partner advocate for Cisco Alert, shared this open response, â€Å"Who is the hiring manager. I’m sure they would love to know that you will hate the work. We here at Cisco are versed in the web. †( Popkin, 2009)It is clear that social networking sites can have a damaging effect on not only employees but the companies themselves. Users are unfortunately unaware that everything they post on their profile is public information and even if your profile is set to private your boss or work colleagues may still be fronted with this information at some stage in the future. As social networking sites become more popular by the day, the rise of negative social effects within our society also greaten. We have and will see further instances of cyber bullying; more cases of identity theft and additional privacy breaches. We will also see our strong relationships diluted to a more superficial and ‘convenient’ type of relationship. We will continue to see a further decrease in productivity within workplace and also more instances of company’s reputations and names being brought into disrepute. Social networking sites have had a huge negative impact on our mental and social health and will continue to do so into the future. It is also now evident that social networking sites facilitate all these problems, and without them they would cease to exist. Therefore it is undeniably true that Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, and the like do in fact cause more harm than good. References: Acquisti, A amp; R, Gross. (2006).

We Should Skydive To Work :: essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Standing in the doorway of the plane I still felt grounded. The equipment weighed heavily on my back, the floor pressed against my feet, and the straps pulled on my legs and shoulders. Looking down the only thing I saw was the world in a collage of colored dots as I made sure I spotted my target for landing. My phobia of heights and flying suddenly hit me like a railroad train. I could feel my heart beat from all parts of my body. Gradually, my fears turned into excitement as I longed for the freedom of flight, I leapt. Touching nothing but air I felt the exhilarating rush of adrenaline as I soared through the sky at 120 miles per hour. I was in control. My every nerve tingled with excitement. That smooth collage of color miles below may be where I lived but this was where I was most alive! For sixty seconds of eternity I was completely free of all worldly concerns; it was just me and the sky. Skydiving is an activity and sport in which people jump out of an aircraft, alone or in groups, and land by using a parachute. Because of the sensation of leaping into the air and free-falling some distance before opening their parachutes, skydivers usually experience a rush of adrenaline and then a peaceful sense of well-being. This feeling of calm lasts long after they land on the ground. Before feeling that calm however, my mind was like many people’s out there, and I could not understand why I had convinced myself to jump out of a perfectly good airplane. I assumed that only reckless stuntmen skydive, and that it was the most dangerous thing a person could experience. Now that I have actually jumped out of a plane, I can easily disagree with the doubts of non-skydivers. Although skydiving may be seen as dangerous or even careless, it is actually one of the safest extreme sports, even researched to be safer than driving a car. Why do people see skydiving as particularly dangerous? First of all, be honest: It’s not bowling. A skydiver, after all is jumping out of an airplane and hurtling 12,000 feet towards the ground at 120 miles per hour. The most common reason why people see skydiving as so dangerous is because it is a popular phobia among people. Acrophobia, or the fear of heights, is one of the top phobias in the world. We Should Skydive To Work :: essays research papers   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Standing in the doorway of the plane I still felt grounded. The equipment weighed heavily on my back, the floor pressed against my feet, and the straps pulled on my legs and shoulders. Looking down the only thing I saw was the world in a collage of colored dots as I made sure I spotted my target for landing. My phobia of heights and flying suddenly hit me like a railroad train. I could feel my heart beat from all parts of my body. Gradually, my fears turned into excitement as I longed for the freedom of flight, I leapt. Touching nothing but air I felt the exhilarating rush of adrenaline as I soared through the sky at 120 miles per hour. I was in control. My every nerve tingled with excitement. That smooth collage of color miles below may be where I lived but this was where I was most alive! For sixty seconds of eternity I was completely free of all worldly concerns; it was just me and the sky. Skydiving is an activity and sport in which people jump out of an aircraft, alone or in groups, and land by using a parachute. Because of the sensation of leaping into the air and free-falling some distance before opening their parachutes, skydivers usually experience a rush of adrenaline and then a peaceful sense of well-being. This feeling of calm lasts long after they land on the ground. Before feeling that calm however, my mind was like many people’s out there, and I could not understand why I had convinced myself to jump out of a perfectly good airplane. I assumed that only reckless stuntmen skydive, and that it was the most dangerous thing a person could experience. Now that I have actually jumped out of a plane, I can easily disagree with the doubts of non-skydivers. Although skydiving may be seen as dangerous or even careless, it is actually one of the safest extreme sports, even researched to be safer than driving a car. Why do people see skydiving as particularly dangerous? First of all, be honest: It’s not bowling. A skydiver, after all is jumping out of an airplane and hurtling 12,000 feet towards the ground at 120 miles per hour. The most common reason why people see skydiving as so dangerous is because it is a popular phobia among people. Acrophobia, or the fear of heights, is one of the top phobias in the world.

The Journal of Community Informatics

Introduction The world has seen a lot of natural disasters to last a lifetime. These disasters leave us with ‘spill over’ effects that could last for many years. Our resources are depleted; we lose billions worth of property and assets and, worst of all, we lose countless lives. These can be attributed to the unpreparedness of a country in facing the aftermath of natural disasters. The level of destruction after a natural disaster depends not just on the magnitude of the disaster, but on the quality of infrastructure construction and disaster preparedness in areas where these disasters tend to hit.Anderson Cooper, a reporter during Hurricane Katrina’s wake in the United States says that hunger, dead bodies left on the streets and the damages done on properties show what unpreparedness can do. Lakoff adds that â€Å"we are not prepared† for other disastrous events that might follow, whether tornado or hurricane or flood. It is very imperative for us to know how to prepare and what kind of natural disaster we need to prepare for (06). However, there seems to be poor coordination between the local and central government when it comes to preparing for these disasters.Debates ensued about who does its responsibilities and who does not. Coordination between these two agencies must be established if we are to minimize or be prepared for any incidents (Tufton 05). Gurstein (05) says that transmission of information is very important in being prepared for the disasters. He adds that whatever technological means available should make way for outputs that can be interpreted and used effectively at the local level. Moreover, warning systems and preparedness should be supported even in the local level to allow the communities to â€Å"absorb and adapt such information into ways that could be locally useful.† According to the constructionist critique, organized claims-making activities produce ways of defining and labeling natural hazards an d disasters. This means that social processes that give way to public education about disasters are important to understand the disasters and not just what happens or could happen. For instance, one analysis of the earthquake problem shows how views on the severity of the earthquake threat and strategies for managing seismic risk were a result of a small group of earthquake establishment.Moreover, the institutional interests of scientific disciplines which focus on the study of earthquakes channel the social construction of the earthquake problem. The constructionist perspective focuses on the importance of finding out the social activities that interest groups and stakeholders engage with while also focusing on disaster-related problems and looking for the response they want from governments and institutions. Moreover, the constructionist view says that the properties of disasters are not inherent in the phenomenon but are the product of social definition.Following the disasters wh ich struck Japan, other events that have to do with failures of technology and of technological control systems have impacted Japan so much. But in the case of disaster research tradition, disasters do not result from the failure of systems to adapt to environmental extremes. Earthquakes in Japan Natural disasters are events which lead to unfavorable outcomes. These include earthquakes, tsunamis, floods, volcanic eruption, hurricanes, storms, tornadoes and many more. Earthquakes are tremors, or movements, of the earth’s surface caused by the release of stress along fault lines.This release of stress produces movement in masses of rocks which eventually leads to shock waves. The Richter scale was developed to measure the magnitude of seismic waves. But even if there were researches and equipment designed for the earthquake, still it is impossible to predict an earthquake. It is inevitable that more earthquakes will visit Japan again and again. Japan has experienced natural dis asters more than any other country did, earthquakes being the most common because of the country’s geographical position. It is situated in a zone where one plate is being forced beneath another plate.Moreover, it is the meeting point of two pieces of the giant Pacific plate, which move in different directions alongside each other. These causes earthquakes to visit Japan very often. Most of these are very minor, although there are strong earthquakes from time to time. It is the strong earthquakes that the experts and public officials were concerned about. Japan became one of the leading countries in developing technologies to predict the occurrence of earthquakes. Satellite remote sensing technologies can now monitor the environment and provide basis for disaster warning.More advances in the performance of the networking technologies have made it possible to open new opportunities for the utilization of data gathered. However, prediction and forecasts of earthquakes are still not very accurate. Other seasonal and frequent disasters, on the other hand, can be forecasted and predicted more easily. But the most important thing is that planning should be done to mitigate the effects of these disasters. Perhaps one of the worst earthquakes to hit Japan happened during September of 1923, in Tokyo and Yokohama.The earthquake damaged hundred thousand homes and buildings, and the fires that followed had more damage done. More than one hundred and forty thousand people perished during this quake. The heat of the fires also caused tornado-like winds. Other people died because the fires sucked all the oxygen in the area. The more recent earthquake to be recorded was on January 17, 1995 in Kobe, Japan. The earthquakes began in the densely populated areas in the wee hours of the morning. The Kobe earthquake, measured 7. 2 shindo, destroyed newly built and old establishments, dikes, ports, killed people and created ravaging fires that were out of control.Japan’ s Preparedness and Monitoring Being prepared for any disaster does not stop after a disaster passed by. It is a continuous process. It requires people to make efforts. The public and its government must be well prepared, especially when it comes to coping with these events. The need to minimize, if not to totally eliminate disasters and the possible after effects, spearheaded the many researches and studies which eventually led to the invention and development of a wide array of systems and technological tools available today. This further improved the preparedness system of Japan.With the use of hi-tech equipment, Japan made sure to erect structures that are disaster resistant. Moreover, buildings and homes can be reinforced inexpensively to the individual, company, or state to withstand the effects of earthquakes or other disasters. Communication also became important in all aspects of being prepared. Thankfully, the Internet facilitated enhanced communication and exchange of info rmation. Communication between governments and agencies became easier and faster. Japan believes that it is one key factor in the success of their preparedness system.Many conferences were held which discussed various topics that concern technological systems and advancements for forecasting natural disasters. Japan has funded many researches and projects when it comes to prevention of disasters. There has been an education for natural disaster preparedness in Natural Asia-Pacific, which focuses on gathering, developing and disseminating information. The Japanese country has improved its preparedness system by continuously researching and studying technologies to monitor the possible occurrence of natural disasters.Several technologies have been adapted to monitor any anomalous conditions. The use of Internet and satellite data for monitoring and forecasting natural hazards became the foundation for many Japanese agencies to avoid any unfavorable outcomes. Japan’s preparednes s system consists of conducting projects and initiatives to monitor and prepare for earthquakes. The National Space Development Agency of Japan (NASDA) developed the i-Space Project for disaster management. The project uses space technology for monitoring disaster and information networking.It targets natural disasters, particularly large-scale earthquakes in Tokai. It develops experiment system and conducts pilot experiments using Jet-plane and handy cameras. These technological advancements proved to be helpful in doing what they were designed for. Benson and Clay say that â€Å"natural hazards warrant more serious consideration in the formulation of national economic policies and strategies† (04). Planning and assessment must be done to reduce any risk. Right at this moment, thousands of separate technological tools are being used around the world.These tools are not designed to talk to each other. But if they are linked as a system of bigger systems, the benefits will be far from what we can dare to hope. Due to the fact that people around the world will benefit, there is a need for an urgent development of a comprehensive global system. This will enable countries to save billions of dollars. The aftermath of what happened in Kobe in 1995 tells the Japanese to always be prepared for what might happen. They know it is going to happen, but not when or where (Petersen 07). This is where the technological tools will be helpful.The use of satellite in monitoring plays an important role in revealing geological structures such as active faults, which points to the movements of different areas of the Earth surface. Certain technological developments have also helped vulcanologists to be skillful at predicting when a certain volcano will erupt, and this also leads to prediction of an earthquake that might follow. Satellite images would reveal any active faults that might be connected to earthquake centers. There are also several methods of direct involving o f fault parameters in seismic zoning.GIS and data bases are also important when using satellite data for monitoring natural hazards. Last year, Japan launched one of the world’s largest natural disaster-monitoring satellites. As early as September 2005, the rocket launch was ready, but technical problems and bad weather prevented the Japanese from launching it into space. The satellite was named Advanced Land Observing Satellite (ALOS), one of the many satellites that Japan plans to launch. ALOS can capture images from areas where natural disasters hit.Moreover, it will be useful in drafting maps and surveying the natural resources. The Japanese government plans to share whatever information with other Asian, European and Indian agencies. As a leading country in inventing technologies, Japan’s launching of the ALOS was very important in the space programme. However, the present situation shows that it is not possible or difficult to grasp situations when it comes to la rge-scale earthquakes and to coordinate overall management, to use public communications and to access disaster information.The Japanese people realize the importance of education and preparedness as significant factors in reducing the vulnerability of a country to these disasters. This led to education programs about disaster awareness and was suggested to be taught in all schools and workplaces. There were also programs such as disaster awareness, preparedness and education spearheaded by governmental and non-governmental organizations. These programs were first promoted at the grassroots level for effectiveness. Scientists in Japan also work side by side the groups and individuals in the country, assisting in the programs.Disastrous events such as hurricanes, floods, droughts, tsunamis, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions create damages to our lives. Although no amount of preparation can stop these events from happening, their effects can be minimized by knowing when and where the y will strike and knowing the best response to the victims. Improvement in predicting these disasters minimizes the substantial loss and damage to life and properties and helps the government to be fully equipped in emergency responses.Thankfully, some countries have contributed to technological advancements that became useful in being prepared, especially Japan where most of earthquake activities take place. Satellites became significant in observing weather forecasting and any changes that might signal any upcoming disaster. The computer boom also made it possible for experts to be accurate in predicting formation of natural disasters. Information has been disseminated and helped the countries tremendously.These technologies for preparedness and monitoring in Japan have revolutionized the way people respond to the many natural disasters the earth experiences, particularly earthquakes. For this reason, the people can now breathe much better because they know that they can be warned before a disaster strike and the technologies available can provide them information on how to be prepared and to respond to the crisis. WORKS CITED Gurstein, Michael. â€Å"Tsunami Warning Systems and the Last Mile Towards Community Based and ICT Enabled Disaster Response Systems.† The Journal of Community Informatics I. 2 (2005): 14-17. Lakoff, Andrew. †From Disaster to Catastrophe: The Limits of Preparedness. † 11 Jun 2006. Ministerial Conference on Environment and Development in Asia and the Pacific 2000 Japan. â€Å"Natural Disasters. † 31 August-5 September 2000. Putnam, Laurie. â€Å"By Choice or by Chance: How the Internet is Used to Prepare for, Manage and Share Information about Emergencies. † First Monday 7. 11 (2002) Tufton, Chris. â€Å"Courting Disasters. † Jamaica Cleaner 23 Oct. 2005.

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