Social Media & the Future of Friends: November 2013

Sunday, 24 November 2013

Harassment & Cyber bullying in Social Media

Harassment in social media comes in different forms, ranging from abuse of network access, online stalking, spamming and issuing threats. In a school setting this could be regarded as an extension of the act of bullying which is also a growing issue on social media. The act of cyberbullying is also a part of the online harassment and we will treat both under the same umbrella.[i]

The issue of online harassment usually involves unsolicited request, unwanted messages and threats from a known or an unknown stalker. In other words, the act of being followed online by a stranger who posts unsolicited messages could be regarded as an act of harassment.

It is important to note that online harassments are not limited to unknown people, those who are part of our friend connections can also be involved in an act of online harassment. For example, if a friend kept sending uncomfortable messages to you even when you have requested that they stop, then that is harassment. This activity can be joined by other friends or colleagues thereby leading to bullying across the board. This could lead to threats stemming from back and forth exchange of messages between the victim and the harassers/bullies.

Some of the ways to manage the issue of online harassment as suggested by the Queer Project includes:[ii]

Ignore the harasser/bullies
Restrict/block further contact with harassers
Report to the service provider
Report to the police
Change email account/social networking address

The Future of Friends:

With issues of privacy, security, harassment and cyberbullying plaguing the social media, friendship building in this media is still on the rise. However, there has never been more concern than there is at the moment concerning these issues.

It will be left to the future to tell what the impact of this issues will be to future friendship building on social media paltforms.

By: Michael E.

[i] David, M.S. (1999). Online Harassment. University Laboratory High School. Retrieved from http://education.illinois.edu/wp/crime/harassment.htm

[ii] Anonymous. (2012). Cyber Bullying: How to Prevent and Manage Online Harassment. The Queer Gathering. Retrieved from http://thequeerproject.wordpress.com/2012/02/27/cyber-bullying-how-to-prevent-and-manage-online-harassment/

Issues of Security in Social Media

This is another area of concern for social media users, considering the identified privacy concerns; the issue of security could not be far-fetched from it. If people have little or no control to the activities that goes on online such as restriction of third party information sharing, restrict information gathering and deletion of information, it leaves room for security concern.

Also, on the issue of security is the challenge of identity cloning and theft. The social media is plagued with so many cloned identities and this has led to people connecting with the wrong personalities different from whom they thought it was. According to Robert Siciliano, identity cloners could use the information gotten about you to recreate another you living your life in another location. It is believed that the “days of don’t talk to strangers are over” as strangers now pose as friends online. [i] This is a serious security issue with social media networking for kids, teens and adults who could get preyed upon by pedophiles and identity theft scammers posing as unsuspecting connection or friend.

By: Michael E.

[i] Robert, L. (2013). Identity Cloning. IDTheftSecurity.com. Retrieved from http://www.videojug.com/interview/identity-cloning-2

Issues of Privacy in social Media

The focus of this research is to understand how the issue of privacy is affecting friendship in the virtual world of social media. "We live in a celebrity generation where people want to be more famous than cautious," said Prof. Richardson of the University of Toronto. The challenge of privacy in social media is a recurring topic of debate in business, academic and personal information safety. In some school of thought, the issue of privacy in social media is not different from normal life challenges bordering on privacy violations. However, it is important to analyse both worlds from the implication; the impact of privacy issues in social media is bigger and has a wider reach than the non-virtual world.

Privacy challenges in social media can easily be understood from the research by the Lancaster University in UK.[1] The research identified in three points the bane of privacy concerns with using social media sites as follows:

Does not allow the user to choose whether the social media site could gather information on the user.
It also deprives the user the opportunity to prevent information being shared with third party.
Users can not trace details on which items were shared by the sites with third parties.

By: Michael E.

[1] http://phys.org/news/2013-05-social-media-plagued-privacy-problems.html#jCp

Challenges of Facebook,Twitter and Youtube on Friendship

YouTube is different than Facebook and Twitter it is still another social media outlet that is popular with all ages. YouTube allows anyone to post videos and comments. YouTube allows people to subscribe to someone’s channels, comment and even send them emails.

It is a good way to build connections, we see people become famous over night after posting YouTube channels and people with talent often find themselves being contacted by people that can help them. This just shows another way for people to connect over the web.

· Being over the web it is hard to show expression and there is no body language to read while interacting with friends. The problem with this is people often don’t know if you are being sarcastic, if you’re mad, etc… it is hard to tell someone’s emotion over the internet.
· According to a Study by VitalSmarts there has been an increase in social media usage and 78 percent reported an increase in rudeness online. And one in five people have reduced their face-to-face contact with someone they know in real life after an online insistent.
· People are able to hide behind a computer and say things that they usually wouldn’t say to someone’s face because there is a sense of protection behind social media accounts.
· People are also able to post anything they want, pictures, comments and much more. There was reports in the study that there have been fights about certain pictures friends posted and comments that were posted
· The average youth ages 8 to 18 averages 6-plus hours a day of activity on social media.
· Fifty four percent of teens send text messages and one third of teens send more than 100 texts per day. Basically all this Social media and increase with technology we are seeing kids become less interactive with people face to face. We are losing communication skills and in return this is affecting friendship building.

Future in friendship building through social media

· There is an increase in use of social media use and the trend seems that it is only getting more popular with companies making social media accounts, etc…
· There are even websites that ask for Facebook logins in order to keep track of customers and their spending habits.
· We are meeting new virtual friends that we have not met face to face but have mutual friends over social media outlets.
· In the future we will kids even younger using a lot of different social media outlets as well.

By: Braydon C.

Social Media and Friendship (2)

Being over the web is hard to show expressions and there is no body language to read while interacting with friends. The problem with this is people often do not know if you are being sarcastic, sad or angry. It is very hard to tell someone’s emotion over the Internet, which can pose another challenge of friendship building over the web. According to a study by VitalSmarts there has been an increase in social media usage and 78% reported an increase in rudeness online. Also one in five people have reduced their face-to-face contact with someone they know in real life after an online insistent.[1]

This shows how social media is changing the way we react to friendship and how we build new ones. The average youth ages 8 to 18 averages 6 plus hours a day of activity in social media that’s ¼ of a day spent online interacting with others. Fifty four percent of teens send text messages and one third of teens send more than 100 texts per day. With technology changing and social media becoming increasingly popular we are spending more time on the web talking through the web rather than in person.

By: Braydon C.

[1] http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/friendships-cut-short-social-media-article-1.1312747

How Social Media affects friendship

Social media has changed the way friendships are created and even affect some friendships positively and negatively. With the introduction of so many social media outlets such as Twitter, Facebook and YouTube we are now able to connect with people without having to meet face to face. Twitter and Facebook are pretty similar in the way followers and friends are built online. For example, anyone can connect with someone who has a twitter account by clicking the follow button and on Facebook someone can connect with a user by requesting a friend request.

We can now make new friends worldwide without knowing a single thing about them. Twitter gives us a feed about someone’s feelings, what they are up to and even pictures or videos. Facebook allows you to add someone as a friend view pictures, status updates, what they like (music, movies, TV shows and much more) and you can also use Facebook chat to talk with the other person. Friendship building can now be done behind a computer or cell phone there is less need to go meet with the person at a coffee shop or out for drinks. One can now find out anything about their friends online.

There are obviously challenges that come with this because the web can mask a lot of things. Without the face-to-face interaction we don’t really get to see ones actions over a computer.

By: Braydon C.

Global Connections in the Classroom

Social media and staying globally connected have introduced a new way for students to share, collaborate and exchange information across the world, despite distance limitations. International connectivity is enhanced with the ability for students and teachers to share discuss and build upon and learn better from content, information, experiences and perspectives of students and teachers across the world.[1] Global Connections that exist in the classroom are made easy through Pen Pals, international collaborative projects, international study and studying abroad, international educators etc. This is a major learning experience for students and teachers alike, and can significantly enhance the classroom dynamic.

In the Future

It is hard to say exactly what the future of social media is. Majority of the social media sites are still in their infancy and have much room to grow. There are constantly changes in popularity of social media networks. The social media environments change so a snapshot of the environment will not remain current for long. Social media also changes across countries and impacts each culture differently.

By: Michelle P.

[1] http://e4gi.weebly.com/social-media--web-20-in-the-classroom.html

Global Difference in Social Media

Although social media is a great way to connect with those miles away for you, many social media networks differ across the world so to connect with people in other countries you must adapt what you do on social media. According to Cindy King and The Social Media Examiner, cultural differences impact the way people use social media. Below are some common insights from social media users across the world. [1]

Hesitation – Some countries are hesitant to join social media and observe others before engaging
Networking – Some countries use social media sites such as Facebook and LinkedIn as an essential tool for networking whereas others don’t
Shyness – Many social media outlets are adding features that make it easier to make friends

By: Michelle P.

[1] http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/international-social-media/

Global Connections Impacting Friendship

Social media is a great, inexpensive and efficient way for people globally to stay connected. People can stay connected with friends and family across the world more easily with social media outlets including Facebook, Skype, Twitter, Instagram etc. Friends and families are able to share photos and have inexpensive chats and phone calls online. Communicating is made easy through social media, as you are able to send messages, post comments or chat with others in real time. Another feature of many social media networks is status updates. It allows you to let all the people in your social network know what activities you participate in on a day to day basis and what you’re thoughts and opinions are, and opens it up for your friends to add their comments and opinions. People tend to live busy lifestyles with a lot to do throughout the day and it often becomes difficult to keep in touch with others. Connecting globally through social media allows you to add people as friends and provides an easy way to keep in touch with them.

By: Michelle P.

Security Issues in Social Media

The issue of fakester which involves creating false identity and in many cases multiple identities is a number one security issue affecting social media CNN "83 million facebook accounts are fake and dupes". The effect of security issues in social media as highlighted by Lucie V. & Aaron in the article "multiple identities trap the unwary online"^{^[i]} reveals how multiple identities online could lead to a no good act such as fraudsters, perverts etc. For example the death of a child was traced to an individual with over 200 cyber identities and I feel this speaks volume on the disadvantage of multiple identities. An issue like this leaves no choice for the society but to regard social media as an unsafe environment and not the right place to meet people and build friendship.

Another issue of concern that bothers on security is the issue of privacy in social media. Hacking and unsolicited requests from strangers and organisations is a security concern with social media. For example the issue of hacking has become very frequent on social media with friends request from people who are already on your friend list. Occurrences such as fake friend requests on social media can be very destructive to individual reputation. According to Ricks daily tips, the common phenomenal effect of accepting fake friend request is the perpetration of fraud "fraud"

By: Michael E.

[i] Lucie, V. & Aaron, L. (2010). Multiple identity traps the unwary online. Herald Sun. Retrieved from http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/multiple-identities-trap-the-unwary-online/story-e6frf7jo-1225848235640

Identity Issues on Social Media

The issue of identity in cyber world is a complicated experience to different personalities. Social media as most cyber environment is referred to has been the most vulnerable to the challenges experienced by members of the cyber world. The concept of multiple cyber identity has become a common norm in the social media world. People in the quest to join a virtual social group or connection often manipulate their identity to appeal to the target group or personality.

Dave Birch in his blog "Put your game face on"^{^[i]} identified that there is a normalcy to maintain multiple cyber identities than can be explained. He pointed out that anonymity in cyber space can make people to reveal little or more about their identity. To this end a fundamental objection to letting people have multiple identities in cyber world is that it can lead to no good intentions. Identity issues have been a problem in social media from the early years of the social cyber world. Friendster, one of the pioneers of social media with a noble idea to rate and increase individual access to the sites; led most of her registered members to multiple identity formation online to help break the barrier to increased access on the site.

The identity issue has led to the infamous fakester epidemic; however, it was for the advantage of gaining increased rating and access to social groups in the early days of social media. Recently events have shown that there are implications to this act irrespective of the intent of the fakester. The effect of multiple cyber identity was also highlighted in the article "multiple identities trap the unwary online". This reveals how multiple identities online could lead to a no good act such as fraudsters, perverts etc. The death of a child was traced to an individual with over 200 cyber identities and I feel this speaks volume on the disadvantage of multiple identities. "83 million facebook accounts are fake and dupes".^{^[ii]}

Your identity is very important today more than it was considered in the early days of social media, it impacts on every aspect of you virtual and real world existence. For example, online dating is now being organised to reveal more of the party’s identity through strings of questions. The resultant effect of identity issues online to the future of friendship can be explained better from the impact thus far.

Friendship will become very difficult to cultivate judging from various recommendations on choosing and developing friendship on social media.
Identity issue is likely to lead more people away from the much buzz about meeting and developing friendship online back to traditional methods of relationship building.
The challenge of fake identity online keeps changing in style and unsuspecting victims such as teens and adults too could be miss-led into dangerous friendship.
The issue of trust in social media friendship in the future is a challenge that is currently and will continue to face friendship development online

By: Michael E.

[i] David, B. (2010). Put on you game face. Digital identity blog. Retrieved from http://digitaldebateblogs.typepad.com/digital_identity/2010/12/put-your-game-face-on.

[ii] Heather, K. (2012). 83 million facebook accounts are fake and dupes. CNN. Retrieved from http://www.cnn.com/2012/08/02/tech/social-media/facebook-fake-accounts/index.html

Fraud in Social Media

Fraud has become a big issue on the web as well, there is identity theft which is so easily done over Facebook by making a fake account, twitter, LinkedIn almost any social media outlet doesn't require any identification just an email. There are scams being done over Facebook pages as well, people taking advantage of credit card numbers and finding other ways to scam people. For example recent events on Facebook identity theft has led to fraud being perpetrated with stolen identity of friends. ^{^[i]}

By: Braydon C.

[i] Rob, P. (2013). Q&A: How to avoid a facebook scam? Be a skeptic. USA Today. Retrieved from http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2013/03/03/facebook-scam-timeline-social-media/1953975/

Challenges of Cyber bullying in Social Media

Social media has become part of young teen’s everyday lives. There has been a huge increase in social media usage over the past 5 years and more cases of cyber bullying and fraud in social media. Cyber bullying involves two or more parties constantly harassing a person or persons. Cyber fraud is also becoming another big problem with people using fake identities, stealing credit card numbers and money over the web. This is becoming a huge concern with the increase in people using social media outlets.

Dealing with cyber bullying is often going to vary depending on the situation. But not only does cyber bullying exist in classrooms and in young teenagers but also adults in a professional work environment. There are now classes and ways for HR professionals to deal with cyber bullying in the workplace. There are 5 steps to containing cyber bullying:

Have clear goals that unite
Update policies
Teach cyber manners
Mobilize bystanders
Have an escalation process

The growing trend of cyber bullying on social networks with more than two-thirds of people aged 13-22 have been bullied online according to a study by charity ditch the label. Liam Hackett has created a charity to help raise awareness about cyber bullying. He believes by raising awareness we can all help to put an end to people hiding behind computer screens and bullying. Facebook and twitter were the most popular sources of cyber bullying. 54% of those using Facebook have reported cyber bullying on the network according to Hackett’s survey.

Schools have also begun to implement a way to curb cyber bullying by educating the students and staff about cyber bullying and how it can affect the person, their friends and family. Almost every state now has requirements for schools to establish bullying prevention and intervention programs. Schools have now implemented steps to prevent cyber bullying and have developed clear rules how to handle the situation. Also, propriety software with cloud based subscription is being introduced to help detect cyber bullying predator activity and any personal information request of children. Any message related to sex, drugs, alcohol and suicide will send text alerts to parents within seconds.

By: Braydon C.

Social Media Impact on Friendship

People tend to say things “behind a computer screen” which they wouldn't say in a conversation in person. Finally, we’ve all experienced the friends that claim they are too busy to call each other or arrange to meet in person, yet they spend hours on social media sites.^{^[i]}

On the other hand, there are many arguments to prove that Facebook and Twitter have positively impacted relationships and friendship building. Thanks to Facebook and Twitter, many people have gotten back in touch with friends from their past, shared photos and become better acquainted with people they otherwise wouldn’t have offline. These social media sites allow friends and relatives to share with each other easily, through statuses, pictures, videos, music etc. and essentially eliminates the effect of distances between friends and family. Social media users can actually make new friends by joining virtual groups based on common interests, tastes and hobbies and establish and develop new friendships. Finally, Facebook and Twitter can increase your social capital because you can interact and communicate with more people online.

Social media is still in its infancy. There has been much research and studies conducted on the way Facebook, Twitter affect our relationships, but so far, it is only for the short term. In 10, 20, 30 years from now, it will be interesting to see whether our virtual friendships will outlast our real friendships.^{^[ii]}

^{^{By: Michelle P.}}

[i] Elizabeth, B. (2009). How Facebook ruins friendship. The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved from http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052970204660604574370450465849142

[ii] Perri, L. (2012). How facebook affects our relationships. Psychologies Magazine. Retrieved from http://www.psychologies.co.uk/self/what-is-facebook-doing-to-our-relationships.html

Status Building on Facebook & Twitter

There is a common debate on whether social media outlets such as Facebook and Twitter negatively or positively affect relationships you have with your acquaintances, friends and family and the impact these sites have on your personal status. Since the introduction of social media, we have seen both sides of this argument to be proven. Social media is still in its infancy, only time will tell how it will impact our friendship development in the future.

Some may argue that Facebook and Twitter negatively affects relationships and friendship development. Typing leaves behind essential tools of communication including body language and voice inflection. This creates a barrier when communicating with others and often causes problems and misunderstandings. ^{^[i]} Also, people you know often seem different online, displaying personalities you’ve never seen before. Status updates and posts on social media can lead to jealousy, ruining friendships for example, when others post about their work, wedding, kids, wife/husband, or vacation. Another negative aspect of social media is discussed by New York social media consultant, Yianna Garcia, stating "Facebook prolongs the period it takes to get over someone, because you have an open window into their life, whether you want to or not, you see their updates, their pictures and their relationship status."

By: Michelle P.

[i] Hickman, T.L. (2013). Is Facebook Destroying Our Friendships? Retrieved from http://www.toughloveanswers.com/friendship/is-facebook-destroying-our-friendships-8-glitches-in-social-media-communication-that-are-negatively-affecting-our-friendships.html