The emergence and popularity of social networking sites has been seen as
a triumph of the technological age but what does it tell us about the
world in which we live? First things first social networking is here to
stay. Yesterday it was Myspace; today its Twitter. Almost fifty per cent
of all online users are involved in such activities. The question is
what does the popularity of such sites tell us? A recent survey carried
out in United States shows that the amount of time spent by people on
such websites has risen by a meteoric 83 per cent since this time last
year users spent almost 14 billion minutes in April on such sites in the
US alone.
There is certainly a positive side to this phenomenon. A recent study suggests that the moderate use of such sites can help to increase productivity in the workplace. According to the Consumer Internet Barometer, a Conference Board quarterly survey based on 10,000 US households, more and more people are logging on to Facebook and such like from their place of work.
Online social networks are more than just a fad among the younger generation, said Lynn Franco, director of The Conference Board Consumer Research Centre in a statement. Theyve become an integral part of our personal and professional lives. Theyre an effective way to keep in touch with people, connect with friends and family, and network with colleagues.
This sensation has more than just changed the way in which individuals communicate, but has also revolutionised the way in which a growing number of companies are conducting their business. Whilst the majority of companies are trying to come up with new and more cost effective ways of stopping their employees from logging on to such sites; an increased minority of chief executives are using the social networking phenomenon to connect with their customers on a level beyond the traditional customer surveys and complaints forms.
Some big businesses are recognising the value of social media by employing dedicated employees to handle their interaction with these communities. Car company Ford appointed Scott Monty as its head of social media and he has already amassed almost 20,000 followers on Twitter.
Were increasing brand awareness and changing perceptions, even if just one person at a time. Were also humanising the company, allowing people to connect directly with the people of Ford and were giving consumers the ways to interact with each other about our products. The end result is that people begin to see that Ford is different, Monty said, in an interview with The Times. Proctor&Gamble and Coca Cola are also companies who have creating dedicated social media departments.
If we think about it, Facebook, with its 200 million users can give companies information that advertising agencies could only dream about. Using transparent information companies can target customers in ways never seen before. Facebook knows who your friends are, where you live, what you are interested in, where you go on holiday and the groups and networks you belong to. This is where the problems become apparent.
Users are often unaware of the level of vulnerability at which they are putting themselves the minute they sign up to such networks and begin to update their personal information.
New plans drawn up by the UK's home office outline the intention to allow security services to monitor and store the private correspondence of the millions of people who use social networking sites. Ministers revealed that they were considering policing messages sent via sites such as Facebook and Myspace, alongside plans to store information about every phone call, e-mail and Internet visit made by everyone in the United Kingdom.
This is not the only thing that users have to be concerned about, as was highlighted in March when unidentified hackers gained access to the social networking site, Facebook, using legitimate accounts to contact other users who were then re-directed to sites containing harmful malware.
Greg Day, the principal security analyst for the Internet security company McAfee said When I was a child, the watchword was stranger danger, but social networking is all about making new friends. The downside of this is that we can no longer be sure that an electronic communication really came from our friend. We now need to treat the fun-sounding stuff we receive from people we know with the same degree of caution as we do from someone we dont.
The dangers of such platforms go beyond just viruses and such like. Minor social networking site Faceparty, announced that it had deleted a huge number of accounts of users over the age of 36 in a bid to cut down on the number of sex offenders misusing the site. By way of explanation for the deletion of accounts, the site released the following statement: we understand that only a minority of older users are sex offenders, but you must understand that we cannot tell which. The site went on to add, having discussed the use of our website with the home office and the police, and some pretty serious crimes caused by older users, we were left with no option but to terminate a huge amount of accounts without notice immediately-
The European Online Safety Survey, conducted for Microsoft by the independent market research agency Cross Tab, polled more than 20,000 people in Denmark, Finland, Italy, Ireland, Norway, Portugal, Spain and Switzerland.
The figures showed that Britain had the biggest problem with online bullying, with 4 in 10 of those polled being affected. In countries such as Italy, Spain and Portugal, almost 9 in 10 young people said they had never experienced any problems from their peers as they used social networking platforms.
John Mangelaars, vice president, consumer and online of Microsoft EMEA said, Todays web generation' are increasingly living out their lives in the digital arena. The advent of social media has helped our children become sophisticated web users, but they still need help and guidance on how to tackle emerging issues such as online bullying. The findings reveal worrying gaps in their Internet education.
The fact of the matter is that increasing numbers of both young and older people are living in a virtual world, devoid of real human interaction, to the detriment of actual personal relationships. Researchers at the Annenberg Centre for the Digital Future at the University of Southern California report that an increasing number of people say their use of the Internet, including social networking sites, is eroding away at the time they spend with their family.
The percentage of people who reported spending less time with their families because of the Internet nearly tripled from 11 per cent in 2006 to 28 per cent last year. The report also showed in the same time period, the amount of time families spent together each month fell from an average of 26 to 17.9 hours. Studies conducted both in the US and the UK showed that students who use Facebook achieve on average a grade lower than their peers who dont.
Do the advantages of this new virtual world, to which almost all of use have or have had some experience with outweigh the disadvantages? Is the opportunity to forge new business relations and friendships worth the sacrifice of real human relationships? Is a minor increase in productivity in the workplace worth the grave dangers in which people are putting themselves, their children and their personal information? I think most would agree that at the moment the answer is probably no. People, particularly young people, need to be made aware of these dangers and taught the best ways in which to avoid them.
Adil Morrison
15 July 2009
