Possible Danger of Posting Personal Information in Networking - Research Paper Example

Introduction Online interactive media enables social interaction between users, users and publishers and users and businesses (Humphreys, 2007). Digital networks have generated new work practices, new social connections, structures and communities (James, 2007). Social networking has made virtually every young American a public figure. The social networking sites serve as the platform where the users freely advertise about themselves without restrictions. On such interactive sites, users are free to publish and this raises new issues pertaining to governance, risk privacy and consumer protection. On these sites the content creation of the users and the social interaction and networking between users are not separate. Both the activities take place in one environment and this poses a challenge to the policy developers. More than 50 percent of the teens use these social networking sites and do not appear to have reservations about balancing the privacy and awareness. The adults use it to remain connected and the businesses too derive benefits out of it. Despite the benefits, the pitfalls can be precarious. This paper will discuss whether this has led to a generational shift in how people relate between private and public space. Web 2.0 Web 2.0 is the second generation of web-based services and tools that emphasize online sharing collaboration among users. It is no longer a place that holds static pages; it is no longer a “medium” that people come to. The web pages are now dynamic and organized and based on serving web applications to users. It is now a platform that enables or delivers Web based services to users, independent of the computer they use. Web 2.0 has no ‘walled gardens’ which implies information can freely flow in and out of the web services (James, 2007). There is a rich user experience and data organization; it provides services and has characteristics that support and enhance interaction among users. Web 2.0 helps to create websites that look and can act like desktop programs. Examples of web 2.0 include Blogs and Wikis, IM Chat, tagging, RSS Feeds, Google Maps and Docs. Photos and video sharing and social networking are the web 2.0 tools, social office suites and podcasts (Carpenter & Steiner, 2005). Social networking sites Lenhart and Madden (2007) describe social networking site as an online location where users can create a profile and build a social network that connects him or her to other users. As of 2005 there are over three hundred known social networking sites. In the last five years the growth of such sites has been phenomenal and it keeps tens of millions of users engaged on the internet. This has generated concern among the parents, school officials and the government leaders about the risks involved when people post personal information on these sites although 66% of the youth claim that their profile cannot be viewed by just anyone on the internet. Concept of public space The youth use these sites to access public life. It is difficult to define 'public' or 'private' without referring to the other (Boyd, 2007). The meaning of public or private is quickly changing and the society lacks the language, social norms and the structures to handle it. New social technologies have greatly altered the underlying architecture of social interaction and informal distribution. The adults do not understand the shift that is taking place and hence do not like what is happening around. The educators feel these social technologies are only corrupting and destroying the youth. At the same time, a new group of educators is emerging which believes that it essential to embrace these new technologies so that the youth can be guided out of the murky waters. Teenagers are at the highest risk because they try to put on a false image with the intention of impressing those in power. Teens use it for socialization rather than crave for adult acceptance. They even try to set up a false profile hiding their names, age and other details. They consider it their persona; space and feel free to use it the way they want. They do not consider anything personal or anything that they would like to hide. They are more vocal and expressive than what people were two decades ago. Benefits People post information about themselves and their library and this is an opportunity to meet or interact with people having similar interests. One has the option to accept the offer for friendship or decline. Some of the popular social networking sites include MySpace, FaceBook, Friendster and Linkedin. Research reveals that 55% of all American youth between 12 and 17 years of age use social networking (Lenhart & Madden). Approximately 48 percent of the teens visit the social networking sites daily out of which 26% visit once a day and 22% visit several times a day. Social networking has permeated the lives of the adults as well and it has been found that professors and librarians use social networking as well. Forty percent of the user base of MySpace comprises of those between 35 and 54 years of age. All of these sites are free and it is easy to create it as well. Various options are available where one can choose to remain public or maintain privacy. Different communities and forums are also available to become a member of within the network. The profile carries details like religious preference, marital status, political preference and one can even host their pictures. These social networking sites serve different purpose to the users. While students use it to develop and maintain contacts with other students, librarians use it to announce new library services and resources. Students also exchange views on the library and e-resources. To develop their contacts, students market their page as well. The social networking site Facebook has its focus on education and its requirements are that members must be affiliated with a recognized English-speaking university which can be verified by having an email address from that institution. It has audience of more than 34 million users and connects people from the elite universities to a massive billion dollar business. It is an education site built for and by the university students. Social interactions form the core of Facebook’s design and the design defines the nature of the community. The privacy options allow members to control who can or cannot view their profile, or who can send them notifications. They can even control what information about themselves can be sent out to the outside world. At the same time, trust and understanding are given importance. A member can share secrets within a trusted group of people. Members can also share information in the form of notes which are something blog posts. Members are allowed to add photographs and attach them to profiles, group networks or events. Such networking sites are an excellent communication tool. A member can catch up with an entire network immediately from a single page. Members can even adjust what sort of entries should be displayed on the first page (Downes, 2007). Teens say social networking helps them to manage their friendships and stay in touch with their friends who they rarely meet. They also use it to make new friends or plan out something with their friends. Girls are more prone to use these sites and the teens also use it to flirt (Lenhart & Madden). Most have their profiles posted and MySpace dominates the social networking sites. MySpace is open to anyone and users can create any type of profile and network they choose. FaceBook is still organized around the real world physical communities. This is the reason teen and especially girls prefer MySpace while the youth prefer FaceBook. These social networking sites provide several benefits to the users. While private messages can be exchanged between users, a user can also post messages. One of the potential benefits of the social networking is that the classroom walls can be extended to reach out to more than a billion internet users but these sites are subject to the whims and fancies of the host companies (Dron, 2006). The vast communities of users are not all friendly, reliable and honest. Marriage proposals are given to someone whom one has just met on the system. Internet field trips are beneficial but lack of control can lead to unprecedented dangers. Traditionally personal pursuits are being turned into public events but they often come back to haunt the revelers (PCWorld, 2006). Individuals project their online image through these sites. The image can have an instant impact on the prospective employer and strangers and it could even land one a great job. Pitfalls Boyd (2007) is not so confident of the benefits of these sites. Internet lacks walls and messages and conversations spread instantly; the text can be manipulated. Even with the latest development to protect and provide security, every digital wall has been destroyed by new technologies. Hence in these public spaces most feel nobody would come knocking at their door so they carry on with whatever they wish to do. Nevertheless, it puts most users at risk because it takes just one motivated explorer to track down even the most obscure networked public presence. The ‘friends’ list that the members display is not really friends but they create an imagined audience who they feel are a part of their world within the site. There are options whether to keep the profile personal or make it available to all. Apart from the friend’s list and the profile, there is the testimonials column where individuals can comment on their friends’ profile (Boyd). Public spaces have many purposes in social life. People can make sense of the social norms that regulate the society; people learn to express themselves and learn from others’ reactions. Social network sites do exactly this. The public space on social networking sites has certain characteristics which is not so in the physical public space. Whatever has been posted on the site remains documented even after years and even after one may have changed opinions. There are no chances of parents finding out where one is ‘hanging out’ and with which friends. Whatever is posted can be copied and pasted elsewhere as seldom copyright provision is available on these sites. Besides, the audience is invisible and they have access to material that was never meant for them. Social networking sites enable self-expression but the roles are sometimes in conflict. It can spread erroneous misinformation as happened as had occurred during the shoot out at Virginia Poly technique Institute (Gohring, 2007). A student’s site featured photos that appear to show him with a large gun collection. Immediately rumors spread that he was the shooter and he started receiving death threats. At another site, Livejournal.com security is not a priority (Newitz, 2004). Members post sensitive matters like their personal diary and these could include plans to commit suicide or plans against their boss. Attacking other people’s sites and unlocking the locked entries are very common. Although the co-founder of Linkedin claims that it protects its members from spoofing by creating an environment that forces people to deploy authentication methods but users claim that fake accounts are very common. The generational shift On the social networking sites users not only consume but they produce content through their interaction, which implies that developers and publishers are no longer the sole creators of content. Most social networking sites operate out of the US environments and the policy of free speech is deployed here too (Humphreys, 2007). Web 2.0 services have become infused into the personal lives of the people. It even demands a new learner-centered approach to education. The social networking sites help them stay connected. Staying connected is important because decisions are based on rapidly altering foundations (James, 2007). The users must possess the ability to distinguish between important and unimportant information. Oblinger (2006) says that the youth create the image they choose to portray using avatars and screen names. Apart from this, to enhance individualization, they also download collection of music, movies, and ringtones. Students do not understand the privacy policies, security and how the internet works. It has become a vehicle for mischief and abuse. Just to attract attention they make Facebook personas and make themselves appear as party animals or daredevils, even when they are not (Oblinger, 2006). Unknowingly they post information which should be kept personal and this affects their job opportunities or lead to legal difficulties. A study conducted by Patil and Kobsa (2005) to determine the preferences users have for balancing awareness with privacy, exhibited that participants had a strong preferences for managing privacy at the group level. Defining permissions at the group level provides the flexibility to manage the balance between awareness and privacy without any undue burden. This appears to denote that people want awareness and do not tend to be too secretive about themselves. Users would prefer to have control over how and when they would like to share their context. If they are provided greater user control over more sensitive aspects of awareness, users may feel comfortable to share such information via the system. The authors suggest that more transparency could build trust between members. Benefits and pitfalls for businesses Businesses use it to meet customers in their own environment as the environment is informal and intimate. The intention is to connect with a community that they have chosen. Small businesses use this to create new business opportunities. It supplements the traditional marketing methods with targeted messages aimed at attracting the particular segment and influencing the customer decisions. While it can reap rich dividends, social networking sites can also bring about huge damage to businesses (BCS, 2006). A community member can pour scorn over bad buying experience and the message spreads like wild fire. As long as businesses are aware of the pitfalls, the benefits far outweigh the negative impact and businesses can take advantage of the social networking revolution. However, Campbell (2007) is not quite sure of the benefits to businesses. She quotes the CEO of a search engine marketing firm as saying that unless the businesses have a clear social networking strategy in mind and the social networking sites they choose fit your target market, they could waste a lot of time and money. Nevertheless, some of the top food and beverage brands market their products on such sites that are popular with the teens. Downloadable TV shows were offered by Burger King on MySpace (Chester & Montgomery, 2007). The current generation has the ability to customize and personalize everything in their world and daily experience in ways that the previous generation could never do. The social networking sites have become powerful channels of reaching the youth and having them willingly and enthusiastically engaged with brands. MySpace provides demographic and psychographic data which is used by marketers to identify the brand preferences of the youth. MySpace is leveraging its online community into a peer-recommended framework that provides leads on anything and everything. Through their web spaces people define what they are and the benefit is derived by the advertisers. The social networking sites are also powerful platforms for political expression and participation. Conclusion Thus it is evident that while these sites do have a lot of benefits that both adults and teenagers could leverage, the dangers too are lurking. Governance and policies have to be in place as the youth today thinks that they possess this space and can use it the way they want. They either do not see reason in hiding the truth about themselves or they to put up a false image. These can lead to dire consequences. It is not true that most Americans are public figures because not all that is posted on these sites is the truth. People have a tendency to post their best portrait in order to impress others. There is a generational shift definitely in the way that the youth handles the public space than the baby boomers. This shift can be beneficial to the society in many ways but it requires control, education on privacy policies and the right governance. 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