Risks and Benefits of Social Networking Services - Essay Example

Risks and Benefits of Social Networking Services Social Networking services have gained a significant spot in the daily lives of individualsacross the globe. Today, almost every individual across the globe is connected to at least one social media site in some from or the other. For instance, social media has become a powerful mediator in terms of content creation, education as well as sharing of information and ideas on various websites. At the same time, critics have argued that social networking services have created various issues and caused negative impact top the overall society. In the present research, it was found that through social networking sites are hugely favourable among people, especially young adults; they have been ignoring various dangerous attributes of these networking services. Contents 1. Introduction 5 2. Literature Review 5 3. Methodology 6 4. Results and Discussion 6 5. Conclusion 12 5.1 Commentry 12 5.2 Limitation 12 Reference List 13 Appendix 15 List of Figures and Tables Figures Figure 1 Importance of social networking services.........................................................7 Figure 2 Popular SNS used by individuals.........................................................................8 Figure 3 Benefits of SNS to Business..................................................................................9 Figure 4 Benefits of SNS in new job creation...................................................................10 Figure 5 Perceived risks of using social networking services..........................................10 Figure 6 Negative impacts of SNS.......................................................................................11 Figure 7 Hacking and loss of confidential information...................................................11 Tables Table 1: Importance of social networking services................................................................7 Table 2: Popularity of different social media services among participants..................8 1. Introduction Social networking sites can be defined as virtual communities used by individuals for interacting and communicating with friends, families and also meeting new people based on similar or shared interests. Social networking services such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram have taken a critical important place in the lives of new age individuals. Apart from that, websites such as Facebook are known to increase the overall technical literacy of young adults. At the same time, these social media services are the cause of various positive and negative trends occurring in the society (Zafirovski, 2001). Therefore, it is important to understand the critical influence of these social media services so that negative consequences can be minimized and positive effects can be maximized. The objective of the present report is to understand the various risks and benefits of social networking sites. 2. Literature Review Recent research on usage of social networking services has suggested that the overall interest towards these sites is increasing in a substantial manner. At the same time, there contribution towards risks and benefits in an individual’s daily life is also heightened. The most common social networking services are instant messaging services, email and websites where information is shared. According to a recent survey conducted in 2011, it was revealed that almost 73 percent children as well as 47 percent adults are using these social networks (Red Crbit, 2013). Various benefits have been identified related to social media services and their usages (Cohn, 2010). By frequently using video clips, photographs and access to numerous articles, young adults gain a significant knowledge and understanding about the nature, production as well as usage of multiple content forms, most of which are still advanced for school education (Skaar, 2008). In the world where everything is connected in some form or the other, SNS has played a major role in the overall strengthening of social networking among individuals. For instance, life skills of teenagers are becoming advanced with the promotion of living standards and psychological health (Boase, et al., 2006). Furthermore, SNS has also the potential to enhance resilience among young people, enhance their overall ability to adapt as well as manage stressful and changing incidents successfully (Oliver, et al. 2006). SNS have also reduced unemployment by creating new industries and providing jobs to young adults (Nathan, 2011). Companies have gained visibility and expanded successfully though SNS. At the same time, SNS are associated with various risks. For instance, explicit and illegal websites are easily accessible to teenagers and children making them vulnerable (Gillis, 2010). Various cyber crimes such as loss of private and corporate information, predation and account hacks have increased significantly (Livingstone 2008). At the same time, individuals are highly ignorant of these activities and continue using dangerous websites (Larsson, 2011). Therefore, it can be said that though SNS has become an important part of our lives by giving various benefits to the society, there still exists numerous challenges which if not treated properly can hamper the overall benefits of these sites (F. Reid and D. Reid 2007). 3. Methodology With the objective of collecting first hand information on the current investigation issue, a questionnaire was prepared with 7 questions. The questions were designed so that appropriate data was collected relevant to the scope of the current research project. For this research, the target respondents were young male and females of the age group 15-25. The questions were designed in such a manner that answers from the respondents could be easily converted into quantitative and analytical information which could be further analyzed to get meaningful results. For conducting the questionnaire survey, the sampling method implemented was random sampling and the participants were students from a university. The questionnaire survey took one week to complete. The total targeted population was 100 respondents, out of which 85 data sets were successfully retrieved consisting of 35 female respondents and 50 male respondents. Results were demonstrated through quantitative analysis using pie-charts and bar charts. 4. Results and Discussion The first question asked was on the importance and significance of social networking services in daily life of the participants. The answers have been calculated in tables and graph. Table 1: Importance of social networking services Importance of social networking services Respondents Cannot survive even one day 53 Can survive for some time 21 Can survive without SNS 11 Figure 8 Importance of social networking services Figure 1 indicates the overall attitude of respondents towards importance of social networking sites. Almost 66 percent of the participants said that they won’t be able to survive without social networking services even for a single day. Only 25 percent respondents said that they can stay without social networking sites for sometime (one week to one month) and merely 9 percent respondents said living without social networking sites is not an issue. Table 2: Popularity of different social media services among participants Social media sites Usage among participants Percentage Facebook 85 100 Email 85 100 Twitter 72 85 MySpace 60 70 Instagram 73 85.8 LinkedIn 51 60 Figure 9 Popular SNS used by individuals Figure 2 throws light on the popular social networking sites used by the respondents. As the respondents were mainly students, it was found that use of Email and Facebook was highest among them followed by Instagram and then twitter. However, it was also found that most of the participants were suing more than one media websites on a daily basis. Table one shows the segregation and usage of social networking services among individuals. It was found that almost every participant had a Facebook and Email account and about 85 percent had twitter account. Figure 10 Benefits of SNS to Business Figure 3 indicates the perception of respondents towards benefits of SNS to business. 39 respondents or over half of the participants agreed that SNS enhances the visibility of the business. Also, 16 respondents highly agreed that SNS is beneficial for successful visibility and expansion. This shows that new age individuals have a positive attitude for social networking during work offices. Do you think SNSs have significantly reduced unemployment by creating a new industry and thousands of jobs? Figure 11 Benefits of SNS in new job creation The above figure indicates the response of participants towards SNS in creating new jobs. 25 percent respondents said they were highly agreed and 34 percent respondents said that they agreed that SNS has reduced employment by creating a new industry. This response also matches with the industry records according to which social media marketing, digital marketing are the new jobs that have reduced unemployment, especially among young graduates and undergraduates (Wolak, Mitchell and Finkelhor, 2003). Figure 12 Perceived risks of using social networking services Through the above figure the perceived external risks associated with social networking services has been observed. It has been seen that young people are in tremendous stress and pressure due to their social networks. It is also been seen that people often complain about misuse of their personal information as well as loss of confidential information posted in various networking services. Figure 13 Negative impacts of SNS Figure 6 indicates the negative impact of SNS on children. 41 percent respondents agreed tht SNS are negatively impcating teenagers and children. This is majorly due to easy avaibility of any information on websites, various illegal sites containing explicit contents and websites incresasing the desctructive nature in teenagers and children. Figure 14 Hacking and loss of confidential information Figure 7 indicates the attitude and perception of particiapnts towards account hacks and loss of confedencial and personal information. Even though the number of account hacks and misuse of personal information has incresed substancially over the part few years, people are still lagging in terms of taking nessesary precautionary measures in order to safeguard their accounts and personal information. Also, there has been a rise in copyright thefts and even though most of the particpants were overconfident regarding the safety of their personal information and authenticity of various unknown social websites they come across. 5. Conclusion 5.1 Commentry The objective of the above research was to understand and evaluate the risks and benefits associated with social networking services. It has been seen that though there are multiple risks associated with SNS, they are still hugely popular among people, especially the young adults and budding professionals. It has also been found that most of the SNS users are largely unaware or ignorant of the huge risks associated with usage. While, SNS and other associated websites have been found to be beneficial in terms of skill enhancements and new job creation, they are also associated with damaging attitude and nature among teenagers, negative addiction, stress and even severe depression. Therefore, more attention should be given to the usage and control of SNS among teenagers as well as young adults. For other age groups, it is essential for them to understand and weigh the benefits and risks and thereby enhance or limit SNS usages for future benefits. 5.2 Limitation The results of the current research were limited by the small sample size. Also, the research population was confined to a particular population, thereby limiting the benefits and risks to a particular population only. Larger size of the sample and more diversified population sample will enhance the research results. Reference List Boase, J., Horrigan, J.B., Wellman, B. and Raine L., 2006. The Strength of Internet Ties: The Internet and email aid users in maintaining their social networks and provide pathways to help when people face big decisions. Washington: Pew Internet & American Life Project. Cohn, M., 2010. The Benefits of Social Media in the Current Economy. [online] Available at: http://www.compukol.com/blog/the-benefits-of-social-media-in-the-current-economy/ [Accessed 7 July 2014]. Gillis, T., 2010. Securing the borderless network: Security for the Web 2.0 world. Indianapolis: Cisco Press. Larsson, S., 2011. Metaphors and Norms - Understanding Copyright Law in a Digital Society. Sweden: Media-Tryck. Livingstone, S., 2008. Taking risky opportunities in youthful content creation: teenager’s use of social networking sites for intimacy, privacy and self-expression. New Media & Society, 10(3), pp. 459-477. Nathan, A., 2011. How Social Media Saved The Economy. [online] Available at: http://technorati.com/business/article/how-social-media-saved-the-economy/ [Accessed 7 July 2014]. Oliver, K., Collin P., Burns J.M. and Nicholas J., 2006. Building resilience in young people through meaningful participation. Australian e-Journal for the Advancement of Mental Health, 5(1), pp. 1-7. Red Crbit, 2013. Social Networking Service. [online] Available at: [Accessed 7 July 2014]. Reid, F. and Reid, D., 2007. The expressive and conversational affordances of mobile messaging. Behaviour & Information Technology, 29 (1), pp. 3-22. Skaar, H., 2008. Literacy on a social networking site. Newcastle UK: Cambride Scholars Publishing. Wolak, J., Mitchell, K. and Finkelhor, D., 2003. Escaping of connecting? Characteristics of youth who form close online relationships. Journal of Adolescence, 26. pp. 105-119. Zafirovski, M., 2001. Exchange, Action, and Social Structure: Elements of economic Sociology. London: Greenwood Press. Appendix Please provide five minutes of your time to answer the following questions according to the given instructions and in the space provided next to the questions. Your help will be highly appreciated by us. Thanks in advance. Age: 15-10 21-25 Gender: Male Female 1. How important are social networking services in your daily activities and overall life? Cannot survive even one day Can survive for some time Can survive without SNS 2. What are the different social networking services you use on a daily basis? Social media sites Usage among participants Percentage Facebook Email Twitter MySpace Instagram LinkedIn 3. Do you think installing and using SNSs at offices will enhance the visibility of the business and help in successful expansion? Response Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree No comments Participants 4. Do you think SNS have helped in creating new jobs and reducing unemployment among the young generation? Response Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree No comments Participants 5. What are the perceived risks of using social networking services? Perceived Risks Responses Diminished Productivity Loss of confidential information Depression and Stress Misuse of personal data Loss of time and energy 6. Do you think social media is creating a negative impact on teenagers and children? Response Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree No comments Participants 7. Do you think SNSs are highly vulnerable to account hacks and loss of confedencial information? Response Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree No comments Participants Read More