Living in the IT Era:
Instructional Material for GEE 1
Module 8 – Social Networking
MODULE OVERVIEW
In this chapter, we are going to look at the concept of social networking and identify the
different uses of social networking sites. We will also study the ethical issues on using social
networking sites and on the online virtual worlds and its relationship to the individual's societal
behavior.
MODULE LEARNING OBJECTIVES
At the end of this, students are expected to:
• Understand the concept of social networking
• Identify the different uses of social networking sites
• Explain the different ethical issues on using Social Networking Sites
• Articulate the ethical issues on immersing to the online virtual worlds based on ethical
theories
(LEARNING CONTENTS) Social Networking
Social networking sites establish an online community of Internet users which allow members
to break down barriers due to time, distance, and cultural differences; such a site enables
social interaction with others online. It enables people to communicate with one another online
by sharing their thoughts, insights, information, hobbies, and experiences. Members of an
online social network may communicate with friends, family members, and colleagues—
people they already know—but they may also utilize the site to build new personal and
professional relationships.
With over 2 billion Internet users globally, there are an infinite number of interests represented
online, as well as a proportionally enormous number of social networking Web sites catering
to those interests. There are thousands of social networking Web sites.
The following are some of the more popular social networking websites.
Social Networking Website Estimated unique
Description
visitors monthly
A social networking platform
where you may remain in touch
750 million
with friends, publish images,
share links and videos, and
meet new people online.
Facebook*
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Microblogging platform and
social networking site that
300 million
allows users to post shortform
blogs.
Tumblr
Real-time information service
for friends, family members, and
employees who want to stay in 250 million
touch by exchanging 280-
Twitter character messages.
Business-oriented social
networking site used for 110 million
professional networking.
LinkedIn
Members of this social
networking site can pin photos,
86 million
movies, and other stuff to their
pin board to share with others.
Online photo- and video-sharing
59 million
social networking service.
Instagram*
*Facebook and Instagram are currently under the same company, Meta.
LEARNING CONTENTS (Uses of Social Networking Sites)
Although social networking sites are generally utilized for non-business purposes, a number
of forward-thinking businesses are using this technology to promote, evaluate job applications,
and offer products and services.
A growing variety of business-oriented social networking sites are being developed to
encourage and support relationships with consumers, clients, potential workers, suppliers, and
business partners worldwide.
Social Network Advertising
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Social network advertising involves the use of social networks to promote products and
services. Advertisers were quick to grasp social networking's potential as another channel for
promoting products and services. It is believed that 89 percent of advertising promote their
products using free tools such as Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest. Furthermore, 75% of
advertisers employ paid media, such as Facebook advertisements or sponsored blog material.
Social network advertising has two significant advantages over more traditional advertising
media (e.g., radio, TV, and newspapers): (1) advertisers can create an opportunity to generate
a conversation with ad viewers, and (2) ads can be targeted to reach people with the desired
demographic characteristics.
There are different social network advertising strategies that companies may utilize:
• Direct Advertising. Placing banner ads on a social networking site is an example of
direct advertising. An ad can be shown to every visitor to the website, or it can be
aimed toward those members who are most likely to be interested in the product based
on information in user profiles.
• Advertising Using an Individual’s Network of Friends. Companies can use social
networking sites to advertise to any individual’s network of contacts.
• Indirect Advertising Through Groups. Innovative businesses are also using a
marketing technique by forming groups on social networking Web sites that interested
users can join by becoming "fans," and these groups can quickly grow in terms of fan
count to become a marketing tool for a company looking to market contests, promote
new products, or simply increase brand awareness.
• Company-Owned Social Networking Web Site. Companies can form their own
social networking sites. As an example, Dell created IdeaStorm, a social networking
sites for their customers and users, in February 2007. This is used for its millions of
customers to talk about the company’s new products, and the developments they want
to see.
• Viral Marketing. Viral marketing encourages individuals to spread a marketing
message to others, potentially increasing the message's visibility and effect
exponentially when one person informs two people, each of those two people tells two
or three more people, and so on. A viral marketing campaign's purpose is to create a
buzz about a product or idea that spreads quickly and widely.
The Use of Social Networks in the Hiring Process
According to a 2012 survey on human resource and company hiring, 92% of the respondents
use or plan to use social media such as Facebook, LinkedIn, or Twitter in their recruitment
process. Employers can and do look into job prospects' social networking sites when making
recruiting decisions. Information from these sites include one’s gender, age, marital status,
sexual orientation, religion, and political affiliation.
The Use of Social Media to Improve Customer Service
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Market research has now improved through the use of social networking sites. Consumers
share their experiences online, such as their opinions on assorted products and services.
Consumers also use social media to ask for advice on better usage of products/services.
Companies can monitor these to and respond to consumers; through this, customer service
are done online. Customers and companies can resolve issues and questions about certain
products/services through social networking sites.
Social Shopping Web Sites
Social shopping sites combine two of the most popular internet activities: shopping and social
networking. Members of social shopping Web sites can often create their own pages to collect
information and photographs about things of interest. The majority of social shopping websites
make money through retailer advertising. Some also make money by providing shops with
information about their members' likes and dislikes.
LEARNING CONTENTS (Social Networking Ethical Issues)
When you have a community of tens of millions of members, not everyone will be a nice
"neighbor" and follow the community rules. Many people will push the boundaries of socially
acceptable behavior. Cyberbullying, cyberstalking, interactions with sexual predators, and the
uploading of inappropriate information are all typical ethical difficulties for members of social
networking Web sites.
Cyberbullying
• Cyberbullying is defined as the harassment, torment, humiliation, or threatening of one
minor by another minor or group of minors using the internet.
• Cyberbullying can be difficult to identify and stop since it can take many forms. Minors
should notify their parents if they become a victim of cyberbullying, but this does not
happen very often.
• When school officials intervene in an attempt to reprimand pupils for cyberbullying,
they are often sued for infringing on the student's right to free expression, especially if
the behavior happened outside of school grounds. As a result, several schools have
changed their disciplinary policies to reserve the power to punish a student for actions
committed off school grounds if they jeopardize a kid's safety and well-being while in
school.
Cyberstalking
• Cyberstalking is defined as threatening behavior or unwanted advances directed at an
adult via the Internet or other kinds of online and electronic communication; it is the
adult equivalent of cyberbullying.
• Cyberstalking is not uncommon to escalate into abusive or excessive phone calls,
threatening or obscene letters, trespassing, vandalism, actual stalking, and even
physical assault.
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Encounters with Sexual Predators
• Some social networking Web sites have been criticized for not doing enough to protect
minors from encounters with sexual predators.
• MySpace spent two years purging potential problem members from its site, including
90,000 registered sex offenders banned from the site in early 2009.
Uploading of Inappropriate Material
• Most social networking platforms prohibit the sharing of videos portraying violence or
obscenity. The majority of other social networking websites have terms of service
agreements, privacy policies, or a content code of conduct that describe essential
legal aspects of the website's use.
• In most cases, the terms state that the website reserves the right to remove content
and terminate user accounts that violate the site's policies. The policies set specific
limits on content that is sexually explicit, defamatory, hateful, or violent, or that
promotes illegal activity.
•
LEARNING CONTENTS (Online Virtual Worlds and its relationship to the individual’s societal behavior)
An online virtual world is a shared multimedia, computer-generated environment in which
users, represented by avatars, can act, communicate, create, retain ownership of what they
create, and exchange assets, including currency, with each other.
1. Massively Online Role-Playing Games (MORPG)
▪ One type of online virtual world, a massively multiplayer online game (MMOG), is
a multiplayer video game capable of supporting hundreds and even thousands of
concurrent players.
▪ The games are accessible via the Internet, with players using personal computers,
game consoles, and even smartphones. Massive multiplayer online role-playing
games (MMORPG) is a subcategory of MMOG that provides a huge online world
in which players take on the role of a character and control that character’s action.
Characters can interact with one another to compete in online games and
challenges that unfold according to the online world’s rules and storyline.
▪ Avatars use the virtual world’s currency to purchase goods and services in the
virtual world. The value of objects in a virtual world is usually related to their
usefulness and the difficulty of obtaining them.
▪ Avatars can also earn virtual world money by performing tasks in the virtual world,
or their owners can purchase virtual world money for them using real world cash.
2. Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA)
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▪ This is a subgenre of strategy video games where two teams of players compete
on a predefined battlefield. Each player controls a single character with a set of
unique abilities that level up during the course of a game and contributes to the
team's overall strategy.
▪ MOBA is a genre of electronic games that mixes elements of action, strategy and
RPG (Role Playing Game). The acronym MOBA comes from the English”
Multiplayer Online Battle Arena” in which players divide into teams and play
matches that last on average between 30 minutes to 1 hour.
▪ Despite having some similarities, the MOBA genre should not be confused
with massive multiplayer online (MMO), in which thousands of players interact
simultaneously in an open online world, controlling a single character during an
indeterminate campaign.
▪ Thus, while the MMO is marked by “no end”, the MOBA has a maximum number
of players and is defined in short matches in which a team win. Once matches
are completed, players do not transfer items or characters to the next ones.
▪ MOBA games have become extremely popular all over the world and are already
trading millions of dollars a year in the eSports industry. MOBA game
competitions have the highest awards in the industry and have even distributed
nearly $ 25 million in a single Dota 2 championship in 2017.
Crime in Virtual Worlds
The freedom and anonymity provided to users (and subsequently, their avatars) in a virtual
environment enables some people to unleash their darker side. Thus, virtual worlds offer a
number of intriguing problems about what constitutes a criminal conduct and whether law
enforcement—real or virtual—should become engaged in activities that occur in virtual worlds.
Some virtual acts are clear violations of real-world laws and must be reported to law
enforcement authorities, such as avatars dealing in drug trafficking or stolen credit cards.
Other virtual behaviors, such as online muggings and sex crimes, might create real-life
suffering for the human owners of the avatars involved, but do not typically rise to the level of
a real-life crime. Regulations in virtual worlds are dependent on game administrators; internal
consequences include getting kicked out of games. However, these regulations are minimal
in comparison to how they should be dealt offline.
Educational and Business Uses of Virtual Worlds
Virtual online worlds are also being used for education and business purposes. The New
Media Consortium (NMC) is an international consortium of hundreds of colleges, universities,
museums, and research centers exploring the use of new media and technologies to improve
teaching, learning, and creative expression. Members of NMC can conduct classes and
meetings from within a growing number of virtual learning worlds.
