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The match
making site tawkify has taken the online dating to the
next level with the integration of social networking and
the human touch 9. The majority of conventional dating
sites publish inaccurate information about people�s
height, weight, earnings, etc. However, tawkify has
incorporated Klout scores (Klout score examines the
influence users have on social networks such as Facebook,
Google+, LinkedIn and Twitter, and coming up with a score
between 1 and 100) into their match-making process.
Curation sites
are also one of the fastest growing areas of the social
media. Pinterest.com currently ranks at number 5, based on
Experian Hitwise data for week ending 2012 June 2nd for
Social Media Websites, Facebook is leading at number 1,
followed by YouTube, Twitter and Yahoo at second, third
and fourth positions respectively.
IV. Challenges in
Social Media
Social media
exhibits unique characteristics when compared with
traditional media such as newspapers, magazines, etc. Its
hyper speed and unrestricted scope means that once the
content is published, it is available instantaneously, to
a potentially global audience. Further, social media tools
tend to be free or available at a very low cost relative
to other forms of media and do not require users to have
much technical knowledge to make use of it. This allows
larger numbers of users to access and publish material in
comparison with traditional media forms.
These
unique characteristics of social media pose different
challenges to individuals, organizations, and governments.
A.
Challenges to the individuals
It�s
understandable that the benefit of any material or
non-material instrument depends on how someone would use
it for what kind of purpose. A knife might be a very
helpful and essential instrument in a kitchen in the hand
of a cook, but it could be a very hazardous instrument in
the hand of a hostile criminal.
Similarly, social media can be used for academic purposes,
arranging dates and places for face-to-face meetings,
communication between friends who live in different cities
or countries, etc. However, the other side is not so
useful and innocent, which is covered by concepts similar
to Internet addiction, individualization, social
alienation, etc. Internet addiction has become a common
issue in many countries. In China and South Korea more
than 30% of the population is affected by Internet
addiction. The study further shows that, these people have
difficulty in making friends, and they see the Internet
and social media as a method for socialization. Infected
with this addiction, people become more and more
individualized and alienated as they tend to have lots of
on-line and virtual friends. Further, identity theft and
hacking into social media profiles could also challenge an
individual�s privacy.
The UK�s
Home Office has identified a series of risks to children�s
safety associated with social media - bullying,
harassment, contact with harmful content, theft of
personal information, sexual grooming, violent behaviour,
encouragement to self-harm and racist attacks.
In Sri
Lanka, there has been 1800 reported Facebook related
complaints during 2011. Majority of these cases were
either creation of fake profiles or hacking into profiles.
B.
Challenges to the organizations
With the
social media tide, organizations have realized that they
need to be at where their customers, future employees and
other stakeholders are. The potential of social media is
multi faceted for organizations: increasing customer
reach, faster and easier means of disseminating
information, and increased corporation between different
departments within the organization. Despite these
benefits, many organizations face issues and challenges
while shifting to social media. With the social media
adaptation, organizations tend to lose the absolute
control they previously had on the World Wide Web. Thus,
creating a cultural shift from a closed to an open
organization.
As a
result, companies adopting social media have to relinquish
some of the absolute control they previously had over
their web presence. In some companies, this type of change
from a closed to an open organization marks a big change
in the organizational culture. Internally, organization
may need to focus on who is assigned to work with social
media, who has to take the ownership, who can authorize
social media releases, cost of social media implementation
and use. From an external perspective, organizations are
concerned about reputational loses due to misuse or
inappropriate use of social media, concerns about the
regulator requirements or legal requirements, Internet
penetration, etc.
C.
Challenges to the governments
Hosni Mubarak
ruled Egypt for nearly 30 years until he was overthrown by
dozen of activists who used social media, including
Facebook, Twitter, Twitpic and YouTube to stir discontent
with Egypt's police forces . They mobilized support in
Egypt's slums and working-class neighbourhoods and plotted
a mass demonstration for Jan. 25. Omar Suleiman, the Chief
of the Egyptian General Intelligence Service (EGIS)
managed to keep Hosni Mubarak in power amidst tough times
over the years, but social media was an impossible medium
to monitor and restrict the information inflow.
Academics and
social-media advocates say Twitter played a pivotal role
in the Arab Spring uprisings in 2011, helping activists to
unite, win and gather followers and spread the news of
their grievances and demonstrations.
With the Arab
spring and other pro-democracy movements similar to
�#occupy� , Governments are seriously looking at means of
restricting, controlling and monitoring social media.
Recently reported cases involved - Saudi Prince Alwaleed
buying a stake in Twitter, Pakistan�s 8-hour Twitter
censorship , and Sri Lanka�s opposition challenging that
the government is blocking/ hacking web sites which are
unfavourable to them.
Further it is
reported that the FBI already has the ability to intercept
messages on social-networking sites and Web-based e-mail
services.
V.
Guidelines for
Social Media Usage
A.
Guidelines for Individuals
Despite the
availability of different nature of social media (as per
the Table II � Different Social Media Types), individuals
need to consider following points when engaged in Social
Media.
- Be aware of
what is posted online
Once something
is posted on social media, it will leave a digital foot
print where anyone can see.
- Be safe
online
New attacks/
scams surface every day. Be wary of sites/ people asking
for personal information such as phone numbers, address,
account numbers, etc.
-
Be aware of what is been shared/ posted
Some of the
pictures/ videos could be copy right protected.
- Enable
Social media specific settings to safeguard privacy and
security
Majority of
social media provides built-in controls (e.g. two factor
authentication, reviewing last login attempts) to
safeguard users. Users should be aware of these specific
controls and the associated risk.
- Be aware of
specific Social media policies
Social media
sites keep changing/ updating their privacy policies,
usage policies and other applicable policies in order
bring them current with the environment threats/ business
objectives, etc. Some of these policy changes could have
an impact on data retention, data ownership, etc, thus
affecting the users.
B.
Guidelines for Organizations
Organizations
that do not adopt social media fail to reap benefits and
are at a disadvantage to their competitors that do.
Organizations that simply allow social media use without
any proper policies or guidelines open themselves to
various threats. Hence, it is vital that the organizations
social media policy encompasses following objectives.
- Define a
framework for both approved and responsible social media
usage for employees of the organization
- Clarify
expectations on employee behaviour on the social media
- User
awareness is also vital. Training on best practices,
online safety, etc, will encourage employees to make the
best use of social media while meeting the organizations
risk appetite.
While adopting
social media policies, it makes sense to analyse existing
policies practised by different organizations.
However, it�s
important to understand that there is no one size fits all
approach here. Hence, policies need to be tinkered to suit
the risk appetite of the individual organization.
C.
Guidelines for Governments
Certain
governments have established guidelines for the social
media usage. One such example is Civil Service Code
established in the UK. This is applicable when
participating online as a civil servant or when discussing
government business.
�
�Disclose your position as a representative of your
department or agency unless there are exceptional
circumstances, such as a potential threat to personal
security. Never give out personal details like home
address and phone numbers.
�
Always remember that participation online results in your
comments being permanently
available and open to being republished in other media.
Stay within the legal framework and be aware that libel,
defamation, copyright and data protection laws apply. This
means that you should not disclose information, make
commitments or engage in activities on behalf of
Government unless you are authorised to do so. This
authority may already be delegated or may be explicitly
granted depending on your organisation.
� Also
be aware that this may attract media interest in you as an
individual, so proceed with care whether you are
participating in an official or a personal capacity. If
you have any doubts, take advice from your line manager.
1) Be
credible
�
Be accurate,
fair, thorough and transparent.
2)
Be consistent
�
Encourage
constructive criticism and deliberation. Be cordial,
honest and professional at all times.
3) Be
responsive
�
When you gain
insight, share it where appropriate.
4) Be
integrated
�
Wherever
possible, align online participation with other offline
communications.
5)
Be a civil
servant
�
Remember that
you are an ambassador for your organisation. Wherever
possible, disclose your position as a representative of
your department or agency.�
On May 23rd
2012, the White House released their Digital Government
strategy titled �Digital
Government: Building a 21st century platform to
serve the American people�.
The strategy highlights four key principles to drive the
transformation forward and it has also identified the
power of social media to transform the services offered by
the government and making different government agencies
more customer-centric.
It is apparent
that social media is transforming the way the governments
operate, mainly in following avenues.
�
Increased
transparency
UK government
already uses podcasts addressing foreign policy issues and
some of the UK ambassador�s blog regularly . Israel
defence forces also has a official YouTube channel
featuring operational footage and informational videos.
�
Engaging
citizens
The South
African President runs an active Facebook page, where
citizens participate in constructive debates on topic
which matters for nation building.
�
Making
government departments more people centric
The US
government uses challenge. gov as a crowd-source solution
where government agencies post challenges (to identify a
solution to a particular issue) and the citizens can
propose solutions, discuss the challenge or show support.
Incentives are also provided if a challenge is
successfully solved.
�
Crisis
management
When the 5.9
earthquake hit near Richmond, Virginia on August 23rd
2011, residents in New York City read about the earthquake
on Twitter 30 seconds before they experienced the quake
themselves. Most of the Emergency management agencies in
US such as the Federal Emergency Management Agency (#FEMA)
are active on Twitter, sharing information during crises
in real time.
VI.
Conclusions
Social media, similar to
much else on the Internet, represents an evolving subject
for researchers and policy-makers. With the proliferation
of technologies such as domestic broadband, location based
services; it is now reaching to the mass market across the
globe. The open nature of social media could pave the way
to solve many issues existing in developing nations if
properly harnessed.
From a government�s
perspective, if well considered and prudently implemented
social media policy could give better transparency and
more involved citizens (e.g. in policy formulation), thus
creating greater public trust in the government.
Governments should not regulate the social media in a way
that would discourage its use, undermining its potential.
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