IT assignment on: ISSUE- SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES
Social Network Sites is a web-based service that allows any individual to construct a public or semi-public profile within a specified boundary while maintaining a list of other users with whom they share a connection. It helps us in maintaining a connection with the outer world. Also it helps us finding our loved ones. A new form of media that is becoming more and more talked about in the market now-a-days is the Social media such as Facebook, Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn, Flickr and many more common online platform for people around the world, connecting users across time and distance. Ritzer(2009). Earlier we were not versed with the term social network sites but now-a-days things have changed and a small child also understands technological terms and is about to grow up with these terminologies in mind. In schools, different types of technologies are being used to make children aware of these things and in turn to make them a frequent user.
ISSUE OF JUSTICE
When we talk about social networking sites, we are concerned with a term called User- Generated Content. This term is important to be discussed about because these are the content which is provided by the users themselves, such as Photographs, updates, blogs, links, videos, etc. Different sites are there to provide the platform but ultimately it is the users who make it worth by putting things on it. Here users provide free labour getting in turn nothing but making huge profits to the owner of the different sites. The extent of privacy and self disclosure depends on the individual using these services. Godman(2004). We should take care of what are we showing others through our profile .Sometimes it could go in wrong hands or the other time it could have a negative impression of what we are trying to portray in front of others. There should be a proper boundary to it.
PEOPLE OR GROUP WHO HAVE A STAKE ON THIS ISSUE AND THEIR PERSPECTIVE ON IT
The common people who are using these services and the big corporations which is there to provide the platform are at stake. Earlier the economy of the developed country which was developed by production is now replaced with the emphasis on capitalism. And now the focus has shifted to consumption. Most of the time we believe that prosumption(which involves both production and consumption) dominates capitalist economy. In the world of web technology, there is a trend towards unpaid labour rather than paid labour. Slater(1997). The people who are using different social media sites are uploading their pictures, videos, links, blogs etc. free of cost and the sites in turn are getting huge profit out of this work done by the common users. The recent explosion of user generated content online, there is a reason to see an increasing level in presumption. Here control and exploitation takes another form rather than capitalism. Various products are being offered without being asked for any kind of cost or compensation.
Few people see this as a form of exploitation but others don’t care about how their time, money and energy are being utilised by these huge organizations for their own profits. They are very happy to offer their labour to large IT corporations. They don’t know that they fallen into a silent and subtle form of exploitation, where their creative energies are used to make wealthy the IT shareholders. Anderson(2009).
This idea does not go well with all the prosumers and they have also rebelled in some situation where they were asked to contribute to corporate sites without being themselves paid. There could be many reasons for this resistance. It could be because of explicit or implicit cyber libertarianism or could crop up with individuals motives, wish or desires. Once Google asked a number of its users to work out a new form of art work with a great amount of input in form of creativity, for its new browser, Chrome. Also, Facebook asked people to volunteer for the work of translation of languages into over 20 languages. The reaction to such attempts has been negative sometimes which is very easily visible through the discontentment shown by both the parties, namely, capitalists and prosumers.
On the other hand, there are many people who don’t get affected by this situation and look forward to enjoy the condition whether they are forced or not for the situation to be involved in. Some find it to be exploitative in nature whereas some find it as an effective source through which they can build and maintain contact with others, known or unknown. In addition to certain types of philanthropic gains, an individual can have some materialistic gain as well. To take an example, one can get recognized as a photographer on Flickr or by building computer programming networks while editing Linux without being paid for the work done. Ritzer & Jurgenson(2009).
Some stakeholders don’t want the situation to change because the word exploitation is very much ambiguous in these cases. On one hand, corporations own the major resources on these sites and users are the producers. Though, the profit belongs to the corporations only. For example, creation of their face book profile of their own without any kind of interference from the organization. Anybody who is doing any kind of work on these social networking sites is not charged for accessing these sites. There is no charged involved in uploading one’s profile on Face book, videos on YouTube etc. To read the blogs or reviews on Amazon or Yelp, one is not required to pay anything. Different services available on Google also do not charge anything from the users.
One main reason for this uncharged service is the competition prevailing in the market. While some web services were into profit making since the beginning but for the others the main aim was to create and enhance the value of their site. This in turn is done by increasing the number of users with the help of publicity.
Different people have different perspectives for anything. So, here people don’t want the situation to change because they are being provided with a platform to maintain contact and be in touch with their known and unknown world (example- Facebook, Orkut), upload their videos (example- Youtube), read and search different materials on any topic of the world (example- Google), buy and sell things (example- Flipcart, indiatimes shopping), buying of different types of books (Amazon), maintain our mails (example- Gmail, Hotmail, Rediff mail), uploading their photographs (example- Flickr). So for some this is form of exploitation while for others it is a form of entertainment, knowledge, contact, communication, information etc. Electruc(2012)
ISSUE IN TERMS OF THE PRINCIPLE THAT PROMOTE HUMAN FLOURISHING
People have a common phenomenon to flourish in all the aspects of life. They try to maintain contact with the known people and develop new contact with the unknown ones. They try to maintain social networks through different kinds of media. One of the best and the latest media which are being made available to them is the electronic media through which they can be in touch with others in the same or different city, states or country. Social networking site helps them in this regard.
There are different features provided by these sites. We can prepare our e-mail id and do our official and personal work. We can develop our profile on different sites, such as Facebook, Orkut, Twitter, etc. Different sites are available to read books, download songs and videos, gain knowledge on different topics of concern. We can upload our videos on YouTube, can create blogs for various purposes. The websites create spaces and designs it in such a way that users are to encouraged to use it somehow, and in turn provide information into the system as an input. We use these spaces as per our need, interest and requirement.
Social networking websites generally have terms and conditions in place that govern the use of their sites. LinkedIn, for example prohibits users from disseminating any unauthorized advertising or promotional materials. Twitter prohibits the use of site to disseminate mass unsolicited messages( i.e. “spamming”).Melissa & Mikhia(2010). It is the responsibility of the social networking sites to protect user generated content from outside forces such as advertisers because users rely on them and work on these sites.
The Electronic Communications Privacy Act was passed in 1986, before the internet became an essential means of communication. Another law, The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act requires that websites directed at children under 13 must limit their data collection and usage in certain ways. There are also limitations on the information that can be sent to advertisers. Several states have enacted legislation protecting employees, job applicants and students from employers and educational institutions that require them to provide a user name or password for a social media account.
Earlier corporate executives basically focussed on pursuing the highest possible return on investment for shareholders. But later on, the situation changed and now organizational leaders have turned more and more to corporate social responsibility initiatives, changing the focus from earning money to meeting the needs of shareholders. The corporation has an ethical responsibility of not only being profitable but also to be consistently profitable, while acting in an ethical and responsible manner. This practice would result in better working of the corporation. Also, when users see that the concerned corporation works in an ethical manner it will rely more on it and will start using it more and more. Certain strong ethical policies that go above the law can be of great use to the brand, whereas a failure in taking these measures could cause social, economic and environmental damage without taking into consideration the company’s short term and long-term prospects in the future. Amanda(2007).
When we work on any social networking site, we do not want the unwanted advertisers to gather or come to know of any kind of information about us because it is the prime responsibility of the blog or the site to hide our information from the advertisers except when we allow them or grant them specific permission about the concerned matter. But in some cases, findings exactly go opposite to this thinking of ours. Sometimes by simply clicking on advertiser’s advertisement reveal to the advertiser the user’s username or user ID.
The ultimate motive of any business organization, here, social networking sites, in question, is the profit incurring out of the business activity carried on by it and for this purpose it can even overtake the privacy of the user. Once a user’s information has been placed into the system, there is no way to retain full control over how it is used, regardless of the numbers of safety features in it. Others can always manipulate the information. It is the duty of the social networking sites to maintain the privacy for the content posted by the users on their sites. Breeding(2007)
MY PERSONAL ATTITUDE TOWARDS THE ISSUE AFTER CONSIDERING THE ETHICAL ASPECT
Every business organization or corporation has a motive of its own. There are many principles, rules and regulations which are supposed to be followed by the concerned organization. Though the main motive of any business is to make profit out of the activities carried out by it but to take care of the ethical side of the business should also be of their prime concern. It is the responsibility of the owners of the social networking sites or the engineers who are into the development of these sites to protect the content posted by the users from any kind of malfunction. Also, it should not display their personal pictures, videos, etc publically without seeking permission from the users. The accounts of the users should be protected from the unwanted advertisers as well. There should be proper terms and conditions which take care of these formalities and all the terms and conditions explaining these clauses should be very clearly mentioned on the sites. Since any kind of business can flourish only when there is a certain level of trust in between both the parties, here in question is the owner of the social networking sites on one hand and users on the other.
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