Social Networking in Marketing - Research Paper Example

?Social networking - Social networking sites have become an indispensable part of modern life. Still, their use has been also related to a series of risks, including the exposure of private life to an unknown audience. The studies developed in this field lead to contradictory findings in regard to the actual necessity of social networking today. The introduction of limitations in the use of social networking sites may be necessary. Which would be the most appropriate strategies for managing the above problem and how the consent of the public for this initiative could be secured? Social networking sites are widely internationally not only as a tool for communication but also as a tool for enhancing business activities. However, the use of these sites has caused many concerns especially due to the privacy risks involved. At this point the following issue has appeared: should the use of social networking sites be free from limitations or not? Six academic studies have been identified and are presented below for showing that social networking sites are valuable in terms of communication and exchange of information, both at individual and at business level, but their use should be set under monitoring so that the privacy of users is not threatened. Lewis (2010) explored the role of social media in a particular business sector: public relations. He found that for the specific sector the use of social media is quite important, at the level that public relations practitioners consider social media as a unique tool of communication (Lewis 1). However, this role of social media may not be clear to their users. For example, the research developed by Lewis proved that the individuals who study public relations are not aware, at least not fully, of the potential value of social media in public relations (Lewis 17). It should be noted that most of the participants were proved to be heavy users of social networking sites (Lewis 17). In the study of Dwyer, Hiltz and Passerini (2007) emphasis is given on trust and its relationship to social networking sites. The above researchers note that people who join a social networking site and share personal information with millions of people worldwide are not willing to set trust as a criterion for their membership in the particular networking site (Dwyer, Hiltz and Passerini 2). These people, even if they do not state it clearly, prefer communication than trust; such view is verified by the fact that the existence of trust among millions of people who are unknown to each other is not feasible (Dwyer, Hiltz and Passerini 2). In the survey conducted among the members of two, popular, social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace it was revealed that the members of Facebook feel that their privacy is protected at higher level than the members of MySpace (Dwyer, Hiltz and Passerini 5). In other words, privacy in social networking sites can be protected, at least up to a level, even if the members of these sites actually set ‘the development of new relationships and the exchange of information’ (Dwyer, Hiltz and Passerini 3) as priorities. The above studies verify the first of this study’s hypothesis, i.e. that social networking sites are quite popular as tools of communication and for promoting business activities. The second of the above studies reveals a critical fact: the involvement of social networking sites in privacy risks does not seem to discourage the users of these sites. The privacy risks related to the use of social networking sites are further analyzed below. Zilpelwar et al. (2012) highlight the popularity and the risks of social networking sites. According to Zilpelwar et al. (2012) a high range of social networking sites has been established for meeting the different needs of people. Indeed, apart from Facebook which is popular worldwide, there are also other social networking sites that address specific categories of people, such as Bebo, for people living in UK and Ireland, LinkedIn for professionals and Ning for those who wish to develop their own social networking site (Zilpelwar et al. 23). Despite their popularity, SNS are vulnerable to attacks, such as: ‘a) ID theft, b) profile cloning, c) Profile porting; this form of attack refers to the copy of the profile of a SNS user and the use of this profile in another SNS, d) collection of user’s personal data, e) identification of user’s address and f) identification of facial characteristics of the user’ (Zipelwar et al. 23-24). It is explained that the users of SNS are not fully aware of the risks related to their membership in SNS (Zilelwar et al. 24). In other words, in SNS the privacy of their members is in critical risk, with unpredictable consequences for these people’s personal life and safety. The risks related to the SNS seem to be many. In fact, there are three major security risks to which the members of these sites are exposed: a) ‘Privacy risks’ (Ajami et al. 2); these risks have three different aspects: a1) the members of SNS are not appropriately informed by these sites’ administrators in regard to the risks from publishing sensible personal information, a2) the members of SNS have not the potential to choose the security measures that are most aligned with their needs, a3) the members of SNS are not able to stop other members of these sites from copying their personal information, such as images etc., and send it to third persons, b) ‘Security risks’ (Ajami et al. 2); certain of the accounts developed in a SNS may be fake, focusing on hacking so that the personal data of users are revealed (Ajami et al. 2); for example, acting as the administrator the user of such fake account ‘can retrieve the social security number of another user and have access to his credit card’ (Ajami 2); c) ‘Anonymity risks’ (Ajami 2); these risks include the identification of a user’s identity (Ajami 2). However, it should be noted that in the case of SNS a ‘privacy paradox’ (Ajami 1) exists, at the level that the members of these sites are highly willing to publish sensible personal data but are more interested in securing the safety of such data (Ajami 1). The increased popularity of social networking sites and their risks are also discussed in the study of Ahmad (2013). In the above study reference is made in particular to the increased use of three social networking sites, of ‘Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn’ (Ahmad 136) in businesses worldwide. It is explained that social networking sites have been proved particularly effective in supporting organizational growth (Ahmad 136). Still, no tools have been, yet, identified for eliminating these sites’ security risks (Ahmad 136). Among these risks, emphasis should be given, according to Ahmad, to ‘the identity theft, data loss and reputation damage’ (Ahmad 136). Even if eliminating the above risks is rather not feasible, still there are certain practices which, if used carefully, can reduce these the chances for damages as a result of the use of social networking sites (Ahmed 139). Among these practices are: a) particular attention when opening files which are sent as e-mail attachments, b) avoiding using, as possible, digital signatures, c) checking regularly the security settings of the Web Browser used in the IT system involved, d) use highly effective Anti-virus and Firewall programs, e) always keep backup of important files, f) checking the security certificates of each SNS, g) using passwords that are quite difficult to be duplicated/ identified (Ahmed 139). According to the issues discussed above, the use of SNS is extensive. The popularity of SNS can be explained it taking into consideration their value as a tool of communication, both in regard to personal needs and the needs of businesses, as analyzed above. However, the risks of these sites cannot be ignored. The various aspects of these risks have been highlighted above following by measures for the limitation, as possible. The continuous increase of the use of SNS leads to the following assumption: the measures currently used for controlling the security risks of SNS need to be appropriately customized so that their effectiveness is increased. Moreover, the participation of these sites’ members to such initiatives should be higher, since currently a contradicting trend seems to exist between these sites’ risks and the willing of their users to contribute in the limitation of these risks. This phenomenon, which has been described above as ‘a privacy paradox’ could be possible reduced using the practice suggested by Yen (2011). The above researcher suggested ‘the collaboration between consumers and these sites’ producers’ (Yen 218); in this way, the performance of these websites’, including their potentials to secure the safety of their users’ data, would be increased (Yen 218). As for its aspects, the collaboration suggested above would be developed as follows: the users would have the right, along with these sites’ administrators, to participate in ‘the update of these sites’ content, the user-interface and other features/ tools of these sites’ (Yen 218). The level at which such collaboration would be feasible in the context of a SNS would be depended on the structure of the particular SNS and its strategic framework, meaning its culture and the goals set by its creators. Works Cited Ahmad, Ateeq. “Social Media Security Risk and it’s Protection against Security Attacks.” International Journal of Computer Technology & Applications Vol 4, No 1, Jan-Feb 2013, pp.136-140 http://ijcta.com/documents/volumes/vol4issue1/ijcta2013040125.pdf Ajami, Racha, Noha Ramadan, Nader Mohamed, and Jameela Al-Jaroodi. “Security Challenges and Approaches in Online Social Networks: A Survey.” International Journal of Computer Science and Network Security, Vol.11, No.8, August 2011, pp.1-12 http://faculty.uaeu.ac.ae/Nader_M/papers/IJCSNS2011.pdf Dwyer, Catherine, Hiltz, Starr and Passerini, Katia. “Trust and privacy concern within social networking sites: A comparison of Facebook and MySpace.” Proceedings of the Thirteenth Americas Conference on Information Systems, Keystone, Colorado August 09 - 12 2007, pp.1-12 http://csis.pace.edu/~dwyer/research/DwyerAMCIS2007.pdf Lewis, Bobbi. “Social Media and Strategic Communication: Attitudes and Perceptions Among College Students.” Public Relations Journal Vol. 4, No. 3, Summer 2010, pp.1-23. http://www.prsa.org/Intelligence/PRJournal/Documents/2010Lewis.pdf Zilpelwar, Rashmi, Rajneeshkaur K.Bedi and Vijay M.Wadhai. “An Overview of Privacy and Security in SNS.” International Journal of P2P Network Trends and Technology Volume 2, Issue 1, 2012, pp.23-26 http://www.ijpttjournal.org/volume-2/issue-1/IJPTT-V2I1P405.pdf Yen, Shu-Yu. “Enhancing the Value of Social Networking Websites through Producer-Consumer Collaborations.” 2010 International Conference on E-business, Management and Economics IPEDR vol.3 (2011). http://www.ipedr.com/vol3/45-M10008.pdf Read More