FM-AA-CIA-15 Rev.

0 10-July-2020

Study Guide in (GE111 – Living in the IT ERA) Module No. 8

STUDY GUIDE FOR MODULE NO. 8

Chapter 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 individuals 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 Site)

o
o A social networking Web site creates an online community of Internet users that enables members to
break down the barriers of time, distance, and cultural differences.
o It allows people to interact with others online by sharing opinions, insights, information, interests, and
experiences. Members of an online social network may use the site to interact with friends, family
members, and colleagues—people they already know—but they may also make use of the site to develop
new personal and professional relationships.
o With over 2 billion Internet users worldwide, there is an endless range of interests represented online, and
a correspondingly wide range of social networking Web sites catering to those interests. Thousands of
social networking Web sites exists.
o The following are some of the most popular social media sites that are being explored by the world today.

Estimated unique visitors

Social Networking Website Description
monthly

Social networking site for keeping up

with friends, uploading photos, sharing
links and videos, and meeting new 750 million
people online

Facebook
Microblogging platform and social
network Web site that enables users to
post multimedia and other content in
shortform blog 300 million

Tumblr
Real-time information service for
friends, family members, and coworkers
looking to stay connected through the
exchange of messages that are a 250 million
maximum of 140 characters
Twitter

PANGASINAN STATE UNIVERSITY 1

 FM-AA-CIA-15 Rev. 0 10-July-2020

Study Guide in (GE111 – Living in the IT ERA) Module No. 8

Estimated unique visitors

Social Networking Website Description
monthly
Business-oriented social networking
site used for professional networking;
users create a network made up of
people they know and trust in business 110 million

LinkedIn

Social networking site that allows

members to pin photos, videos, and
other items to their pin board to share 86 million
with others

General social networking Web site

used by teenagers and adults
worldwide; allows members to
communicate with friends via personal 70 million
profiles, blogs, and groups, as well as
to post photos, music, and videos to
their personal pages
Social network operated by Google that
integrates social services such as
Google Profiles and Google Buzz, and
introduces new services such as Circles
(enables users to organize contacts into
groups for sharing), Hangouts (URLs 65 million
used to facilitate group video chat),
Sparks (enables users to identify topics
in which they are interested), and
Google+ Huddles (allows instant messaging
within Circles)

Online photo- and video-sharing social

networking service
59 million

Instagram
Social network where users can keep a
blog, journal, or diary; also widely used 21 million
to post political commentary
Social network with a focus on helping
members meet new people; suggests
new friends based on shared interests;
25 million
allows members to browse people,
share tags and virtual gifts, and play
games
Social network for users to meet new
Orkut and old friends and maintain existing
friendships; it is very popular in Brazil 18 million
and India, where it is one of the most
frequently visited sites

PANGASINAN STATE UNIVERSITY 2

 FM-AA-CIA-15 Rev. 0 10-July-2020

Study Guide in (GE111 – Living in the IT ERA) Module No. 8

LEARNING CONTENTS (Uses of Social Networking Sites )

Although social networking Web sites are primarily used for non-business purposes, a number of forward-
thinking organizations are employing this technology to advertise, assess job candidates, and sell products
and services.
An increasing number of business oriented social networking sites are designed to encourage and support
relationships with consumers, clients, potential employees, suppliers, and business partners around the world.

Social Network Advertising

 Social network advertising involves the use of social networks to communicate and promote the
benefits of products and services. Advertisers were quick to recognize the potential of social
networking as another channel for promoting products and services. It is estimated that 89 percent of
advertisers use free tools such as Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest to promote their products.
Additionally, 75 percent of advertisers use paid media such as ads on Facebook or sponsored blog
content.
 Two significant advantages of social network advertising over more traditional advertising media (e.g.,
radio, TV, and newspapers) are: (1) advertisers can create an opportunity to generate a conversation
with viewers of the ad, and (2) ads can be targeted to reach people with the desired demographic
characteristics.
 The two primary objectives of social media advertisers are raising brand awareness and driving traffic
to a Website to increase product sales.
 Different social network advertising strategies that organizations may employ:
o Direct Advertising. Direct advertising involves placing banner ads on a social networking
Web site. An ad can be displayed to every visitor to the Web site, or, by using the information
in user profiles, an ad can be directed toward those members who would likely find the
product most appealing.
o Advertising Using an Individual’s Network of Friends. Companies can use social networking
Web sites to advertise to an individual’s network of contacts.
o Indirect Advertising Through Groups. Innovative companies are also making use of a
marketing technique by creating groups on social networking Web sites that interested users
can join by becoming “fans.” These groups can quickly grow in terms of numbers of fans 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
o A variation on the above approach is for a company to form its own social networking Web
site.
o For example, Dell created its own social networking Web site, IdeaStorm, in February 2007
as a means for its millions of customers in more than 100 countries to talk about what new
products, services, or improvements they would like to see Dell develop.
 Viral Marketing
o Viral marketing encourages individuals to pass along a marketing message to others, thus
creating the potential for exponential growth in the message’s exposure and influence as one
person tells two people, each of those two people tell two or three more people, and so on.
o The goal of a viral marketing campaign is to create a buzz about a product or idea that
spreads wide and fast.

The Use of Social Networks in the Hiring Process

 A 2012 survey found that 92 percent of respondents either use or plan to use some form of social
media—such as Facebook, LinkedIn, or Twitter—in their recruiting.
 In the United States of America, employers can and do look at the social networking profiles of job
candidates when making hiring decisions.
 Members of social networking Web sites frequently provide sex, age, marital status, sexual
orientation, religion, and political affiliation data in their profile.
 Job candidates should review their presence on social networking sites and remove photos and
postings that reveal them in a potentially negative light. Many job seekers delete their Facebook or

PANGASINAN STATE UNIVERSITY 3

 FM-AA-CIA-15 Rev. 0 10-July-2020

Study Guide in (GE111 – Living in the IT ERA) Module No. 8

MySpace account altogether because they know employers check such sites. Jobseekers must
realize that pictures and words posted online, once intended for friends only, can reach a much larger
audience and can have an impact on their job search.

The Use of Social Media to Improve Customer Service

 In the past, companies relied heavily on their market research and customer service organizations to
provide them with insights into what customers think about their products and services.
 Many consumer goods companies put toll-free 800 phone numbers on their products so that
consumers could call in and speak with trained customer service reps to share their comments and
complaints.
 Increasingly, consumers are using social networks to share their experiences, both good and bad,
with others.
 A 2012 study found that 46 percent of Internet users had used social networks to express their
frustration with poor products or services.
 Customers also use social networks to seek advice on how to use products more effectively and how
to deal with special situations encountered when using a product. Unless organizations monitor social
networks, their customers are left to resolve their issues and questions on their own, often in ways
that are not ideal.

Social Shopping Web Sites

 Social shopping Web sites combine two highly popular online activities—shopping and social
networking.
 Social shopping Web site members can typically build their own pages to collect information and
photos about items in which they are interested.
 The social shopping Website Stuffpit has implemented a reward system for members, in which they
are paid a commission each time another shopper acts on their recommendation to purchase a
specific item.
 Most social shopping Web sites generate revenue through retailer advertising. Some also earn money
by sharing with retailers data about their members’ likes and dislikes.

LEARNING CONTENTS (Social Networking Ethical Issues)

When you have a community of tens of millions of users, not everyone is going to be a good “neighbor” and
abide by the rules of the community. Many will stretch or exceed the bounds of generally accepted behavior.
Some common ethical issues that arise for members of social networking Web sites are cyberbullying,
cyberstalking, encounters with sexual predators, and the uploading of inappropriate material.

Cyberbullying

 Cyberbullying is the harassment, torment, humiliation, or threatening of one minor by another minor or
group of minors via the Internet or cell phone.
 Based on a formal survey of 15,000 middle and high school children, it is estimated that as many as
25 percent of teenagers have experienced cyberbullying in their lifetime.
 Because cyberbullying can take many forms, it can be difficult to identify and stop. Ideally, minors
would inform their parents if they became a victim of cyberbullying but unfortunately, this does not
happen often.
 When school authorities do get involved in an effort to discipline students for cyberbullying, they are
sometimes sued for violating the student’s right to free speech, especially if the activity occurred off
school premises. As a result, some schools have modified their discipline policy to reserve the right to
punish a student for actions taken off school premises if they adversely affect the safety and well-
being of a student while in school.

PANGASINAN STATE UNIVERSITY 4

 FM-AA-CIA-15 Rev. 0 10-July-2020

Study Guide in (GE111 – Living in the IT ERA) Module No. 8

Cyberstalking

 Cyberstalking is threatening behavior or unwanted advances directed at an adult using the Internet or
other forms of online and electronic communications; it is the adult version of cyberbullying.
 Online stalking can be a serious problem for victims, terrifying them and causing mental anguish.
 It is not unusual for cyberstalking to escalate into abusive or excessive phone calls, threatening or
obscene mail, trespassing, vandalism, physical stalking, and even physical assault.

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 Websites have policies against uploading videos depicting violence or
obscenity. Facebook, MySpace, and most other social networking Websites have terms of use
agreements, a privacy policy, or a content code of conduct that summarizes key legal aspects
regarding use of the Website.
 Typically, the terms state that the Website has the right to delete material 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.
 Policies do not stop all members of the community from attempting to post inappropriate material, and
most Web sites do not have sufficient resources to review all material submitted for posting. For
example, more than 100 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute (this is the equivalent
of approximately 670,000 full-length movies each week).

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. An avatar is a character in the form or a human, animal, or
mythical creature.

Virtual worlds are usually thought of as alternative worlds where visitors go to entertain themselves and
interact with others. CityVille, Entropia Universe, FarmVille, and Second Life are all examples of online
virtual worlds.

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 such as Xbox 360, Wii, and PlayStation 3; 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. Happy Farm, Minecraft, and World of Warcraft
are popular MMOGs.

PANGASINAN STATE UNIVERSITY 5

 FM-AA-CIA-15 Rev. 0 10-July-2020

Study Guide in (GE111 – Living in the IT ERA) Module No. 8

 Avatars in many virtual worlds can shop, hold jobs, run for political office, develop relationships
with other avatars, take a test drive in a virtual world car, and even engage in criminal activities.
Avatars may promote events and hold them in the virtual world.
 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)

 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 wins. Once matches are completed, players do not
transfer items or characters to the next ones.
 MOBA games have become very 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

It seems the freedom and anonymity afforded avatars in a virtual world encourages some individuals to
unleash their darker side. Thus, virtual worlds raise many interesting questions regarding what is a criminal
act and whether law enforcement—real or virtual— should get involved in acts that occur in virtual worlds.

Some virtual activities are clear violations of real world law and need to be reported to law enforcement
authorities—for example, avatars trafficking in actual drugs or stolen credit cards. Other virtual activities, such
as online muggings and sex crimes, can cause real life anguish for the human owners of the avatars involved
but generally do not rise to the level of a real life crime. Although most virtual worlds have rules against
offensive behavior in public, such as using racial slurs or performing overtly sexual actions, consenting adults
can travel to private areas and engage in all sorts of socially unacceptable behavior. Bad deeds done online
are often mediated by the game administrators, who can take action according to the rules of the game and
with consequences internal to the game. Some virtual world activities fall into a vast gray area. For example,
in the real world, gambling games within casinos are inspected and regulated by state gaming commissions to
ensure that the games are “fair.” However, such regulations do not exist in the virtual world, and the potential
for unfair games stacked in favor of the operator is high.

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.

Second Life Work Microsites enable businesses and government agencies to use Second Life for virtual
meetings, events, training, and simulations to stimulate innovation while minimizing the cost and
environmental impact of travel. Second Life Education Microsites are designed for educators who want to
offer virtual education options to augment their traditional curriculum.

PANGASINAN STATE UNIVERSITY 6

 FM-AA-CIA-15 Rev. 0 10-July-2020

Study Guide in (GE111 – Living in the IT ERA) Module No. 8

Chevron—a U.S. multinational company engaged in the gas, oil, and geothermal industries—is using a virtual
world model of its Salt Lake refinery for training new operators, some of whom have never even been in a
refinery unit. Trainees guide their avatars through a 3D virtual model of the refinery to learn the basics of safe
operation and how to deal with typical operational issues. Practicing in the virtual environment enables
trainees to be exposed to many more operations scenarios in much less time than waiting for similar
situations to arise in the real world.

LEARNING ACTIVITY 1

Exercises:
a. Answer the following
1. What is a social networking site?
2. Enumerate two social networking sites that you are using regularly and how it is beneficial to you.
3. Select one social networking ethical issue that you think happens more frequently? Explain why.
4. What is an online virtual world?
5. What is the difference between MORPG and MOBA?

b. Answer the following

1. A(n) __________ brings shoppers and sellers together in a social networking environment in
which participants can share information and make recommendations while shopping online.
2. _________encourages individuals to pass along a marketing message to others, thus creating
the potential for exponential growth in the message’s exposure and influence as one person tells
two people, each of those two people tell two or three more people, and so on.
3. The two primary objectives of social media advertisers are driving traffic to a Web site to increase
product sales and raising ________.
4. __________ is the harassment, torment, humiliation, or threatening of one minor by another
minor or group of minors via the Internet or cell phone.
5. How many people are estimated to be Internet users worldwide?

SUMMARY

 A social networking Web site creates an online community of Internet users that enables members to
break down barriers created by time, distance, and cultural differences; such a site allows people to
interact with others online by sharing opinions, insights, information, interests, and experiences.
 An increasing number of business-oriented social networking sites are designed to encourage and
support relationships with consumers, clients, potential employees, suppliers, and business partners
around the world.
 There are several social network advertising strategies, including direct advertising, advertising using
an individual’s network of friends, indirect advertising through social networking groups, advertising
via company-owned social networking Web sites, and viral marketing.
 Employers often look at the social networking Web site profiles of job candidates when making hiring
decisions.
 A social shopping Web site brings shoppers and sellers together in a social networking environment
in which members share information and make recommendations while shopping online.
 Cyberbullying is the harassment, torment, humiliation, or threatening of one minor by another minor
or group of minors via the Internet or cell phone. It is estimated that as many as 25 percent of
teenagers have experienced cyberbullying in their lifetime.
 Cyberstalking is threatening behavior or unwanted advances directed at an adult using the Internet or
other forms of online and electronic communications; it is the adult version of cyberbullying.
 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.
 Virtual worlds raise many interesting questions regarding what is a criminal act and whether law
enforcement, real or virtual, should get involved in acts that occur in virtual worlds.
 Virtual online worlds are increasingly being used for education and business purposes.

PANGASINAN STATE UNIVERSITY 7

 FM-AA-CIA-15 Rev. 0 10-July-2020

Study Guide in (GE111 – Living in the IT ERA) Module No. 8

REFERENCES

Matthew N. O. Sadiku | Adedamola A. Omotoso | Sarhan M. Musa "Social Networking" Published in

International Journal of Trend in Scientific Research and Development

Khan, Ameer. (2015). Ethical Issues in Social Networking. 10.13140/RG.2.1.4289.6080.

Reynold G.W., (2015), Ethics in Information Technology 5th Edition, Cengage Learning, USA

E-SOURCES:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/social-sciences/social-networking-sites

https://makeawebsitehub.com/social-media-sites/

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/282701876_Ethical_Issues_in_Social_Networking

https://www.techopedia.com/definition/25604/virtual-world

https://www.computerhope.com/jargon/m/mmorpg.htm

https://swhelper.org/2015/08/31/virtual-worlds-are-you-an-optimist-or-a-pessimist/

https://www.igi-global.com/dictionary/multiplayer-online-battle-arena-moba/99945

https://notesread.com/moba-multiplayer-online-battle-arena/

PANGASINAN STATE UNIVERSITY 8