Privacy Concerns of Social Web

Introduction2

Purpose of Research3

Revelation of Personal Information4

Using Real Names4

Type of Information4

Information Visibility5

Social network Theory6

Privacy window in developing countries9

Targeting the Ideologies11

Manipulating users12

Recommendations12

Conclusion13

References14

Privacy Concerns of Social Web

Introduction

The major purpose of the social networking sites is to create online interaction between individuals and establishing or increasing communication. The goals and objectives of using social networking sites depend on the individuals as well as the type of social service used. The most common pattern of usage identified is presenting the profiles on participants making it available to a network of friends. However the way and rules of presentation differ widely across social service. In some cases, the profiles serve a secondary purpose for example in blogging sites (Kharif, 2006). In such sites the blog entries play the major role in communication and interaction. Examples of such social sites are Blogger and LiveJournal. There are also types of social websites where the profile is the most fundamental and critical part of the communication. Websites such as Match.com and Salon/Nerve Personals use the methods of interaction where there is no friends' network (National School Boards Association, 2007).

Figure 1: Social networking sites

Source: http://www.michellehenry.fr/social_network.htm

Purpose of Research

The purpose of this research report is to study results and theories from different researches done on the privacy issues of the younger generation in the societies. Different types of social networking sites are taken into account in order to find out the effects of each of these types on networking, interaction and on users. The report explores how the real names, identities and information visibility is affected by the website of which the user is the member. Considering the issues with the trust, the research undertakes the privacy window that prevails in the developing countries as well as the manipulation methods employed by social networking sites that can allow sharing personal information of the site member.

The main objective of the research is to find out if the social networking websites are becoming a privacy concern for the younger generation.

Revelation of Personal Information

According to various studies and researches, the patterns of revelation of personal information are found to be highly variable.



Using Real Names

The major factor that can vary across social websites is the usage of real names. At social sites such as Facebook, Orkut and hi5, the members of the site are publically identified by their names. While on other websites, the members are encouraged to use their real names on the account profile. These sites usually cater to social networking usage that relates to technical specifications, registration requirements, or social norms. Other types of sites where the real name is required but the profile name is used on the websites are dating sites like Friendster (Social Networking, 2009). The difference in real and profile name protects the thin line of privacy between the public identity of the participant and his online persona. Or there is the type of websites that clearly discourage the disclosure of the public identity as well as the online ...