In: International journal of virtual communities and social networking: IJVCSN ; an official publication of the Information Resources Management Association, Volume 5, Issue 4, p. 24-42
As the use of online social networking (OSN) sites is increasing, data extraction from OSN profiles is providing researchers with a rich source of data. Data extraction is divided into non-automated and automated approaches. However, researchers face a variety of ethical challenges especially using automated data extraction approaches. In social networking, there has been a lack of research that looks into the unique ethical challenges of using automated data extraction compared to non-automated extraction. This article explores the history of social research ethics and the unique ethical challenges associated with using automated data extraction, as well as how these impact the researcher. The author's review has highlighted that researchers face challenges when designing an experiment involving automated extraction from OSN profiles due to issues such as extraction methods, the speed at which the field of social media is moving and a lack of information on how to deal with ethical challenges.
The rapid development of information and telecommunication technologies (ICTs) in the 21st century has changed society at all levels: individual, group, company and government. As a result, there has been a significant rise in the availability of ICTs and related technologies around the globe, including in developing countries. ICTs include internet infrastructure such as the use of mobile devices, the internet connection and the affiliated platforms of online social networks (OSNs). The provision of online products and services by the government is known as electronic e-government. From a theoretical literature review it was found that research emphasising the use of OSNs in e-government and OSNs in Oman was scarce. Further, studies investigating and explaining the use of OSNs in the public sector and government were few. This motivated the researcher to explore and understand this issue, leading to the formation of the aim of this research: To explore and understand the use of e-government/OSNs in a public sector organisation in a developing country, in this case, government organisations in Oman. To achieve this, a comprehensive and detailed literature review of e-government/OSN research in developed, developing and Gulf countries was completed. Additionally, related theories on ICT diffusion and adoption, institutional theory and culture theory were used as a lens through which a better understanding of e-government/OSNs would be provided and to develop the initial conceptual framework that was then applied in practice. To acquire the data for this research a qualitative research approach involving the use of a case study was employed. The data collection techniques used included observations, interviews and a review of related archival documents. A total of 44 people were interviewed and an additional 37 participants assisted with the observational part of this study. The research results revealed that government organisations adopted OSNs to explore the use of the technology and to cope with the increasing public demands of government. The study revealed many benefits for government organisations after OSNs were adopted, including greater public interaction and participation, increased information transparency, better understanding and increased public awareness of government services, leading to better work efficiency and effectiveness. Further, public interaction and participation was noted to be important for the government as it helped government employees be more responsible and accountable for their work actions. Additionally, due to the application of OSNs, organisational and national cultural changes were identified that led to government work process and procedures being amended such that there was more public participation and interaction. This led to an influence of government policies and decision-making with regards to public services. After the applied part of this study, the initial conceptual framework was revised to reflect the practical aspects of this research. The contributions of this study are: for e-government research, it will add to the increasing body of knowledge in this area. For Omani theoretical literature, it will widen the boundaries of knowledge and OSN use, particularly for the Omani government and other governments in developing countries that seek to use e-government solutions. In countries where cultural aspects are important, this study can provide insights that may not have been considered before. Further, this study has shown that understanding organisational changes and the cultural contexts with respect to e-government and OSN use is important; therefore, more knowledge in this area can be provided by this study. For policymakers, the contribution of this research is the provision of an understanding of a wide range of issues surrounding the adoption of new technologies. In turn, this can assist policymakers with policy-formation such that their institutional purposes and roles can be fulfilled. This study contributes to private sector organisations including internet and OSN providers by explaining and illustrating the benefits of using OSNs in a developing country with an autocratic regime that seeks to provide citizen benefits.
Communication through social networking platforms is central to the social experience of today's emerging adults. In this study, we examined associations between emerging adults' off-line social functioning (i.e., social skills and social anxiety) and online interactions on the social networking platform Facebook. A novel Facebook application was developed to systematically capture Facebook interactions of 92 students (59% female; Mage = 18.57 years). Trained coders rated online language for content related to social interactivity and emotional valence. Self-report questionnaires measured social skills and social anxiety. Endorsement of higher social skills was associated with posts more frequently referencing existing off-line relationships, initiating interactions specific to an online context, and referencing both oneself and others positively. Ratings of higher social anxiety were associated with posts more frequently initiating interactions online and posts praising/supporting other users. Study methodology highlights the feasibility of capitalizing on novel technology to better understand links between off-line and online interactions.
Social media evidence is the new topic in digital forensics. If social media information is correctly explored, there will be significant support for investigating various offenses. Exploring social media information to give the government potential proof of a crime is not an easy task. Digital forensic investigation is based on natural language processing (NLP) techniques and the blockchain framework proposed in this process. The main reason for using NLP in this process is for data collection analysis, representations of every phase, vectorization phase, feature selection, and classifier evaluation. Applying a blockchain technique in this system secures the data information to avoid hacking and any network attack. The system's potential is demonstrated by using a real-world dataset.
Social media evidence is the new topic in digital forensics. If social media information is correctly explored, there will be significant support for investigating various offenses. Exploring social media information to give the government potential proof of a crime is not an easy task. Digital forensic investigation is based on natural language processing (NLP) techniques and the blockchain framework proposed in this process. The main reason for using NLP in this process is for data collection analysis, representations of every phase, vectorization phase, feature selection, and classifier evaluation. Applying a blockchain technique in this system secures the data information to avoid hacking and any network attack. The system's potential is demonstrated by using a real-world dataset.
[EN] Privacy Risk in Online Social Networks (OSNs) is one of the main concerns that has increased in the last few years. Even though social network applications provide mechanisms to control risk, teenagers are not often aware of the privacy risks of disclosing information in online social networks. The privacy decision-making process is complex and users often do not have full knowledge and enough time to evaluate all potential scenarios. They do not consider the audience that will have access to disclosed information or the risk if the information continues to spread and reaches an unexpected audience. To deal with these issues, we propose two soft-paternalism mechanisms that provide information to the user about the privacy risk of publishing information on a social network. That privacy risk is based on a complex privacy metric. To evaluate the mechanisms, we performed an experiment with 42 teenagers. The proposed mechanisms were included in a social network called Pesedia. The results show that there are significant differences in teenagers¿ behaviors towards better privacy practices when the mechanisms are included in the network. ; This work is partially supported by the Spanish Government project TIN2017-89156-R and the FPI grant BES-2015-074498. ; Alemany-Bordera, J.; Del Val Noguera, E.; Alberola Oltra, JM.; García-Fornes, A. (2019). Enhancing the privacy risk awareness of teenagers in online social networks through soft-paternalism mechanisms. International Journal of Human-Computer Studies. 129:27-40. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhcs.2019.03.008 ; S ; 27 ; 40 ; 129
The purpose of this article is to explore how and why younger Internet users of social networking platforms such as MySpace and Facebook maintain connections with those who have died or been killed. This article, therefore, examines the blurring or blending of interpersonal communication and mass communication via the web as what once was very private communication—messages to the deceased—becomes very public. The findings suggest that these online social networks enable or empower individuals marginalized by more traditional forms of memorialization.
