An Analysis of Social Networking Sites: Privacy Policy and Features

Social Networking Sites (SNSs) are at the heart of many people lives, and the majority of both students and adults who use them to share information, keeping contact with old friends and meeting new acquaintances. However, the increasing number of action on online services also gives a raised to privacy concerns and issues. Therefore, the main purpose of this study is investigate the two SNSs i.e. Facebook and Friendster in terms of privacy policy and features, users‟ preferences and needs as well as producing a guideline for good SNSs from users design perspective. In an attempt to achieve the objectives of this study, however, two different approaches were employed; first literature has reviewed for two SNSs for the comparative analysis, and secondly quantitative approach technique was used. Online questionnaire was designed and published on the web and the respondents were able to access and sent back respectively. The survey was limited only to one hundred respondents within the Universiti Utara Malaysia. Findings from this study reveal that there are significant differences and similarities between Facebook and Friendster privacy policy and features. However, Friendster has hidden users‟ identity information by default to only friends, while Facebook has made it public to everyone. Results from survey in this study indicate that most of the respondents disclose information including personal and private information with public and friends, nevertheless, many respondents prefer to share their personal and private information with friends. Although, majority of respondents are aware of privacy setting changes, while they have notable attitude toward privacy protection as well as trust. This study usher a new era towards knowledge of social networking sites and the result can be use to the body of literature on information system with emphasis on privacy policy setting and features

Funding Tomorrow's Stories: Creating a Grant Proposal for a New Nonprofit

Digital Storymakers is a new nonprofit founded by SILS students. Its mission is to teach digital media literacy through the creation of a community-owned cultural repository. This will take the form of an innovative, locally-driven social networking site that will help people create their online "stories," collections of digital media. It will focus on local histories from Orange County. In order to fund the initial development, Digital Storymakers chose to apply for a National Endowment for the Humanities Digital Start-Up Grant and a MacArthur Foundation Digital Media & Learning Grant. The purpose of my Master's Project was to gain firsthand experience in fundraising by preparing a grant proposal for Digital Storymakers. This paper provides background information about the project and documents the process of creating the grant proposal

Framework for the development of successful web 2.0 tools and application

Tese de Doutoramento em Gestão na especialidade de Gestão de Informação apresentada à Universidade AbertaA incerteza inicial associada à célere disseminação da Web 2.0 está a dissipar-se cada vez mais. A natureza social e colaborativa da Web 2.0 suscitou curiosidade na educação, na saúde, no mundo empresarial e em outras arenas centrais da sociedade. A passividade de uma Web de informação imóvel foi substituída por uma Web dinâmica, de conteúdo vívido gerado pelo utilizador. Esta evolução tem levado muitas instituições, de todos os setores, a implementar componentes da Web 2.0 nos seus websites como uma estratégia para melhorar a relação com o seu público-alvo. Apesar da pesquisa nesta área ser abundante, muitas entidades permanecem irresolutas quanto ao tipo de aplicações e ferramentas que devem selecionar para atingir os seus objetivos específicos. O presente estudo aborda este desafio, através do esboço de uma framework, que pode ser usada por qualquer pessoa ou entidade que pretenda criar e implementar aplicações Web 2.0 bem-sucedidas. A framework foi baseada na revisão da literatura, numa recolha documental e nos resultados obtidos mediante a aplicação de dois questionários online, tendo sido um deles aplicado no âmbito de um estudo de caso de uma entidade internacional. Ao examinar as preferências dos utilizadores, foi possível definir os critérios que potenciam a criação de aplicações Web 2.0 bem-sucedidas. Esta framework estabelece a base para a sua futura implementação na entidade internacional estudada na presente investigação.The initial uncertainty surrounding the swift dissemination of Web 2.0 is increasingly dissipating. The social and collaborative nature of Web 2.0 incited curiosity in education, health, business and other central arenas of society. The passiveness of a Web of motionless information was replaced by a dynamic Web of lively usergenerated content. This evolution has led many institutions from all sectors to implement Web 2.0 components in their websites as a strategy to enhance their relationship with their target population. Despite the voluminous research in this area, many entities remain bewildered as to what type of applications and tools to select to attain their specific objectives. This study addresses this challenge, by outlining a framework that can be used by any individual or entity that wishes to build and implement successful Web 2.0 applications. This framework was based on the literature review, on the collection of documents, and on the results of the two online questionnaires, one of which was used in the context of a case study of an international entity. By examining the users’ preferences, it was possible to define the criteria that potentiate the creation of successful Web 2.0 applications. This framework sets forth the basis for its future implementation in the entity where part of this study was conducted

2010. Analysis of social networking privacy policies

ABSTRACT As the use of social networks becomes more widespread and commonplace, users are beginning to question how their privacy is protected by social networks. In this paper, we review a privacy taxonomy for data storage polices and models and extend it to support social networking. We then apply the extended taxonomy to the privacy policies of six commonly used social networks, and present our findings with regards to how the published privacy policies of these social networks protect the privacy of users in reality