The New Political Social Platforms

In an era of immediate gratification, and the need for the here and now, most people like to be in the know, (or at least think that they are). News is right at our finger tips since carry on devices have invaded the population in masses. Since anyone can create a website or operate a news feed how credible is the news?

We see clips from government officials blasting the news media as corrupt and incoherent posses with evil agendas threatening to put an end to society as we have come to know it. There are rampages from some of the highest offices in our nation carried out over Twitter. News videos highlighting some new scandal could easily replace televised soap operas and reality shows. We just can’t wait to see what will happen next!

Our elected officials seem to think social media is for combat. Then there is fake news, and real fake news or is it just the fake news that is fake? Perhaps, our government defines fake news differently than the term might be interpreted by Twitter users. Who knows? We just don’t need all the drama

So, my question is what is the actuality? Are we really living in a time when accepting truth as lies and lies as truth is normal? Orson Welles, (2018) apparently taught society nothing when he made the radio broadcast of War of the Worlds. As people tuned into the show, it was so realistic people panicked. They thought the planet was being taken by aliens as the work of fiction played out over the radio.

Who are we to believe? There are allegations that a foreign nation interfered with the very basic structure of the democratic process and used social media to accomplish the task, (DOJ, 2018). We currently have a special prosecutor investigating possible collusion between a seated President and a foreign entity. There were some 126 million people that were reached by fake Russian Facebook accounts during the election process, (The Guardian, 2017) and you can click here to see if you interacted with one of these fake accounts during the 2016 election. There is even a television program called Catfish, that deals tracks social media accounts and the people connected to them to determine if they are real or if the love interest with the suspicious digital romance is being Catfished, (a new word in the dictionary).

People seem to be losing their ability to interact with each other in person. Why bother calling to talk when you can check Facebook or send an instant message. A visit to a local grocery store reaffirmed my observation this week. I thought there must be a new holiday that I was unaware of called rude and uncouth day.

I think there is an argument with evidence that social media is slowly dumbing down our society. Not necessarily taking away intelligence, but creating a world where fact checking just does not happen. Cyberbullying occurs only because no one is willing to step forward and tell the truth in many cases. Simple fact checking and speaking up could save a young person’s life. The sad reality is that most of the time that doesn’t happen.

Back to the political side of this post. We have learned that Tweeting is one of the coolest past times that ever existed. Being truthful, seems to be a thing of the past and hang on until tomorrow when the next episode of As Our Government Churns presents an even more unbelievable occurrence than those we have seen thus far. Why can’t we just talk about the aliens that don’t exist?

Department of Justice, (2018) Case 1:18-cr-00032-DLF Document 1 Filed 02/16/18. Retrieved from https://www.justice.gov/file/1035477/download  on May 4, 2018.

The Guardian, (2017) Russia-backed Facebook posts 'reached 126m Americans' during US election. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/oct/30/facebook-russia-fake-accounts-126-million  on May 4, 2018.

History.com, (2018) This Day in History, Welles Scares Nation. Retrieved from https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/welles-scares-nation   on May 3, 2018.

What is the Next Paradigm Shift in Software Development for Social Media

By: Safa Alshannag

In this post I want to talk about the paradigm shift in developing social media websites. Traditionally (circa 2005), developing a social media website would involve a range of web development features. Very early versions of social media platforms such as MySpace started with text and image-based html and incorporated simple web dev features such as presenting personal profile pages, inserting ads, and maintaining a reliable server that can keep with user traffic.  Next generations included more advanced web dev features such as flash-based content and server-side processing using PHP and MySql to handle user data and ad content.

With the rise of Javascript and CSS, social media platforms started to deliver rich content and more interactive websites. Incorporating e-commerce features and advanced ad features into social media platforms and vice versa accelerated the adoption of advanced security features and rich content delivery.

Today with mobile web, social media platforms have become the driver for most of web development. Almost every e-commerce website links to a bunch of social media platforms (Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, …etc.). Social media has become the web point of entry for over 2 thirds of web surfers. Social media drives people to the web and by that it drives the web. Today, almost all software development technologies are being leveraged in web development for social media and the question is: what is the next shift in this paradigm?

I believe the next shift will be driven by the value of data provided by social media. With advent of artificial intelligence and the expansion of its application and role in social media, the value of data has never been more valuable. That’s because the main ingredient to developing artificial intelligence applications is data. In the next generation – if not in the current one already-  of social media platforms, AI classifiers will be running on web servers and client sides to take the user experience to the next level. However, this requires collecting data for developing such classifier and that’s where innovation is needed. As the need of data is on the rise so does the concern of user privacy, companies like Facebook, Google or LinkedIn have to define new satisfying rules for the consumption of user data in their AI engines or the rules will be defined for them. I think being proactive about devising such rules and creating new web technologies that can benefit from user data without violating the user’s privacy is in the benefit of companies and gives them the ability to work with flexibility towards that. 

Social Media & Socialization in the U.S.

The Facebook movement started in the year 2004. Most people were hesitant about signing up for Facebook exposure. However, as the Facebook craze took off in the media, more and more people began to sign up and get involved. The same with Twitter, which began in the year 2006. Membership grew at a fast pace and everyone was talking about it.

At the time these social medias began, face to face socialization had decreased and letter writing was almost obsolete. The families only met at funerals or family reunions and friends got together at parties or weddings. The world’s communication genre had changed drastically. What caused this change? Families no longer live locally and grow up in this environment because of job availability and a need for the younger generation to see more of the world, more excitement and a faster pace of living situations.

Thereby, more involvement in social medias to keep in touch with family and friends. Families can post pictures of themselves and grandparents can visually see the grand kids growth online rather than in person.

Popularity with these social medias grew and grew and today is still the most popular means of socialization worldwide. The older generation are coping with these changes but does not necessarily like it. However, the younger generation believe this is the only way to communicate other than an occasion phone call. Is phone calls obsolete now? Has visitation with family and friends become just an occasional funeral, family reunion, wedding or a planned party here and there? What do you think will be the next BIG social media craze?

Source: https://www.cnn.com/2014/02/11/world/facebook-fast-facts/index.html

What you might not know about Who is Listening on Social Media

R. Sosby

So, after years of waiting, Maria our family friend is finally getting married to a handsome man from across the border as we call it here in Northeast Georgia, (meaning South Carolina). Mom called me up this weekend to let me know and how did she discover the news; Facebook.

Since I do not have a Facebook account, I looked at the post when I visited Mom yesterday and something stood out. The announcement was made on Friday night and there were already congratulatory messages on Sunday afternoon from of all things, insurance agencies. The good news is one of the companies offers travelers insurance, so the honeymoon is certain to go off without a hitch!

 I have heard about this phenomenon before. I think it is called Social Listening, and if I were an insurance agent, I would want Maria and her new Fiancé in my office to discuss the future. Why not? If they are getting married, they will need a home and that means homeowner’s insurance. They will probably want to procreate at some point, a perfect opportunity to sell life and accident or hospitalization insurance. The kid(s) will at some point need a car, so I can keep selling insurance products in an endless cycle. We could call it the Insurance Matrix!

Seems this new trend is becoming more common, but just like those dreadful cookies lingering on websites, I am not too sure that I get warm and fuzzy when it comes to social listening. Yes, I know and believe me I hear everyone with a social media account screaming just set your privacy settings and you can control who sees what you post. News Flash; Facebook is ALWAYS listening and has not stopped since 2014! (that is, if you have inadvertently given permission to access the microphone on your device). Oh Yeah…. yell privacy setting at me now!

On a serious note, Social Listening does not mean that someone is listening to your Facebook account in a literal manner. A better word might to use might be monitoring. You see, companies use platforms that vary from online service tools to extensive and expensive software programs to search social media pages for specific keywords or phrases, (like a wedding announcement) to gather leads. As everyone knows, lead gathering leads to potentially increased revenue, which leads to potentially more money for sales people, which leads to; anyway, sales cures all, you get the picture.

Just like those same insurance companies can contact you to solicit business, there is a little trick to their cleverness as well. When I searched for a tidbit on insurance companies and social listening, I discovered that these companies are not in the business of just trying to sell insurance. I found an article written by William  Comcowich, (2017) and learned that insurance companies are also interested in eliminating insurance fraud.

When George and Margie, (fictitious characters) were skiing in Colorado, Margie dropped her 6-karat canary diamond worth over $60 thousand. Good thing they were insured, but wasn’t that what Margie was wearing on her finger in the picture her sister posted this weekend? The Insurance company really likes to know about these things. Can you say BUSTED?

Now for those of you getting these unsolicited posts that seem to be just part of the social media experience, think about what you have posted on your pages recently and see if there is a coincidence in the how theses ads appear. You might be surprised to learn that there isn’t. So, the next time you make a post on that page, remember; someone might be listening to what you say. Now, can someone please tell me if Maria has to invite these folks to the wedding? Hope I don’t have to cater it…

Comcowich, W., (2017) How Insurance Companies Can Benefit from Social Media Listening. Glean.info. Retrieved from https://glean.info/insurance-companies-can-benefit-social-media-listening/  on April 29, 2018.

Photo courtesy of laomao.info images of people listening to music while studying.

Social Media Influencing Teenagers to Post Nudes?

Author: Carole English

The Influence of Social Media

    We all know that Social Media can influence certain audiences in several different ways. Even if it’s unintentional, there are posts that can leave an effect on someone viewing or reading it. The younger generation are probably the most influential group of users that use social media applications on a daily basis. This group is seeking instant fame from viewers all over the world. Recognition and self-gratification give them a feeling of acceptance to society. The more viewers received, the more exciting and challenging for these teenagers. As we know, some teenagers have little attention from parents or guardians. Seeking love or a relationship of some kind can be a huge influence and a feeling of closeness or as part of a group. Dealing with complainers and opposition from viewers can cause them to feel neglected or not wanted to society or a loving relationship. These teenagers’ first response to opposition is anger and feeling neglected as a person. Some teenagers do not understand the morale standards set by some in society. “What do you mean I should not show my body and share it with the world, I’m not shame of my body!”  They are seeking acceptance and love from anyone who will agree with their position of nudity and exposure and their rights as an open-minded person.

The Negative Effects

       Unfortunately, when teenagers, or anyone, go down a path such as this, it can lead into a dangerous environment for that individual. There are so many sexual predators in the world that are out there waiting for the perfect opportunity. What better opportunity than a teenager posting nudes on social media seeking attention? The temptations increase with the nudity leading to sex trafficking, prostitution and drug exposure. With each of the temptations, there is a greater desire of fame and recognition and a somewhat family setting not received at home. Sex trafficking brings lots of income to support your desires of fortune. Prostitution can complete desires of family-life when there is a “pimp” involved, which can be mistaken as a father or husband figure. Drugs are ever increasing and can help these teenagers escape reality and deal with rejections and complaints from upper societies. Becoming a part of a group of drug dealers can be mistaken as acceptance and love, as well. They get lost emotionally and drift in and out of who they are or what their real goals in life may be from the very beginning of exposing their bodies on social medias. There are several relationships but to the wrong crowds and there is never true love, as well. Will they ever get out of a bad situation? Is there a life expectancy after total exposure? Where is the love? Even though this quick exposure could last but a few seconds, it could last a lifetime since images and videos never really disappear from the internet and can be accessed years later. This could damage someone’s reputation for a lifetime.

Possible Preventions or Alternatives

    There are several ways teenagers can avoid or prevent themselves from falling into an influential situation such as social media nudity. First of all, these teenagers can seek parental guidance and discuss with them their need of love and support from family. Open communication is imperative between teenagers and parents. Suicide rates are increasing from teenage use of social media. All the more reason why the parents should monitor teenage access to computer usage and discuss the pros and cons with them. Secondly, female teenagers are impressionable to a parent figure or societal acceptance from older men. These young girls want to feel like they are grown or attractive to men in general. Parents should watch the girls’ outward appearances and monitor any mood swings, which could be an indication of outside influences. Too many teenagers are at a lost to love and relationships. The world is known to “chew them up and spit them out,” sort of speak.

In conclusion, observation and access to the computer and social media is crucial to a well-groomed teenager. Preparation for the world and its standards of acceptance should be instilled at a young age. Parents need to set a good example of stability and a loving family environment. Learning what’s right and wrong in society is important in order for a teenager to avoid seeking the wrong crowds. Teenagers need to know that there is hope in life, a higher power to guide them and lead them in the right direction. There must be stability in all aspects of home life. As young kids grow up observing and mimicking other adults, exposure to a loving family in the home can be crucial and necessary. We all have a part to play in shaping someone’s life. Have we, as adults, done all we can to be role models for our future generations? What can we do different? What is wrong with societal acceptance of sexual nudity and how can we correct it? What can I do to change things? These are all questions we should ask each other.  

Sources

https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/lifestyle/article/2001276800/uproar-over-teens-online-conduct

Main implications of Mark Zuckerberg’s testimony before Congress

By: Safa Alshannag

1)  Regulations - Social media could/should be regulated:

It was a main theme from senators from both parties that social media should be regulated. Zuckerberg seemed to be in favor of “the right regulation”. An advantage of regulated social media is that something like what happened in the 2016 presidential election won’t happen. Fake news won’t propagate as easy as it did. That sounds good until you realize that such regulation will cement Facebook’s dominance in the social media market. Regulations will make it harder for small companies to enter the social media market and kill their chance to compete with Facebook. Furthermore, social media is a free speech platform and regulating that might indirectly infringe on First amendment rights.

2) Social media is a platform for innovation in technology:

Facebook is more than a social media company. The following is an excerpt from an exchange between Senator Graham and Zuckerberg:

Graham: Who’s your biggest competitor?
Zuckerberg: Senator, we have a lot of competitors.
Graham: Who’s your biggest?
Zuckerberg: Mmm… I think the categories of… do you want just one? I’m not sure I can give one. But can I give a bunch?
Graham: Mmhm.
Zuckerberg: So there are three categories I would focus on. One are [sic] the other tech platforms, so Google, Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, we overlap with them in different ways.
Graham: Do they do, do they provide the same service that you provide?
Zuckerberg: Um, in different ways, different parts of it yes.
Graham: Let me put it this way. If I buy a Ford and it doesn’t work well and I don’t like it, I can buy a Chevy. If I’m upset with Facebook, what’s the equivalent product that I can go sign up for?
Zuckerberg: Ah well, the second category that I was going to talk about was…
Graham: I’m not talking about categories. I’m talking about is there real competition you face. Because car companies face a lot of competition. If they make a defective car, it gets out in the world, people stop buying that car, they buy another one. Is there an alternative to Facebook in the private sector?
Zuckerberg: Yes Senator, the average American uses 8 different apps…
Graham: OK.
Zuckerberg: …to communicate with their friends and stay in touch with people, ranging from text to email.
Graham: OK, which is the same service that you provide.
Zuckerberg: Well, we provide a number of different services.
Graham: Is Twitter the same as what you do?
Zuckerberg: It overlaps with a portion of what we do.
Graham: You don’t think you have a monopoly?
Zuckerberg: (long pause) Ah, it certainly doesn’t feel like that to me! (laughter)


The implication here is that Facebook consider itself a competitor to Google, Amazon, and Microsoft. Facebook considers itself a technology company. Thinking about it, I noticed that Facebook competes with Google and Amazon on digital advertisement. It competes with Amazon in online retail to some extent – think Marketplace. And lastly, it competes with Microsoft’s LinkedIn social media platform. Facebook has created not just a business model around social media but also a technological innovation platform. Image processing, video streaming, cloud computing, data center technology, virtual and augmented reality, gaming, and e-commerce are just a few examples that were stimulated by Facebook’s social media network. This is something very remarkable!

3)  Who owns the user data? 

Besides possessing a technological edge and a great business model for generating revenue, Facebook’s power is in the data it hosts. No other social media platform has the depth or breadth of Facebook’s user data. Keep in mind that Facebook owns Facebook.com, Instagram, and WhatsApp with over 2 Billion users – that’s one third the world’s population. Zuckerberg claims that Facebook’s user privacy agreement states that users own the data the post on Facebook. However, the Cambridge Analytica scandal has shown us otherwise. It is true that users can remove, edit, add, and modify their personal data, but users cannot delete their activity history such as Likes, Shopping, browsing history, Apps, ..etc. That data is certainly owned by Facebook and they can monetize it however they wish. 

Facebook Analytics: Should Users Be Allowed to Sue Facebook for Cambridge Analytica Breach?

What is Social Media Analytics?

Facebook Analytics: Should Users Be Allowed to Sue Facebook for Cambridge Analytica Breach?

March 23, 2018

R. Sosby

Before I start, I want to make sure that I am clear on my stance when it comes to the topic of Facebook. Certainly, there are those who use Facebook to connect with friends and occasionally visit the site to chat or catch up, perhaps even view some family photos and keep in touch without having to wonder about interrupting schedules, and in some cases, just let those who care know you are still alive. I suppose there is little harm in using Facebook in this manner, though being old school, I would rather use some 1980’s sentiment and “Reach out and touch someone”, (for the younger crowd, that was the slogan for AT&T’s landline service in the pre-cell phone age when we had rocks for pets and Pac Man ruled!).

Let’s talk about the type of Facebook user. For an example, I will pick on my sister because she is my sister, I love her, and it will give us one more topic to argue about which is one of her favorite methods of communication. She uses locator on Facebook so that there is a record of her every move. When she arrives, she makes sure to let her Facebook friends know that she is eating at whatever the given restaurant is or shopping at whatever the given shop is. If she goes bowling, she constantly updates her “friends” on the status of the game including who the players are right down to the type of bowling shoes they are wearing in some cases. And there is not a single moment that she does not capture and post on her Facebook. Her anthology could be written in cell phone images plastered on this social media site.  She writes about her everyday thoughts and is constantly on her phone updating everyone with important headlines from the desk of M. Sosby. The broadcast could easily achieve syndication.

Can you believe that she was upset this week when the announcement came that there was a breach of  50 million Facebook accounts by Cambridge Analytica? Could someone who does not know my sister actually collect data on her without her knowledge? Contact the Federal Marshalls, NCIS, The United Nations, Superman and Bugs Bunny! The nerve of someone she does not know viewing the 24-7 broadcast. We must work quickly to find these people and bring them before the Justice Squad. Simply outrageous!

Here is how the conversation went after she was so dismayed, and it left her speechless; for a moment. I asked her if she really thought that she was the only person in control of her information online or if she had ever heard the term public domain. The response I received from her was trivial. Speaking as if she were the only reason Facebook existed, she exclaimed that the company had no right to give out her information. I thought to myself, how naïve can she really be. Her information was not given out and furthermore, if she hadn’t mapped out her life’s every movement for the past n to the power of x years there would be nothing to collect!

According to the terms of service outlined by Facebook, (updated 2015) “ you grant us a non-exclusive, transferable, sub-licensable, royalty-free, worldwide license to use any IP content that you post on or in connection with Facebook (IP License).”, which I interpret to say , you post it and we decide what to do with it. Of course, there are rules that apply for the use of content and the user has some control through the settings on their account.

Getting “friended” seems to be like a popularity game in that the more friends you have, the more popular you are in theory. Some users accept all friend request regardless of who is sending the request simply to gather a larger number of friends. Could one of those friends be lurking on the sidelines collecting information on your favorite foods, where you go to church, family values, shopping habits, and any other number of things that might be posted as content on the site? I believe there is definitely a flaw in the system if the user is not careful to monitor persons they allow to access their information through the friending system.

Now to get to the breach that is really not a breach but perhaps it is a breach, but we will have to make that determination. According to an article titled Revealed: 50 million Facebook profiles harvested for Cambridge Analytica in major data breach the controversy started with the invention of a single app. A professor at Cambridge University built the app during his off time, (away from the university) to deliver a personality test via Facebook to users. The article goes on to state that the New York Times reported “hundreds of thousands of users” took the test and did so willingly, in addition they were paid for their contribution to academic progress. The problem is that the app went on to collect the information of all their friends which accumulated into the area of around 50 million. Want to be my friend?

The information was then shared with Cambridge Analytica, a company that according to their website “uses data to change audience behavior”, (cambridgeanalytica.org, 2018). The whole deal had been hush-hush until a whistle blower broke the news last week to the press. There are even allegations that the information was used to help with Brexit and the last United States Presidential election. Sounds like a breach could have happened; or did it?

Mr. Facebook himself, Mark Zuckerberg spoke about the situation on Wednesday. According to Forbes, (2018) “Zuckerberg confirmed that in 2013, a Cambridge University researcher named Aleksandr Kogan created a personality quiz that was installed by about 300,000 people who shared their data and some of their friends' data, giving Kogan access to the data of tens of millions of Facebook users.” The article goes on to state that the executive learned in 2015 of the relationship between Kogan and Cambridge Analytica, including the collection of data that was out of the context with the rules governing Facebook.  Forbes, (2018) also states Zuckerberg “demanded that he and Cambridge Analytica "formally certify" that they had deleted the data, and both parties "provided these certifications…”, which probably explains why in his eyes no data breach occurred; only a breach of trust between a couple of entities.

 To sum it all up, having friends makes you popular. The goal is to be as popular as you can be, so you want to have a lot of friends. Being friends comes with added benefits, or in this case, headaches. Data was harvested from these users probably against their wishes and without their knowledge. Should there be compensation for the deceptive practice? Probably. Do the risks outweigh the rewards? We all shall soon see!

Cambridgeanalytica.org, (2018) Data drives all we do. Retrieved from https://cambridgeanalytica.org/ on March 24, 2018.

Forbes, (2018) Mark Zuckerberg Addresses 'Breach Of Trust' In Facebook User Data Crisis. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/kathleenchaykowski/2018/03/21/mark-zuckerberg-addresses-breach-of-trust-in-facebook-user-data-crisis/#29b6dca63e36  on March 24, 2018.

The Guardian, (2018) Revealed: 50 Million Facebook Profiles Harvested for Cambridge Analytica in Major Data Breach. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/mar/17/cambridge-analytica-facebook-influence-us-election  on March 23, 2018.

Facebook.com, (2018) Terms of Service. Retrieved from https://www.facebook.com/terms.php  on March 23, 2018.