Submitted To: Submitted By: Dr. Reeta Raina Abhimanyu Choudhary 231006 1 BCA REPORT
Compare and contrast the attributes of the various social media; discuss potential ethical issues related to the use of social media, and how might social media be used as a political tool within an organisation.
2 BCA REPORT ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
As any good work ls lncompleLe wlLhouL acknowledglng Lhe people who made lL posslble, Lhls acknowledgemenL ls lncompleLe wlLhouL Lhanklng my famlly, frlends, and faculLy, wlLhouL whose supporL Lhls reporL wouldn'L have Laken shape.
l Lake Lhls opporLunlLy Lo express my profound grauLude and deep regards Lo my gulde ur. 8eeLa 8alna for her exemplary guldance, monlLorlng and consLanL encouragemenL LhroughouL Lhe course of Lhls reporL. 1he blesslng, help and guldance glven by her ume Lo ume shall carry me a long way ln Lhe [ourney of llfe on whlch l am abouL Lo embark. LasLly, l Lhank almlghLy, my parenLs, broLher and frlends for Lhelr consLanL encouragemenL wlLhouL whlch Lhls asslgnmenL would noL have been posslble.
3 BCA REPORT CONTENTS
1. Executive Summary.5 2. What is Social Media?..6 3. Effects of Social Media7 4. Social Media in Organisations.8 5. Annexure10 6. Glossary..11 7. Bibliography...12
4 BCA REPORT Executive Summary
Soclal Medla ls one of Lhe mosL lmporLanL segmenLs of llves Loday, ln boLh personal as well as professlonal spheres. lL ls an lmporLanL Lool of connecuvlLy and enLerLalnmenL, and has been laLely ldenues even more lmporLanL LhaL normal modes of lnLeracuon, glven lL ls noL really posslble Lo meeL and greeL everyone we know.
Soclal medla has, [usL llke a coln, Lwo sldes Lo lL whlch make lL someLhlng LhaL needs Lo be balanced. Lxperlences of people around Lhe globe show how one cllck can aecL many llves, ln a posluve as well as negauve way.
Crganlsauons use soclal medla ln a varleLy of conLexLs and lL ls an lmporLanL Lool of connecuon beLween professlonals around and ouLslde Lhe sphere of Lhe omce place. Soclal medla has made lL mandaLory for everyone Lo be onllne almosL 24*7 ln order Lo meeL wlLh Lhe pace of everyone else who ls already a parL of Lhe complex web of neLworks. 8uslness processes use soclal medla Lo enhance Lhelr producuvlLy and even lncrease revenue. Soclal medla has, ln a way, seL foundauons aL Lhe same ume released Lhem for all and sundry, leavlng no sLone unLurned Lo enLer lnLo llves of people and aecL Lhem.
1he alm of organlsauons should be a susLalnable use of Soclal medla Lo make Lhe good and maxlmum use of lL ln order Lo achleve excellence.
5 BCA REPORT What is Social Media?
1o compare and conLrasL Lhe varlous aspecLs of soclal medla and also Lo nd ouL lLs good and bad eecLs, we rsL have Lo know LhaL whaL soclal medla ls? Soclal medla ls Lhe soclal lnLeracuon among people ln whlch Lhey creaLe, share or exchange lnformauon and ldeas ln vlrLual communlues and neLworks. 1he besL way Lo dene soclal medla ls Lo break lL down. Medla ls an lnsLrumenL on communlcauon, llke a newspaper or a radlo, so soclal medla would be a soclal lnsLrumenL of communlcauon. ln Web 2.0 Lerms, Lhls would be a webslLe LhaL doesn'L [usL glve you lnformauon, buL lnLeracLs wlLh you whlle glvlng you LhaL lnformauon. 1hls lnLeracuon can be as slmple as asklng for your commenLs or lemng you voLe on an arucle, or lL can be as complex as lllxLer recommendlng movles Lo you based on Lhe raungs of oLher people wlLh slmllar lnLeresLs. 1hlnk of regular medla as a one-way sLreeL where you can read a newspaper or llsLen Lo a reporL on Lelevlslon, buL you have very llmlLed ablllLy Lo glve your LhoughLs on Lhe mauer. Soclal medla, on Lhe oLher hand, ls a Lwo-way sLreeL LhaL glves you Lhe ablllLy Lo communlcaLe Loo. Soclal medla Lechnologles Lake on many dlerenL forms lncludlng magazlnes, lnLerneL forums, weblogs, soclal blogs, mlcroblogglng, wlkls, soclal neLworks, podcasLs, phoLographs or plcLures, vldeo, raung and soclal bookmarklng. 1echnologles lnclude blogglng, plcLure-sharlng, vlogs, wall-posung, muslc-sharlng, crowdsourclng and volce over l, Lo name a few. Soclal neLwork aggregauon can lnLegraLe many of Lhe plauorms ln use. 1here are slx dlerenL Lypes of soclal medla: 1. Collaborauve ro[ecLs (for example, Wlklpedla) 2. 8logs and Mlcroblogs (for example, 1wluer and 1umbler) 3. ConLenL Communlues (for example, ?ou1ube and uallyMouon) 4. Soclal neLworklng SlLes (for example, lacebook) 3. vlrLual Came-Worlds (e.g., World of Warcra) 6. vlrLual Soclal Worlds (e.g. Second Llfe)
Powever, Lhe boundarles beLween Lhe dlerenL Lypes have become lncreaslngly blurred. lor example, 1wluer, as a comblnauon of broadcasung servlce and soclal neLwork, classes as a "soclal broadcasung Lechnology".
6 BCA REPORT Effects of Social Media
now as every Lhlng has a good and a bad slde Lo lL, soclal medla also has boLh posluve and negauve aspecLs. 1he posluve aspecLs of Soclal medla ls LhaL lL lncreases communlcauon, creauvlLy, collaborauon, [ob hunung, and exposes people Lo new ldeas and oplnlons. Soclal medla has helped a loL ln brldglng Lhe communlcauon gaps beLween people as wlLh Lhe advenL of lL more and more people are comlng ln conLacL wlLh each oLher and has Lhus made lL easler for Lhe people Lo communlcaLe freely and across conunenLs. CreauvlLy among Lhe people has also lncreased as people are sharlng Lhelr ldeas wlLh Lhe world Lhrong Lhe soclal medla and Lhus creaung a space for Lhemselves and lncreaslng Lhelr condence, as we see more and more young people comlng ouL wlLh Lhelr dlerenL klnd of arL (llke palnungs, muslc,eLc) and are gemng appreclaLed all over Lhe world Lhrough soclal medla. As Lhe soclal medla has broughL people closer, Lhey are now collaboraung for new pro[ecLs and asslgnmenLs wlLh Lhe people all over Lhe world and are comlng up wlLh new ldea and are lnnovaung more and more. Cne of Lhe blggesL help LhaL soclal medla has done ls ln Lhe eld of [ob hunung as more and more plauorms emerge for people Lo nd Lhelr ldeal [ob and Lhere are a loL of plauorms where people can show Lhelr skllls and resume publlcly and Lhe companles can lnvlLe people for lnLervlews by [usL looklng aL Lhelr resume from Lhe webslLes. now, as Lhere ls always a lp slde Lo a coln, Lhere are also varlous negauve aspecLs of soclal medla llke a false sense of connecuon, cyber bullylng, prlvacy lssues, mlslnformauon, and decreased producuvlLy of people. eople are connecung Lhrough soclal medla and Lhere ls a large Lendency of Lhe false sense of connecuon as people are noL able Lo clearly dlsungulsh beLween Lhe real world and Lhe soclal medla(l.e vlrLual) world and Lhus creaung emouonal conlcLs due Lo Lhe varlous casual relauonshlps belng formed on Lhese webslLes. Cyber bullylng ls also a common pracuce seen Lhese days and lL ls more promoLed by Lhe lncrease ln Lhe number of soclal medla webslLes. lL mosLly LargeLs Leenagers by blackmalllng Lhem and Lhus nally leaves an emouonal scar on Lhelr llfe. 7 BCA REPORT rlvacy ls also a concern wlLh Lhe lncreaslng use of soclal medla as Lhere ls no sysLem whaL so ever Lo check Lhe ldenuLy of Lhe person on Lhe lnLerneL and Lhus Lhese loopholes ln Lhe Lechnology leads Lo Lhe ldenuLy Lhe and people preLendlng Lo be someone else. As Lhe lnLerneL becomes wldely accesslble Lo Lhe masses lL has been easy for every one Lo creaLe a webslLe or blogs and posL lnformauon onllne. Soclal medla consuLuLe Lo abouL 28 ln spreadlng Lhe news as lL ls a cheap and wldely avallable medlum for lL. Moreover, Lhe rumours whlch spread onllne Lhrough Lhe soclal medla neLworks spread a loL of havoc among people due Lo lL wlde reach. eople are now spendlng more and more ume on Lhe soclal medla webslLes Lhese days especlally Lhe chlldren (See Annexure 1). lL would noL be wrong Lo say LhaL Lhe Leens and Lhe youLh has become addlcLed Lo Lhese webslLes. 1hls addlcuon of Lhem has led Lo a decrease ln Lhelr producuvlLy and Lhus have led Lhem Lo a poor academlc performance. Moreover, Lhese soclal neLworklng slLes also have made young generauon Lo come lnLo conLacL wlLh Lhe maLerlal whlch ls noL approprlaLe for Lhere age llke pronography eLc. AnoLher bad eecL Lhese soclal neLworks are havlng Lhese days ls Lhelr capaclLy Lo lnluaLe vlolence among people. As recenLly we saw ln Lhe Muzaarnagar case how people provoked each oLher Lo vlolence by sharlng provoklng conLenL on Lhe facebook.
Social Media in Organisations
Soclal Medla ls an lmporLanL lnsLrumenL Lhese days when seen lnslde an organlsauon. 1oday, Lhe organlsauons has creaLed Lhelr lnLernal soclal neLworklng plauorms Lo help Lhelr employees Lo communlcaLe wlLh each oLher emclenLly. Crganlsauons also use Lhese soclal neLworklng plauorms Lo communlcaLe wlLh Lhelr cusLomers as Lhls lnformal mode of communlcauon make lL easler for Lhem Lo creaLe an lnumaLe relauonshlp wlLh Lhem. Accordlng Lo an lnLernauonal survey, abouL 42 of employees would be happy Lo Lalk wlLh Lhelr llne manager or Leam leader on facebook, and would even be comforLable Lweeung Lhe head of deparLmenL or chlef execuuve. Llkewlse, nearly 40 of managers would be happy Lo respond. Soclal medla has also made lL easler for Lhe employees Lo share Lhelr ldeas and oplnlons abouL Lhe new pollcles and declslons and make lL easler for Lhe company Lo make employee frlendly pollcles. 8 BCA REPORT
now, Lhe use of soclal medla ln Lhe organlsauon can also be counLer producuve for Lhe organlsauons. lL has been seen LhaL people geL easlly dlsLracLed when Lhey are allowed Lo use soclal neLworklng slLes ln Lhelr omce. 1hus, lL decreases Lhe producuvlLy of employees by lemng Lhem use soclal neLworklng slLes. 1here has been many lnsLances ln Lhe pasL whlch Lells us Lhe problems wlLh Lhe soclal medla ln Lhe organlsauons. lor example, when ln uS a manager of a company senL hls employee a message Lo her on facebook LhaL she found huruul and demeanlng, and was followed by a sexual harassmenL lawsulL. An anoLher example would be of an lnvesung company employee LweeLed LhaL "someLhlng really blg ls golng Lo happen Lomorrow" aL work and "lL's golng Lo be a proLable new ?ear." and posslbly leaked ouL Lhe secreLs of Lhe company and argued ln courL LhaL hls acuons were ln accordance wlLh hls rlghL Lo free speech. Such lnsLances can be of harmful naLure Lo Lhe organlsauon.
9 BCA REPORT Annexure 1
10 BCA REPORT Glossary
1. Web 2.0 - 1he second sLage of developmenL of Lhe lnLerneL, characLerlsed especlally by Lhe change from sLauc web pages Lo dynamlc or user-generaLed conLenL and Lhe growLh of soclal medla.
2. vlog - A blog ln whlch Lhe posungs are prlmarlly ln vldeo form.
3. Wlkls - A webslLe or daLabase developed collaborauvely by a communlLy of users, allowlng any user Lo add and edlL conLenL.
4. odcasLs- A dlglLal audlo le made avallable on Lhe lnLerneL for downloadlng Lo a compuLer or porLable medla player, Lyplcally avallable as a serles, new lnsLalmenLs of whlch can be recelved by subscrlbers auLomaucally.