OST : A transaction based online social trust model for social network and file sharing security

The continuous growth of the users pool of Social Networking web sites such as Facebook and MySpace, and their incessant augmentation of services and capabilities will in the future, meet and compare in contrast with today's Content distribution Networks (CDN) and Peer-to-Peer File sharing applications such as Kazaa and BitTorrent, but how can these two main streams applications, that already encounter their own security problems cope with the combined issues, trust for Social Networks, content and index poisoning in CDN? We will address the problems of Social Trust and File Sharing with an overlay level of trust model based on social activity and transactions, this can be an answer to enable users to increase the reliability of their online social life and also enhance the content distribution and create a better file sharing example. The aim of this research is to lower the risk of malicious activity on a given Social Network by applying a correlated trust model, to guarantee the validity of someone's identity, privacy and trustfulness in sharing content.

Web 2.0 VDS : social networking as a facilitator of design education

In 2009, Deakin University and the Chinese University of Hong Kong trailed the use of Web 2.0 technologies to enhance learning outcomes in a third year architectural design studio that was modelled on the Virtual Design Studios (VDS) of past decades. The studio developed the VDS further by integrating a social learning environment into the blended learning experience. The Web 2.0 VDS utilised the social networking sites Ning.com, YouTube and Skype; various 3D modelling and video- and/or image-processing software; plus chat-software. These were used in combination to deliver lectures, communicate learning goals, disseminate learning resources, submit work, and provide feedback and comments on various design works in assessing students’ outcomes. This paper centres on issues of learning and teaching associated with the development of a Social Network VDS (SNVDS).

Piloting social networking and Web 2.0 software at Deakin University

Deakin University piloted social networking software in order to complement and add a new dimension to its online learning and teaching efforts. In the first semester of 2007 eight teaching academics adopted three software applications. Six were used with students for learning while the other two were used by staff for professional development and research. This paper reports on the first attempt at providing institutional support for Web 2.0 and what was learned through the experience of these eight teaching academics which is essential to the ongoing development and decisions related to the future take up of these software applications.

The potentials and pitfalls of social networking sites such as Facebook in higher education contexts

Popular social networking sites such as Facebook demonstrate an emerging opportunity for students and educators within formal higher education contexts to share ideas, celebrate creativity and participate in an environment which offers immediate feedback from others who belong within a specific network. As this is an emerging use of the technology, an autoethnographic approach has helped capture the potentials and pitfalls of incorporating social networking within higher education. The findings highlight implications for the key stakeholders in higher education.

Closed vs open corporate social networking communities : a case study of the Victoria Police and Dairy Australia.

The availability of affordable, user-friendly audio-visual equipment, software and the Internet, allows anyone to become a content creator or media outlet. This exploratory case study examines the adoption of social networking by Victoria Police and Diary Australia, a non-media and non-profit organization respectively, in corporate communication, public infmmation and community relations. The paper initiates discussions on the implications for traditional media and audiences of this phenomenon. It content analyzed the two websites during a two-week period and conducted interviews with their moderators about the sites' content, functions and efficacy. The purpose, role and community acceptance of these sites are examined, along with organizational motivations for establishing these channels to reach audiences, bypassing traditional media's gatekeeping function. It highlights how these organizations may set both media and public agendas when traditional media use this web content in their news gathering and reporting, similar to using press releases in the past.

Web 2.0 virtual design studio : social networking as facilitator of design education

In 2009, Deakin University and the Chinese University of Hong Kong trailed the use of Web 2.0 technologies to enhance learning outcomes in a third-year architectural design studio that was modelled on the virtual design studios (VDSs) of the past decades. The studio developed the VDS further by integrating a social learning environment into the blended learning experience. The Web 2.0 VDS utilized the social networking site Ning.com, YouTube, Skype and various three-dimensional modelling, video and image processing, and chat software to deliver lectures, communicate learning goals, disseminate learning resources, submitting, providing feedback and comments to various design works, and assessing of students’ outcomes. This research centres on issues of learning and teaching associated with the development of a social network VDS.

A web-based, social networking physical activity intervention for insufficiently active adults delivered via Facebook app: randomized controlled trial

BACKGROUND: Online social networks offer considerable potential for delivery of socially influential health behavior change interventions. OBJECTIVE: To determine the efficacy, engagement, and feasibility of an online social networking physical activity intervention with pedometers delivered via Facebook app. METHODS: A total of 110 adults with a mean age of 35.6 years (SD 12.4) were recruited online in teams of 3 to 8 friends. Teams were randomly allocated to receive access to a 50-day online social networking physical activity intervention which included self-monitoring, social elements, and pedometers ("Active Team" Facebook app; n=51 individuals, 12 teams) or a wait-listed control condition (n=59 individuals, 13 teams). Assessments were undertaken online at baseline, 8 weeks, and 20 weeks. The primary outcome measure was self-reported weekly moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA). Secondary outcomes were weekly walking, vigorous physical activity time, moderate physical activity time, overall quality of life, and mental health quality of life. Analyses were undertaken using random-effects mixed modeling, accounting for potential clustering at the team level. Usage statistics were reported descriptively to determine engagement and feasibility. RESULTS: At the 8-week follow-up, the intervention participants had significantly increased their total weekly MVPA by 135 minutes relative to the control group (P=.03), due primarily to increases in walking time (155 min/week increase relative to controls, P<.001). However, statistical differences between groups for total weekly MVPA and walking time were lost at the 20-week follow-up. There were no significant changes in vigorous physical activity, nor overall quality of life or mental health quality of life at either time point. High levels of engagement with the intervention, and particularly the self-monitoring features, were observed. CONCLUSIONS: An online, social networking physical activity intervention with pedometers can produce sizable short-term physical activity changes. Future work is needed to determine how to maintain behavior change in the longer term, how to reach at-need populations, and how to disseminate such interventions on a mass scale. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (ANZCTR): ACTRN12614000488606; https://www.anzctr.org.au/Trial/Registration/TrialReview.aspx?id=366239 (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/6ZVtu6TMz).

The security, privacy, and ethical implications of social networking sites

© 2015, IGI Global. The chapter investigates the security and ethical issues relating to privacy and security. This chapter also examines the ethical issues of new forms of bullying that are being played out weekly in the media: cyber bulling, specifically on SNS such as Facebook. The traditional and direct forms of bullying are being replaced by consistent abuse via SNS due to the ease and accessibility of these new forms of communications.

Social networking, social harassment and social policy

This paper reports on the misuse of social networking sites (SNS). It was based on a study of 226 students in UK, Sweden, Turkey and France and a panel survey of 1068 Australian adults. Although only a minority of people experienced social harassment and abuse, the distressing nature of the bad experiences suggested that social marketing was needed on several fronts -self-regulation, regulation, education and personal responsibility - in order to minimise these behaviours.

Attack vectors against social networking systems : the Facebook example

Social networking systems (SNS’s) such as Facebook are an ever evolving and developing means of social interaction, which is not only being used to disseminate information to family, friends and colleagues but as a way of meeting and interacting with "strangers" through the advent of a large number of social applications. The attractiveness of such software has meant a dramatic increase in the number of frequent users of SNS’s and the threats which were once common to the Internet have now been magnified, intensified and altered as the potential for criminal behaviour on SNS’s increases. Social networking sites including Facebook contain a vast amount of personal information, that if obtained could be used for other purposes or to carry out other crimes such as identity theft. This paper will focus on the security threats posed to social networking sites and gain an understanding of these risks by using a security approach known as “attack trees”. This will allow for a greater understanding of the complexity associated with protecting Social Networking systems with a particular focus on Facebook.

The ethical dilemmas of social networking services in classroom contexts

This chapter explores five ethical dilemmas associated with using Social Networking Sites (SNS) in classrooms. First, do we have the right to colonize or marginalize students’ out of school social networking practices in the classroom? Second, should we access students’ out of classroom virtual identities from their SNS in a classroom context? Third, should we be engaging students’ social networking in public performances of the curriculum? Fourth, are we prepared for recognising and responding to illicit activity in SNS? Fifth, do teachers understand the implications of exposing their out of school identities to their students who inhabit the same social network? The authors do not dispute that SNS in the classroom can be a rich site for learning, but they argue that the concept of ethics as a process of analyzing and respecting the other is essential if we are to responsibly engage with SNS in the classroom.