Criteria E

Biblioraphy

Answers.com. "Facebook." www.answers.com. 1 Sept. 2007. http://www.answers.com/facebook. 16 Dec. 2007 .

Chan, Szu Ping. "How To Avoid Facebook Fraud." www.fool.co.uk. 30 Oct. 2007. 1 Nov. 2007 http://www.fool.co.uk/news/your-money/2007/10/30/how-to-avoid-facebook-fraud.aspx.

Copeland, Libby. "Click Clique: Facebook's Online College Community." http://www.washingtonpost.com.28dec.2004.31oct.2007/ .

Putterman, Kari. " Facebook: As bad as your parents say? ." www.gazette.net. 30 Aug. 2006. 9 Oct. 2007 .

Singel, Ryan. "Private Facebook Pages Are Not So Private." www.wired.com. 28 June 2007. 31Oct.2007 .

Stapleton-Paff, Katie. "Facebook poses privacy issues for students." www.thedaily.washington.edu. 25 Apr. 2007. 16 Sept. 2007 facebookPosesPrivacyIssuesForStudents>.

Tyson, Jeff. "How Internet Infrastructure Works ." www.howstuffworks.com. 2007. 1 Dec. 2007 .

Wikipedia. "Facebook." www.wikipedia.org. 23 Sept. 2007. 27 Sept. 2007 wiki/Facebook>.

Criteria D

D Solutions to Problems arising from the issue

Solutions to Problems arising from the issue
Many of the problems arising from social networks such have various types of solutions that accompany them. One of the main dilemmas with social directories are fraud and identity theft. Therefore a possible solution would be for an individual to make to make their profile private and not expose themselves to offenders. If this action is not taken; anyone within their network will be able to view personal information and anything in their profile (Szu Ping Ching, 2007).

The positive side of having a private profile is that it will not expose information to people outside or within the network itself. Private profiles can enable a person to have a limited profile in which they can select which information they would like to be shown to certain people. This solution is feasible, because if information can be controlled then no offender can gain access to personal information; thus avoiding identity theft and fraud. The person with the profile can control who their information is viewed by and can alter it whenever (Szu Ping Ching, 2007).

Criteria C

C The Impact of the Issue

Facebook allows people to communicate and get in touch with others. These of social networks join people with shared interests, activities and other personal information. They allow people to meet others from different backgrounds and acquire larger circles of friends. Usually many of the social networks are free of charge which makes them more accessible. They can a have positive impacts on society if used appropriately.

Security concerns are among Facebook’s negative aspects. A recent discovery showed that private profiles aren’t so private. Anyone can view them if they used searches based on religion, sexual orientation or relationship status. Although a profile can be set to private, it doesn’t guarantee that the personal information will not show up on search engines. If viewed by a criminal offender of any sort, then it can lead to many legal and personal risks (Ryan Singel, 2007).
Another negative distress on society is time management when using Facebook. It usually causes distraction and makes a person lose track of time. People view others profiles, compare number of wall posts or friends. Facebook allows you to look up people without them ever knowing and read everything about them; this process can go on for hours and consume a lot of useful time (Libby Copeland, 2007).

The most serious problem is the issue of identity fraud. Many users are showing details from their name to their telephone number. These members become vulnerable to identity fraud and theft. Fraudsters could easily create bank accounts using random names and other personal information, hence resulting in a lot of financial damage and therefore causing personal issues. Basically a person can assume your identity by using even a small piece of information (Szu Ping Ching, 2007).

Overall concerns over security violations and identity fraud have been Facebook’s biggest issues and are yet to be resolved. Although time management is an issue, it can only be controlled by the user. These problems need to be fixed before any serious damage is caused since many have important implications for impact on society.

Criteria B

The IT Background of the Issue

The World Wide Web functions using HTML code and other features. It’s a big network and is powered by impersonal routers, servers, browsers and computer codes; it's fundamentally a tool for connecting people and information. It does not depend on any regions. It allows information to run through international and local social directories. This could be defined as globalization (Howstuffworks.com)

Figure 1

The widespread of computers has allowed the internet to be more accessible and used by many. By July 2007 Facebook had the largest number of registered members with over 34 million users worldwide. Facebook’s popularity increased greatly from September 2006 to September 2007, ranking in at 60th to 7th place on the list of most visited websites (Wikipedia.org). This number increased over the years because the internet has become speedier and more accessible and offers more features [Figure 1] (http://www.techcrunch.com/wp-content/msfbbo.png).

A profile has personal information that allows people to learn more about you and vice versa. To find a friend you must type in their name in the search browser [Diagram 4]. In seconds similar names [Diagram 3] will appear on your screen along with their network and matches [Diagram 1]. You can either poke, send a message add to friends or even view their friends [Diagram2] in some cases. That person will automatically be informed on their home page the next time that they login, but will not be notified about who has viewed their friends.

In the future the internet could be accessed anywhere and anytime, using any electronic device. Facebook will continue to grow and offer more advanced features and applications such as video conferencing and in the end might even outnumber users of Myspace [Figure 1].

Criteria A

Presentation of the issue

This portfolio addresses the issue of privacy on the internet. An example of this issue in society is the violation of privacy on social networks. Facebook is one of many online social networks and one of the most popular directories that allow people to communicate with friends, family and colleagues (Answers.com, 2007).
Facebook was initially created for Harvard University and by the end of 2004; it incorporated other networks such as schools, universities or geographical regions. By February 27th over 25 million people globally registered into Facebook. Some concerns have been raised regarding the issue of privacy that Facebook poses for people. Many may argue whether it’s ethically appropriate for work places to violate their students, employees or residences privacy? (Answers.com, 2007)

The IT systems involved in this issue are computers, internet, browsers and social networks. While they’re great ways for connecting people they also affect society positively and negatively. It allows society to interact; and to access things in an easier approach, although many work forces have abused this by checking what employees/ students do outside of work or school. Currently there is no law that stops the violation of privacy. With computers becoming more widespread, it’s easier to gain access of the internet.

As people continue to use Facebook daily, their privacy is prone to be violated. In order for Facebook to continue having people registered, laws should be established and implemented to prevent work forces and schools from spying. If this issue is

Portfolio 1