A Survey and a Case-Study Regarding Social Media Security and Privacy on Greek Future IT Professionals

Author(s):  
Venetis Kanakaris ◽  
Georgios Lampropoulos ◽  
Kerstin Siakas

Nowadays, social media and social networks are increasingly used in business as they have drastically changed the way the community works, communicates, collaborates, socialises, creates content and shares knowledge and ideas. However, in particular, IT professionals and practitioners need to be aware of online security and privacy issues and the potential negative impact that they may cause on different aspects of business, such as online breaches or information theft. The use of social media inevitably leads to disclosure of personal information, with the use of open-source intelligence (OSINT) and other similar techniques. Hence, the aim of this article is twofold, namely first to show results of a survey towards future Greek IT practitioners regarding awareness and viewpoints of social media users concerning security and privacy on social media. More specifically the study was based on responses and viewpoints of 178 Greek electrical engineering and IT students to an online questionnaire. Secondly, the aim is also to show how easily a potential malicious user can anonymously track and retrieve sensitive personal information in an automated and undetectable way from popular social media platforms by using publicly available information, resources, and tools. The results of the survey show that most of the respondents are aware of the privacy settings of the social media platforms they use. However, they consider that they should be more careful concerning personal data and whom they add as friends or followers and they do not feel comfortable with the fact that a stranger might be able to access their personal information through their publications on social media platforms.The case study indicates that it is possible for malicious users to acquire sensitive personal data (e.g. user's location via tweets and instas from smartphones). In addition, the ability to map activity could allow malicious users to track the activities of unsuspected users and predict their future locations.

Author(s):  
Stephen Asunka

Against the backdrop that universities are required to generate and disseminate relevant and applicable knowledge for the general good, and with the understanding that social media can be an effective vehicle for such knowledge sharing practices, this study explored the use of social media for knowledge sharing by academics at a university college in Ghana. The study thus examined how instructors use social media for sharing academic knowledge, the factors that promote such knowledge sharing practices, and the barriers to effective knowledge sharing in the academic environment. 47 instructors participated by completing an online questionnaire, whilst 7 participated in focus group discussions. Findings reveal a regular, though not daily, use of social media platforms for academic knowledge sharing. Personal, technological and institutional factors were determined to be contributing in fostering as well as hindering such activities. Implications of these findings as well as suggestions for future research are accordingly discussed.


2020 ◽  
Vol 19 (01) ◽  
pp. 2040023 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mamoun Masoud Abdulqader ◽  
Yousof Zohair Almunsour

This research aims to investigate the effects of social media use on higher education teaching and learning as well as the students’ academic performance. A total of 275 students and faculty members from the College of Computer Science and Information Technology at Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University took part in the study. The participants answered survey questions to analyse information on their use of social media in education and how that has affected their teaching, learning and grades. A majority of the participants reported that they used social media in training. However, they also stated that social media platforms were beneficial in academic matters. The number of participants who stated that the use of social media in learning helped improve their grades was 43%. The other 57% thought that social media had no impact on their grades or had an adverse effect or were undecided.


2019 ◽  
Vol 40 (3/4) ◽  
pp. 228-239 ◽  
Author(s):  
Suha AlAwadhi ◽  
Sultan M. Al-Daihani

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the use of social media in the marketing of academic library resources and services in Kuwait and identifies the factors related to the use of social media applications in marketing academic libraries.Design/methodology/approachA quantitative data-collection approach using a paper and online questionnaire has been employed to elicit the opinions of librarians working in academic libraries in Kuwait in both private and public institutions. In total, 89 valid questionnaires have been analyzed using descriptive (frequencies, percentages, means and standard deviations) and inferential statistics (factor analysis, correlations, experimental analysis and regression).FindingsThe study shows that the academic librarians have a positive perception toward the use of social media. The identified factors relating to the use of social media for marketing library information resources and services are the usefulness of social media tools in raising awareness and in providing needs analysis and satisfaction assessments. However, management support for the use of social media for library marketing is poor.Practical implicationsThis study provides insights into the factors related to the use of modern social media platforms to promote information resources and services at academic libraries to provide outreach services to current and potential users.Originality/valueThis research contributes to the field of information studies as it highlights the importance of using social media platforms in marketing academic library information resources and services. Library administrators could use the results to develop social media marketing plans to effectively promote their library resources.


2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 239-261
Author(s):  
Fabian Kautz ◽  
Michael Schaffrath ◽  
Alex C. Gang

The sport industry has long used social media as an effective instrument of communication. In the framework of the current study, a content analysis investigated how professional sport clubs in Germany use Facebook and Twitter. The study covers the entire 2015–16 season, which was illustrated via selectively choosing 2 weeks for data analysis; four clubs each from basketball, ice hockey, football, and handball were collected as a sample. All Facebook posts and Twitter tweets published by the 16 clubs during the 2 weeks, a total of 3,412 contributions (Facebook 717, Twitter 2,695), were included in the analysis. The codebook contained 57 variables, and this article presents the results on the identified topics of the published contents on the two social media platforms. On both platforms, the clubs under examination primarily issued statements regarding themselves and their sport-related activities. Twitter is predominantly used as a live medium during games, whereas Facebook allows for significantly greater reach. However, no sport-related differences were found between the two social media platforms.


2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 24-43
Author(s):  
Rodrigo Sandoval-Almazan ◽  
Juan Carlos Montes de Oca Lopez

Social media has transformed election campaigns around the world. While it is difficult to determine to what extent social media influence voters' decisions, there is no doubt that social media platforms impact on candidate advertising and public debate during elections. This research, the methodological formulation of which is based on a case study, seeks to investigate the use of social media during political campaigns to collect signatures of support. In the elections of 2018, aspiring candidates for presidential election required a certain number of signatures of support in order to register as official candidates. We collected social media data on a weekly basis from the Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube accounts of seven candidates and contrasted this data with the number of signatures validated by the electoral authority. We found no relationship between the level of support received and the use of social media in the case of any of the candidates. However, we observed candidates who did achieve the required number of signatures and who did receive official presidential candidate status as a result of their high level of visibility. This research contributes methodologically to the current literature and provides empirical evidence regarding independent candidates in Mexico.


2014 ◽  
Vol 38 (117) ◽  
pp. 54-76 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathleen Smeaton ◽  
Kate Davis

Public libraries are increasingly using social media in an attempt to meet users in their own spaces. Social media can be useful when used to create a participatory library service emphasising engagement with users. However, there has been little empirical investigation into the success of social media use by public libraries. This article reports on the findings of a research project that explored the use of social media by Australian public libraries. Two organisations participated in case studies that involved interviews, document analysis, and social media observation. To contextualise the use of social media in the case study organisations, a sub-study was undertaken involving observation of an additional 24 public libraries across Australia. This article focuses on the findings from the observation sub-study. It presents and applies a methodology for classifying social media content to determine whether the sample libraries’ social media use is indicative of a participatory approach to service delivery. This article explores how a range of social media platforms are used by the sample libraries and considers what best practice in participatory library service looks like. The two case study organisations’ use of social media is highlighted as exemplary practice.


Author(s):  
David Chapman ◽  
Katrina Miller-Stevens ◽  
John C Morris ◽  
Brendan O'Hallarn

Non-profit organizations are actively using social media platforms as a way to deliver information to end users, yet little is known of the internal processes these organizations follow to implement this tool. We present a case study of one non-profit organization, Blue Star Families, Inc., that is actively engaged in advocacy and civic engagement. We offer a new model to explore non-profit organizations’ use of social media platforms by building on previous models and frameworks developed to explore the use of social media in the public, private, and non-profit sectors.


2020 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 51
Author(s):  
Chleitosia Violen Dentya Paradisa Naibaho ◽  
Chleitosia Visien Dentya Paradisa Naibaho ◽  
Arthik Davianti

<p class="Imar-Abstract"><em>The use of social media among companies to disclose and disseminate corporate information is rocketing. This study examined to what extent companies use social media platforms, especially Twitter. It identified the disclosure of Multinational Companies (MNCs) in Southeast Asia, particularly Indonesia. The study analyzed Nestlé as it operates in more than half of the countries in Southeast Asia, including Indonesia. The data was based on Nestlé Twitter accounts, both parent and the subsidiary, which is collected from the beginning of the year to December 31st, 2019. This study utilized a descriptive qualitative method using content analysis in the form of a case study to analyze the information shared and disclosed by this consumer goods company. The results showed that Nestlé uses Twitter for disclosing information that covers environmental, branding, health, gender, education, and others. It is found that Nestlé parent company disclosed more data than its subsidiary in Indonesia, and content shared by Nestlé Indonesia is quite different because of cultural differences. Indonesia’s subsidiary followed the pattern of information disseminated by their parent companies on its Twitter account. Overall, the results indicated that Twitter is rarely used in Southeast Asia for many disclosure purposes, either financial or non-financial information.</em></p>


2022 ◽  
pp. 945-966
Author(s):  
Rodrigo Sandoval-Almazan ◽  
Juan Carlos Montes de Oca Lopez

Social media has transformed election campaigns around the world. While it is difficult to determine to what extent social media influence voters' decisions, there is no doubt that social media platforms impact on candidate advertising and public debate during elections. This research, the methodological formulation of which is based on a case study, seeks to investigate the use of social media during political campaigns to collect signatures of support. In the elections of 2018, aspiring candidates for presidential election required a certain number of signatures of support in order to register as official candidates. We collected social media data on a weekly basis from the Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube accounts of seven candidates and contrasted this data with the number of signatures validated by the electoral authority. We found no relationship between the level of support received and the use of social media in the case of any of the candidates. However, we observed candidates who did achieve the required number of signatures and who did receive official presidential candidate status as a result of their high level of visibility. This research contributes methodologically to the current literature and provides empirical evidence regarding independent candidates in Mexico.


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