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This research report has answered the questions i.e. what is social network? What are the advantages and disadvantages of social networks? How social networks will influence on people in the future? The research report will specify in the fields of education and business, which are two of the most important fields in the modern world, as parts of advantages of social networks. On the other hand, the report will highlight the major problems of today world such as online crime and addiction to social networks as primary disadvantages. Besides, there are analyses and predictions concerning with the dominance of social networks and how they will influence on people in the future. 本研究报告回答了以下问题，即什么是社交网络？社交网络的优点和缺点是什么？未来社交网络将如何影响人们？研究报告将把教育和商业这两个现代世界最重要的领域作为社交网络优势的一部分。另一方面，该报告将强调当今世界的主要问题，例如在线犯罪和对社交网络的成瘾作为主要劣势。此外，还有关于社交网络的主导地位以及它们在未来将如何影响人们的分析和预测。
1.Introduction (说明) 1.1 What is a social network? “A social network is a social structure made up of a set of actors (such as individuals or organizations) and complex set of the dyadic ties between these actors” 1.1 什么是社交网络？ “社交网络是由一组参与者（例如个人或组织）和这些参与者之间复杂的二元关系组成的社会结构” “Social media is any form of online publication or presence that allows end users to engage in multi-directional conversations in or around the content on the website” “社交媒体是任何形式的在线出版物或存在，允许最终用户在网站内容中或围绕网站内容进行多向对话” “Social media and social networking focus on two-way interactions, between the site (or the person running the site) and the people reading or using it” “社交媒体和社交网络侧重于网站（或网站运营者）与阅读或使用网站的人之间的双向互动” “Two-way interactions” means that comments are allowed in that blog and there could be interactions between the writer and anyone who give comments. “双向互动”是指允许在该博客中发表评论，并且作者与任何发表评论的人之间可能存在互动。 1.2 History of social networks（社交网络的历史） 1.2.1 Evolution of internet（互联网的演变 ） The internet technology was introduced in the 1960s. The forerunner of the modern Internet was called ARPANET and it was created in 1969 by a worked for the Advance Research Projects Agency (ARPA) in the U.S Department of Defence. Basically, they just wanted to build an electronic communication system that could carry military data without disturbance. In 1971, an engineer Ray Tomlinson, invented the first electronic mail (e-mail) program. Twenty years later, in 1991, British scientist, Tim Berners-Lee, invented World Wide Web and created Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) that establish links. 互联网技术是在 1960 年代引入的。现代互联网的前身被称为 ARPANET，它是 1969 年由美国国防部高级研究计划署 (ARPA) 的一名工作人员创建的。基本上，他们只是想建立一个可以不受干扰地传输军事数据的电子通信系统。 1971年，工程师Ray Tomlinson，发明了第一个电子邮件（e-mail）程序。二十年后的 1991 年，英国科学家 Tim Berners-Lee 发明了万维网并创建了建立链接的超文本标记语言 (HTML)。 1.2.2 Development of social networks Social networks evolved since the internet technology was first developed in the 1960s. One of the first online communities was Usenet, which was created by Duke University graduate students, Tom Truscott and Jim Ellis. Usenet was similar to a discussion forum where students can share their opinions and suggestions. In 1984, similar method of online interaction called Bulletin Board System (BBS) was introduced. Later, the emergence of social networks rocketed with the invention of World Wide Web by a British scientist, Tim Berners-Lee, in 1991. One of the most dominant social networks in the history, Friendster, was founded by Jonathan Abrams and launched in 2003. Along with Friendster, LinkedIn and MySpace also become popular in their respective fields. After 2003, the social networks become so popular that, by the time Facebook was launched in 2006, the Internet users had more than two hundred social networks to choose from. Nowadays, Facebook is regarded as the most successful social network with over 1.06 billion monthly active users, 680 million mobile users, more than 50 million pages and 10 million apps. (April, 2013 data) 2. Advantages of social networks（社交网络的优势） 2.1 Education Field（教育领域 ） In the survey conducted by Pew Internet Project’s research, it showed that 67% of online adults use social networks. This data describes the fact that social networks can be used to improve the education of adults and students since they already have certain influence on the learners. 在 Pew Internet Project 的研究中进行的调查显示，67% 的在线成年人使用社交网络。该数据描述了社交网络可用于改善成人和学生的教育这一事实，因为它们已经对学习者产生了一定的影响。 The main advantage is that students can further explore topics that they are interested in by using online social networking since they may have limited resources and time in school. Apart from that, for adults with unique interests, it is not easy to find friends with same interest to chat or discuss with. However, social networks link these people with the ones with same passion, where they can interact with people from different parts of the world. On the other hand, teachers can take the advantage of studentsâ„¢ social networking abilities to create discussion forums, class blogs and online teaching. Such collaboration between students and teachers, acting social networks as a medium, can help the students gain opportunities to cover knowledge in a wider area and pursue interest. Schools also use social networks as an intermediate to keep in touch with students. Certain networks such as Facebook, Moodle, Secondlife, Digg and other networks are often used by teachers to connect with students and to hold out-of-classroom discussions. So, it is quite obvious that several advantages are observed for the impact of social networks on the education field. 2.2 Business Field（商业领域） Social networking takes place online where people meet and share ideas, recommendations and experiences. So, it is similar to a non-stopping communication with a broad audience through a variety of platform or sites. This is one of the factor that the organizations are interested in social media since they can get different kinds of suggestions and feedbacks from people. 社交网络发生在人们见面并分享想法、建议和经验的网上。因此，它类似于通过各种平台或网站与广大受众进行不间断的交流。这是组织对社交媒体感兴趣的因素之一，因为他们可以从人们那里获得不同类型的建议和反馈。 Many companies use social networks such as Twitter and Facebook to connect with customers and prospective clients. This leads to a golden opportunity for job seekers to learn more about the organization and easily connect with people who work there. Job seekers can become acquainted with the ones working, through these social media, and once they achieve strong presence on these networks, it becomes feasible to reach the people with the authority to hire an employee. Different kinds of social networks convey effective ways to find jobs. One can search about the company in Google by simply typing the name of that company. Facebook, Twitter and FourSquare are excellent social networks to be able to interact with the people who work in the organization. If lucky, one can meet with a recruiting agent and have some conversation and discussions which could increase the chance to get the job. Moreover, one’s profile can be distributed on the social networks, which will increase the probability of getting the job. Mariam Salpeter, the founder of Keppie Careers suggests that, “Creating an online presence allows hiring managers, recruiters, colleagues and friends to know more about you, what you offer and what you want. It’s a way to draw jobs to you instead of you spending your time searching the jobs” (Salpeter,2011,p.75) One of the most important thing to point out the impact of social networks on business field is, social media marketing. By acting social networks as stepping stones, social media marketing can gain a lot of benefits including relationship building, brand building, publicity, promotions and so on. So, it can be concluded that social media marketing proposes several opportunities for entrepreneurs, small businesses, midsize companies and large corporations to build their brands and business. (Gunelius,2011) 3. Disadvantages of social networks（社交网络的缺点） 3.1 Crime（犯罪） Highlighting the benefits of social networks, it doesn’t necessarily means that there are no drawbacks in them. Recently, online crime which is also known as Cybercrime, proposes an increasing threat to all the internet users. This includes online sexual exploitation and cyber bullying. One of the main problems to eradicate cybercrime is that it is hard to identify the offender and it is almost impossible to keep full-time surveillance in such a wide network. 强调社交网络的好处，并不一定意味着它们没有缺点。最近，网络犯罪也被称为网络犯罪，对所有互联网用户构成了越来越大的威胁。这包括在线性剥削和网络欺凌。根除网络犯罪的主要问题之一是难以识别犯罪者，而且在如此广泛的网络中保持全时监控几乎是不可能的。 3.1.1 Online sexual exploitation One of the most aggressive forms of cybercrime is the online sexual exploitation. This includes sharing pornography, persuading for sex and sex chat. There are over 665000 registered convicted sex offenders in the United States of America, according to a study commissioned by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. This means that one in every seven kids has been approached by a sexual predator online. That is 13% of children who use the internet. Moreover, the Center for Sex Offender Management (CSOM) mentioned that the average sex offender offends for 16 years before he is finally caught. In that life span, he has committed and average of 318 offenses and violated 110 victims. Regarding these data, it can be clearly seen that online sexual exploitation has been destroying the lives of children who use social networks. (Hoffman,2012) 3.1.2 Cyber bullying Cyber bullying is different from face to face bullying as the bullies cannot be identified easily and they have sense of security that convinces them they won’t get caught. Not knowing the harm that they caused to victim, the bullies do not feel any guilt or empathy. Cyber bullying is also a form of cybercrime which include different branches. The most common type is called harassment, where the abusive and insulting messages are repeatedly sent to the victim. Other kinds of cyber bullying such as flaming, denigration, impersonation, outing, trickery, and exclusion are also found in the world of social networks. The most crucial way is called cyberstalking which fuel up harassment with significant threats and creates fear. Please refer to Appendix 4 for different forms of cyber bullying. 3.2 Addiction to social networks Social networks, being used as a form of assistant in the field of education, also show negative impacts on students. One of these impacts is addiction to the networks. A survey done by the University of Maryland’s International Center for Media & the Public Affairs (ICMPA) showed that people under the age of 25 have more chance to addict social networks and two-third of the students who use social media have already shown some addiction. Fifty percent of people between the age of 25 and 35, admitted that they are so attached to social networks that they even use them during office hours. Besides, children can also become attached to social media, if there is no parental guidance. 4. Influence on people in the future（对未来人的影响） 4.1 Positive Influence（正面影响） Apart from the negative aspects of social networks, there are some occasions that they can influence people’s lives positively in the future. One of these influences is that people will obtain more convenient ways of living. Holding meetings and discussion forums using social networks will make time for the busy business-men to spend more time with their family. 除了社交网络的负面影响外，在某些场合，它们可以在未来对人们的生活产生积极的影响。这些影响之一是人们将获得更便捷的生活方式。使用社交网络举行会议和讨论论坛将为忙碌的商务人士腾出更多时间陪伴家人。 Online shopping will reduce the time consuming of housewives, when they can do other house chores. Moreover, students can have online learning days where they can interact with people from different parts of the world and share their ideas and debate issues. The next fact is that social networks will help people to be able to keep in touch with the developing world. This includes sharing latest news, stock share prices and gold prices. Since social networks become available on mobile phones during these days, people will always be informed with the current news of the world. Last but not least, some experts of social networking want to advance it to the stage of communication where it can replace telephone. So far, social networking sites such as Google, Facebook and Skype became major media for oversea communication. Scientists of social networks believe that they can create new communication technology that could possibly replace mobile phones in the future. 4.2 Negative Influence Although the social networks can conduct many positive influences, they impose negative ones at the same time. The major drawback is that people may start to lose physical communication and interaction in the real world. For example, two people become best friends online but they do not talk to each other in the real world. Besides, there will be no conversation between partners in the job as the systems are computer control and they can communicate by simply typing some words in chat box. The second influence is the case of students and children. While students can gain knowledge when they use social networks, they can also face with threats and online hazards. Most people believe that cyber crime rate will increase in the future as the criminals can manipulate different ways and methods of crimes in such a world with over 300 social networking sites. On the other hand, there is possibility that people, especially between the age of 15 and 25, will become more addicted to social networks in the future. Moreover, since social networks start to focus their websites on entertainment and business commercials rather than on education, people may spend more of their time on the networks instead of reading or doing physical exercises. Spending over time on social networks is not favourable to health also because when one is using the networks, he or she is doing nothing but sitting in front of a screen or lying on a sofa. 5. Data collection and analysis（数据收集与分析 5.1 用户统计） 5.1 User statistics（ 用户统计 ） According to a survey conducted in 2013, Facebook is the most successful social network, obtaining 67% of internet users. Twitter and Pinterest, which stand at second and third positions, have 16% and 15% of users respectively. The researches and surveys describe that women are more attached to the networks than man do. Besides, the researches point out that people between the age of 35 to 44 are most likely to use social networks. This is followed by the age group of 25-34 and 0-17. People over 65 have the least potential to use the networks. 根据 2013 年的一项调查，Facebook 是最成功的社交网络，获得了 67% 的互联网用户。 Twitter 和 Pinterest 位居第二和第三位，分别拥有 16% 和 15% 的用户。研究和调查表明，女性比男性更依赖网络。此外，研究指出，35 至 44 岁的人最有可能使用社交网络。其次是 25-34 岁和 0-17 岁的年龄组。 65 岁以上的人使用网络的潜力最小。 5.2 Mini-survey results To be able to observe accurate and latest data, I conducted a mini-survey which included 100 people, varying age between 15 and 35, from different parts of the world. This survey contained telephone interviewing, emailing and paper distribution. (Please refer to Appendix 3 “Survey on Social Network” After analysing all the answers and data, the result came out that 75% of people use at least one kind of social networks and 25% of them use two or more. Among those who use social networks, 20% of people use less than one hour and the remaining use more than two hours per day. They do not usually use two hours straight away. Instead, they check their profiles on networks while going to school or job, having lunch and going back home. Integrating these times with the actual time they use the networks, probably during their leisure hours, the result came out to be two hours per day or more. Most people assumed that being in touch with friends and receiving information as a benefit while they regard low security in privacy and online bullying as major drawbacks. In weighing the advantages and disadvantages, 65% said using social networks is advantageous while the remaining percentage believed that there are more disadvantages to encounter with. However, most people, about 80%, said that they enjoy with their current usage of social networks since they are like tools to refresh their mind after working for a long time or to browse around when they feel bored. 6. Appendices（附录） Appendix 1. Social networking site use by age group This is a survey done by Pew Research Center, showing the usage of Social Networking Site by age group from 2005 to 2012. Appendix 2 This is a survey conducted by Pew Research Center in the late 2012. The expectations are for the year 2013. Referring to the survey, 3% of Facebook users say they plan to spend more time on the site in the year 2013. 27% of Facebook users say they plan to spend less time on the site in the year 2013. 69% of Facebook users say they plan to spend the same amount of time on the site in the year 2013. Appendix.3 Mini-survey evaluated from 100 random students. Survey on Social Network Name- Date- Do you use social networks? Yes/No (2) How many social networks do you use? 1 2 3 More than 3 (3) How many hours do you spend on social networks per day? Less than 1 1 2 3 More than 3 (4) What benefits do you gain from social networks? (5) What, do you think, are the disadvantages of social networks? (6) Do advantages outweigh disadvantages? Yes/No (7) Do you enjoy using social networks? Yes/No 7. Recommendation（推荐） After analysing all the advantages and disadvantages of social networks, the organizations which specify their interest in social media, came up with several recommendation concerning with the usage of social networks. 在分析了社交网络的所有优点和缺点之后，明确了他们对社交媒体的兴趣的组织提出了一些关于社交网络使用的建议。 Firstly, parents must check their children’s profile regularly and explain about cybercrimes. This will make children to be familiar with the ways of approaching of cyber predators and parents can take precautions for their children. 首先，父母必须定期检查孩子的个人资料并解释网络犯罪。这将使孩子熟悉网络掠夺者的接近方式，父母可以为孩子采取预防措施。 Secondly, one should not accept friend requests if the person is not an acquaintance in the real world. Besides, one should not share personal information such as address, telephone number and email address in social networking sites. 其次，如果此人不是现实世界中的熟人，则不应接受好友请求。此外，不应在社交网站上分享地址、电话号码和电子邮件地址等个人信息。 Lastly, if someone is bullied or harassed, he or she should report to the authorities of respective social networking sites and contact police when serious threats are made. 最后，如果有人受到欺凌或骚扰，应向各自社交网站的主管部门报告，并在受到严重威胁时联系警方。 |
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