Transition to Democracy in Latin America

Democracy simply means the rule by simple people. It was created as a solution to abuse of power by rulers. Democracy as opposed to other forms of governments guarantees basic human rights to every individual and ensures that there is separation of powers between different state institutions. Moreover, unlike other forms of governments, it grants sufficient freedom of speech, mass media, opinion and press among other rights.Advertising We will write a custom book review sample on Transition to Democracy in Latin America specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Wisdom literature sufficiently demonstrates that there has never been any harmony between progress and authoritarianism. On the other hand, democracy guarantees progress through transparency given the fact that it does legitimize public policies since it is based on mutual deliberation and negotiation of interests. In Latin American, international trade alone has not guaranteed the leveling effect on the remuneration of factors of production. This end can only be achieved through democratic governance. This article will discuss factors that that threaten smooth transition to democracy in Latin America. Most economies in Latin America flourished during the sixties as a result of direct contribution of foreign investment, domestic private sector and public investment. Despite widespread economic gains during this period, one problem still persisted, transparent and equitable distribution of these financial benefits to the wider public. To demonstrate political autonomy to the outer world, Latin American countries realized that they needed a transparent political framework sensitive enough to the interests of its people and this could only be achieved through democracy (Calderon, 2008). Democratic transition and cultural reforms taking place in Latin America has elicited feelings of dissatisfaction and disappointment as well as increased expectations of sustainab le progress and change that is certain to be initiated by democracy which is perceived by many to be the ideal form of government. People are able to freely express their feelings of dissatisfaction and disappointment by being more critical and open minded as a result of increased public spaces for dialogue, conflict and participation. In part, political crisis being experienced in Latin America as a result of increased independence among the citizens can lead to renewed development and democratization (Calderon, 2008). Institutions and equity will finally have to adjust to change and reconfiguration taking place in the region. Equity and poverty are two social problems that politicians must confront if they are to be able to maintain a sustainable politico-institutional balance.Advertising Looking for book review on government? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Development of democracy in Latin America has often been undermined by politico-institutional risks and crisis situations occurring in the region. These problems need to be addressed by creating a link between the society and institutions. These risks make it extremely difficult to consolidate democracies in the region. The relationship between institutions and society is dependent on how well people’s expectations are managed. If mismanaged, there could be civil unrest especially in presence of poor economic conditions and fragile public institutions. To enhance consolidation of democracy in the region, it would therefore be paramount to understand the nature of political changes taking place and their resulting benefits before searching for solutions to democratic development. Intermediation and representation systems in this region face major criticisms from the people. Nobody trusts intermediation mechanisms and political parties anymore. Systems of representation are prone to reconfiguration given the emergence of movements composed of critical, independent and thoughtful citizens who go to great lenghts to demand for recognition, gender balance and local participation. These problems occur as a result of political parties’ inability to represent people institutionally. It happens that most Latin Americans believe in a democracy that has many political parties, ironically, only a clique of them trusts those parties. People are asking the government to expand democratic institutions and be more involved in the management of development. Through this, the state can work towards equity and social integration so as to strengthen the economy in terms of globalization. Most people in Latin America support government involvement in development as opposed to privatization so as to ensure equitable distribution of wealth. Citizen oversight over public authorities is seen as a key factor to increased transparency and reduced corruption. Inequality and poverty pose a great challenge to transition to democracy. These p roblems are the center of socio-economic changes and influence democratic governance to a great extent. Latin America is one of the most unequal regions in the world. The gap between the rich and the poor is ever widening. The disparities between various subsections of the society in this region is appalling i.e. socio-economic groups, ethnic groups, sexes etc (Calderon, 2008). for instance, women with similar education to men earn relatively more. Poverty mostly affects the indigenous people who in most cases live in rural areas. Social inequality compounds the problem of governance in the region since most leaders dominate their people instead of guiding them. This problem can only be solved when policies aimed at empowering the poor and improving their civic capabilities are put in place and implemented.Advertising We will write a custom book review sample on Transition to Democracy in Latin America specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn M ore When people’s expectations are not met, conflict and dissatisfaction are likely to occur. This situation can be aggravated by the extreme levels of poverty and inequality discussed earlier thereby undermining democratic governance. In this case, people dismiss promises under market economy and political programmes as unrealistic and may cause instability if proper checks and balances are not put in place. Institutional crises occurring as result of poor governance by the ruling class could undermine democratic governance. Structural poverty and uneven distribution of income pose as a challenge to democracy in Latin America (Calderon, 2008). The elites in this region have been reluctant to address the issue of poverty. Corruption in Judicial system and National congress in countries like Honduras make democratic governance to be all the more impossible. Increase in social conflicts in Latin America is an issue of great democratic concern. Conflicts arising in work places , public protests and reactions have continued to hinder the state and institutions from attaining the objective of social progress, integration and recognition. People have undertaken more drastic measures to express their dissatisfaction to the government. It is not uncommon to hear of protest movements such as Movement to Socialism in countries like Bolivia and elsewhere who come together to oppose a government that they feel is unable to cater for their needs. This automatically weakens progress made through democratic governance. Governance is understood best by looking at how spaces of communication relate to political change. Media, especially television, cell phones and the internet are taking central role in politics. Media has become the space through which power struggle takes place. Most Latin Americans have put all their trust in radio and television media houses and most recently, the internet. The impact of media on politics in this region was felt when President Luci o Gutierrez resigned as a result of mass protests organized against him through common cell phone text messages and email (Calderon, 2008). This indicates a trend of audience democracy that is being perpetuated by media throughout the region. Reference Calderon, F. (2008). A Historic Turning Point. Political Change and the Socio-Institutional Situation in Latin America. Cepal Review Journal, 96 (3), 123-136. Web.Advertising Looking for book review on government? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More This book review on Transition to Democracy in Latin America was written and submitted by user Yesenia Marquez to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Conjugating the French Verb Déménager (to Move House)

Conjugating the French Verb Dà ©mà ©nager (to Move House) In French, the noun  nouvelle maison  means new house. When moving to that new house, the verb   dà ©mà ©nager  is used. Literally to move, this verb must be conjugated when using it in the past, present, or future tense.   Conjugating the French Verb  Dà ©mà ©nager Dà ©mà ©nager  is a  spelling change verb  and that makes it a bit of a challenge to conjugate. It follows a pattern found in other verbs that end in -ger  such as  bouger  (to move). As you will see, in some conjugations an E is added after the G. This is to retain the soft G sound before an ending that begins with an A or O. Other than that, conjugating  dà ©mà ©nager  is relatively simple. To transform it, pair the subject pronoun with the appropriate tense. For instance, I move is je dà ©mà ©nage and we will move is nous dà ©mà ©nagerons. Subject Present Future Imperfect je dmnage dmnagerai dmnageais tu dmnages dmnageras dmnageais il dmnage dmnagera dmnageait nous dmnageons dmnagerons dmnagions vous dmnagez dmnagerez dmnagiez ils dmnagent dmnageront dmnageaient The Present Participle of  Dà ©mà ©nager The  present participle  of  dà ©mà ©nager  is  dà ©mà ©nageant.  It is not just a verb, but can also act as an adjective, gerund, or noun in some circumstances. The Past Participle and Passà © Composà © Beyond the imperfect, the  passà © composà ©Ã‚  is another common way to express the past tense in French. To form this, begin by conjugating the  auxiliary verb  avoir  to the subject pronoun. Then, add the  past participle  dà ©mà ©nagà ©. For instance, I moved is jai dà ©mà ©nagà © and we moved is nous avons dà ©mà ©nagà ©. More Simple  Dà ©mà ©nager  Conjugations to Know The most important conjugations to study are those above. There are also times when you will need to know a few more simple forms of  dà ©mà ©nager. For instance, if the action of moving is somehow questionable, you might employ either the subjunctive or the conditional verb moods. In rare instances and most often in writing, you may also encounter the passà © simple or the imperfect subjunctive. While not vital to most students French studies, its a good idea to be able to recognize these. Subject Subjunctive Conditional Pass Simple Imperfect Subjunctive je dmnage dmnagerais dmnageai dmnageasse tu dmnages dmnagerais dmnageas dmnageasses il dmnage dmnagerait dmnagea dmnaget nous dmnagions dmnagerions dmnagemes dmnageassions vous dmnagiez dmnageriez dmnagetes dmnageassiez ils dmnagent dmnageraient dmnagrent dmnageassent In the imperative verb form,  dà ©mà ©nager  can be used in short and often assertive commands or requests. When using it, skip the subject pronoun: use  dà ©mà ©nage rather than tu dà ©mà ©nage. Imperative (tu) dmnage (nous) dmnageons (vous) dmnagez

The significance of disillusionment in the two main characters Essay

The significance of disillusionment in the two main characters - Essay Example So, disillusionment prevailing inside an individual’s mind apart making their life a problematic or miserable one, will also create problems to theirs related and associated lives. His/her life will become a big complicated problem, which can be solved only by the person’s themselves, with some aid from others. This aspect of disillusionment has been visible in many fictional characters as well. That is, many fictional characters from different genres of work have faced disillusionment in course of the story. So, this paper will analyze the significance of disillusionment in the two fictional characters, Emma and the governess, who were featured in Jane Austen’s Emma and Henry James’s The Turn on the Screw, respectively. Emma, the female protagonist of the Jane Austin’s play, is the daughter of a wealthy gentleman, who is raised with a lot of comfort. Even though the character of Emma shows care toward others and is well intentioned, it borders on self-centrism with a dose of over-confidence and stubbornness. â€Å"†¦the power of having rather too much her own way, and a disposition to think a little too well of herself† (Austin). Also, being from a wealthy household, Emma hasn’t faced many problematic and stressing issues in her life. But, these favorable times begins to change, when she faces certain problems in her personal life, with her self-centered attitude and stubbornness accentuating the situation. This is when, the disillusionment enters her mind, complicates her life and importantly ‘corrects’ her mindset in the final analysis. That is, the disillusionments, which were result of certain mistakes committed on her part, actually turned her into an emo tionally stronger person, and thus showed its significance. Emma commits the first mistake and gets little disillusioned, when she attempts to â€Å"match make† her teenage friend Harriet to the local vicar, Mr. Elton. And, when Mr. Elton rejects Emma attempts on the account of

Depends on essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Depends on - Essay Example Much later in around 1,000 BCE other groups like Scandinavians, Norsemen from northern Europe settled in the Atlantic coast of North America. Now the questions remains that if all these early settlements are considered then what is the significance of 1492, the year in which Columbus â€Å"discovered† America. While some might say that Columbus’s landing in America is less significant in the history of the New World than the pre-Christ early invasions, there are others who argue that today people are simple biased with anything concerned with Europeans (Unger, 2002, pp.1-2). The Indians living in America are considerably late settlers from the Old World where it is considered human species have evolved. According to archaeologists, people from different parts of the Old World have settled in America as long back as 40,000 years ago. The Indian people found in America today may have been the descendants of these early settlers although in later periods another group who were Athapasken-speakers settled in and around western Canada and Alaska. Both these Indians and the Athapasken-speakers have physical resemblance with modern day Chinese, Koreans and the Japanese. These migrant groups survived mainly on roots, berries, seeds and fish. It is assumed that due to several factors like paucity of rainfall and lack of food supply these migrants were forced to move towards North America. In those days, sea level was low and a land bridge connected Alaska with Siberia. Within the next few thousand years, these groups of people moved further south till the southe rn tip of South America. Simultaneously to these movements, the population of these migrants swelled and while they were few hundred in the beginning, by the time it was 1492 the number swelled to 50 million or more, a population size that can be compared to modern day Europe (Unger, 2002, p.2). With population rapidly increasing over the centuries, these people who were originally from the

Violence and the Emergency Room Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Violence and the Emergency Room - Essay Example Many of these elders must be cared for in the home which puts them in harm's way when violence occurs. The stress of caring for them at home and the lack of funds increases the chance of violence and or the use of alcohol. All of these things affect the emergency room on a daily basis and many times they are fueled by alcohol which makes the encounter that much more volatile. This paper will examine domestic violence fueled by alcohol and how it might affect the emergency room. Intentional and unintentional violence and its effects take a toll on human health and the quality of life. Globally more than 5 million people die from injuries every year; violence kills more people than HIV/AIDS and malaria combined, yearly (World Health Organization, 2002). Every week in Wales and England, two women are killed by their current or former partner (Reeves & Sully, 2007) and many more are damaged for life. This is not an unusual statistic throughout the world at this time. This kind of violence in families has a very long history. It consists of a pattern of coercive control that is designed to isolate the victim (Davis, 2007). This all presents in major health issues in which the cost is high. Those in the violent situation and the communities in which they live have lost positive community participation and increased costs in healthcare. This type of violence usually manifests itself in physical, sexual, and or psychological abuse which involves fear, intimidation , and emotional depravation of not only the victim but those around them (Davis, 2007). It often engrains the victim in poverty that becomes difficult to climb out of. When fueled with alcohol, the violence can be much more sudden and heightened for the victims as well as the emergency room staff. There are some social, political, and legal context in Australia that should be considered here. In the last decade of conservative Federal government in Australia, there has been an erosion of services to women living with domestic violence. There has been a concerted move toward the consolidation of family which may force a situation in which the perpetrator is in the victims life longer. This has also caused the dismantling of policies and services that are available, including such things as child care subsidies, youth training schemes, youth allowances, legal aid, supported accommodation schemes, and movement to negotiated settlements. All of this affects programs that support women and children in trouble (Wright & Waugh, 2007). This makes it more difficult to get these women and children to safety and keep them there. When violence occurs the victims often come to the emergency room and many of them have never seen a primary physician so the violent episode may just be the tip of what is wrong with them. There is a often a revolving door situation in which the same victims come back with injuries on a regular basis. They may also keep coming back with complaints of things like headaches and stomach pain in an attempt at safety. Studies show that this may be the only safe place in which these victims can disclose or plan for escape. These same studies show that a woman's decision to expose abuse can depend on the attitude of the clinician that is caring for her as a victim (Janssen & Holt, 2002) and that nurses attitude may be the victims only hope for escape. It should be noted,

Impact of Social Networking Sites on Children

Impact of Social Networking Sites on Children Social networking sites offer people new and varied ways to communicate via the internet,  whether through their PC or their mobile phone. Examples include MySpace, Facebook and  Bebo. They allow people to easily and simply create their own online page or profile and to  construct and display an online network of contacts, often called friends. Users of these  sites can communicate via their profile both with their friends and with people outside their list of contacts. The rapid growth of social networking sites in recent years indicates that they are now a mainstream communications technology for many people. Social networking sites are most popular with teenagers and young adults Research shows that just over one fifth (22%) of adult internet users aged 16+ and  almost half (49%) of children aged 8-17 who use the internet have set up their own profile on a social networking site.4 For adults, the likelihood of setting up a profile is highest among 16-24 year olds (54%) and decreases with age. Some under-13s are by-passing the age restrictions on social networking sites Despite the fact that the minimum age for most major social networking sites is usually 13  (14 on MySpace), 27% of 8-11 year olds who are aware of social networking sites say that  they have a profile on a site. While some of these younger users are on sites intended for  younger children, the presence of underage users on social networking sites intended for  those aged 13 or over was also confirmed by qualitative research . The average adult social networker has profiles on 1.6 sites, and most users check their profile at least every other day. Adult social networkers use a variety of sites, with the main ones being Bebo, Facebook and  MySpace. It is common for adults to have a profile on more than one site on average each  adult with a social networking page or profile has profiles on 1.6 sites, and 39% of adults  have profiles on two or more sites. Half of all current adult social networkers say that they  access their profiles at least every other day. The site people choose to use varies depending on the user. Children are more likely to use Bebo (63% of those who have a social networking site profile), and the most popular site for adults is Facebook (62% of those who have a social networking profile). Two-thirds of parents claim to set rules on their childs use of social  networking sites, although only 53% of children said that their parents set  such rules For many children, the rules and restrictions that their parents set on social networking site  usage are an important influencing factor in the childs use of social networking sites. Two thirds of parents whose children have a social networking page say they set rules on their  childs use of these sites. Most commonly these concerned meeting new people online and  giving out personal details. However, significantly fewer children (53% of those with social  networking profiles) say that their parents set rules on their use of these sites. Attitudes and behaviours towards social networking sites Social networkers fall into distinct groups Social networkers differ in their attitudes to social networking sites and in their behaviour  while using them. Qualitative research indicates that site users tend to fall into five  distinct groups based on their behaviours and attitudes. These are as follows: Alpha Socialisers (a minority) people who used sites in intense short bursts to flirt,  meet new people, and be entertained. Attention Seekers (some) people who craved attention and comments from others,  often by posting photos and customising their profiles. Followers (many) people who joined sites to keep up with what their peers were  doing. Faithfuls (many) people who typically used social networking sites to rekindle old  friendships, often from school or university. Functionals (a minority) people who tended to be single-minded in using sites for a  particular purpose. Non-users of social networking sites also fall into distinct groups Non-users also appear to fall into distinct groups; these groups are based on their reasons  for not using social networking sites: Concerned about safety people concerned about safety online, in particular making  personal details available online. Technically inexperienced people who lack confidence in using the internet and  computers. Intellectual rejecters people who have no interest in social networking sites and see  them as a waste of time. Introduction INDUSTRY OVERVIEW Social Networking sites- Overview A  social network service  focuses on building and reflecting of  social networks  or  social relations  among people, e.g., who share interests and/or activities. A social network service essentially consists of a representation of each user (often a profile), his/her social links, and a variety of additional services. Most social network services are  web based  and provide means for users to interact over the  internet, such as  e-mail  and  instant messaging. Although  online community  services are sometimes considered as a social network service in a broader sense, social network service usually means an individual-catered service whereas  online community  services are group-centred. Social networking sites allow users to share ideas, activities, events, and interests within their individual networks. The main types of social networking services are those which contain category places (such as former school-year or classmates), means to connect with friends (usually with self-description pages) and a recommendation system linked to trust. Popular methods now combine many of these, with  Facebook,  Bebo  and  Twitter  widely used worldwide;  MySpace  and  LinkedIn  being the most widely used in North America;[1]HYPERLINK http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NexopiaNexopia  (mostly in Canada);[2]  Bebo,[3]  Hi5,  Hyves  (mostly in The Netherlands),  StudiVZ  (mostly in Germany),  iWiW  (mostly in Hungary),Tuenti  (mostly in Spain),  Decayenne,  Tagged,  XING;[4],  BadooHYPERLINK #cite_note-4[5]  and  Skyrock  in parts of Europe;[6]  Orkut  and  Hi5  in  South America  andCentral America;[7]  and  Friendster,  Mixi,  Multiply,  Orkut,  Wretch,  renren  and  Cyworld  in Asia and the Pacific Islands and  Orku t  and  Facebookin India. There have been some attempts to standardize these services to avoid the need to duplicate entries of friends and interests (see the  FOAFstandard and the  Open Source Initiative ), but this has led to some concerns about privacy. Although some of the largest social networks were founded on the notion of digitizing real world connections, many other networks as seen in the  List of social networking websites  focus on categories from books and music to non-profit business to motherhood as ways to provide both services and community to individuals with shared interests. Typical structure In general, social networking services allow users to create a profile for themselves, and can be broken down into two broad categories: internal social networking (ISN) and external social networking (ESN) sites such  as  MySpace,  Facebook,  Twitter  and  Bebo. Both types can increase the feeling of community among people. An ISN is a closed/private community that consists of a group of people within a company, association, society, education provider and organization or even an invite only group created by a user in an ESN. An ESN is open/public and available to all web users to communicate and are designed to attract advertisers. ESNs can be smaller specialized communities (i.e. linked by a single common interest e.g. TheSocialGolfer, ACountryLife.Com, Great Cooks Community) or they can be large generic social networking sites (e.g. MySpace, Facebook etc). However, whether specialized or generic there is commonality across the general approach of social networking sites. Users can upload a picture of themselves, create their profile and can often be friends with other users. In most social networking services, both users must confirm that they are friends before they are linked. For example, if  Alice  lists Bob as a friend, then Bob would have to approve Alices friend request before they are listed as friends. Some social networking sites have a favorites feature that does not need approval from the other user. Social networks usually have privacy controls that allows the user to choose who can view their profile or contact them, etc. Social networking sites typically have a section dedicated to comments by friends. On Friendster, this section is called Testimonials. On Facebook, this section is called The Wall. In the beginning, this was a feature that encouraged people to write messages about the person in the profile. But over time, people started writing creative testimonials back, creating a form of conversation.[32] Some social networking sites are created for the benefits of others, such as parents social networking site Gurgle. This website is for parents to talk about pregnancy, birth and bringing up children. .com. This social network allows professionals to exchange information, opportunities, and ideas. Professionals are able to stay informed with new knowledge about their field  Some social networks have additional features, such as the ability to create  groups  that share common interests or affiliations, upload or stream live videos, and hold discussions in forums.  Geo social networking co-opts internet mapping services to organize user participation around geographic features and their attributes. There is also a trend for more  interoperability between social networks  led by technologies such as  OpenID  and  Open Social. Lately, mobile social networking has become popular. In most mobile communities, mobile phone users can now create their own profiles, make friends, participate in chat rooms, create chat rooms, hold private conversations, share photos and videos, and share blogs by using their mobile phone. Mobile phone users are basically open to every option that someone sitting on the computer has. Some companies provide wireless services which allow their customers to build their own mobile community and brand it, but one of the most popular wireless services for social networking in North America is Facebook Mobile. Other companies provide new innovative features which extend the social networking experience into the real world. Another social networking feature in a professional aspect is LinkedIn. Emerging trends in social networks As the increase in popularity of social networking is on a constant rise, new uses for the technology are constantly being observed. At the forefront of emerging trends in social networking sites is the concept of real time and location based. Real time allows users to contribute content, which is then broadcasted as it is being uploaded the concept is similar to live television broadcasts.   Twitter  set the trend for real time services, where users can broadcast to the world what they are doing, or what is on their minds within a 140 character limit.  Facebook  followed suit with their Live Feed where users activities are streamed as soon as it happens. While Twitter focuses on words,  Clixtr, another real time service, focuses on group photo sharing where users can update their photo streams with photos while at an event. Friends and nearby users can contribute their own photos and comments to that event stream, thus contributing to the real time aspect of broadcasting photos and comments as it is being uploaded. In the location based social networking space,  Foursquare  gained popularity as it allowed for users to check-in to places that they are frequenting at that moment.  Gowalla  is another such service which functions in much the same way that Foursquare does, leveraging the  GPS  in phones to create a location based user experience. Clixtr, though in the real time space, is also a location based social networking site since events created by users are automatically geotagged, and users can view events occurring nearby through the Clixtr  iPhone  app. Recently,Yelp  announced its entrance into the location based social networking space through check-ins with their mobile app; whether or not this becomes detrimental to Foursquare or Gowalla is yet to be seen as it is still considered a new space in the internet technology industry.[35] One popular use for this new technology is social networking between businesses. Companies have found that social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter are great ways to build their brand image. According to Jody Nimetz, author of Marketing Jive[36], there are five major uses for businesses and social media: to create brand awareness, as an online reputation management tool, for recruiting, to learn about new technologies and competitors, and as a lead gen tool to intercept potential prospects.[36]. These companies are able to drive traffic to their own online sites while encouraging their consumers and clients to have discussions on how to improve or change products or services. One other use that is being discussed is the use of Social Networks in the Science communities. Julia Porter Liebeskind et al. have published a study on how New Biotechnology Firms are using social networking sites to share exchanges in scientific knowledge.  They state in their study that by sharing information and knowledge with one another, they are able to increase both their learning and their flexibility in ways that would not be possible within a self-contained hierarchical organization. Social networking is allowing scientific groups to expand their knowledge base and share ideas, and without these new means of communicating their theories might become isolated and irrelevant. Social networks are also being used by teachers and students as a communication tool. Because many students are already using a wide-range of social networking sites, teachers have begun to familiarize themselves with this trend and are now using it to their advantage. Teachers and professors are doing everything from creating chat-room forums and groups to extend classroom discussion to posting assignments, tests and quizzes, to assisting with homework outside of the classroom setting. Social networks are also being used to foster teacher-parent communication. These sites make it possible and more convenient for parents to ask questions and voice concerns without having to meet face-to-face. Social networks are being used by activists as a means of low-cost grassroots organizing. Extensive use of an array of social networking sites enabled organizers of the 2009  National Equality March  to mobilize an estimated 200,000 participants to march on Washington with a cost savings of up to 85% per participant over previous methods.[38] The  use of online social networks by libraries  is also an increasingly prevelant and growing tool that is being used to communicate with more potential library users, as well as extending the services provided by individual libraries Issues Privacy On large social networking services, there have been growing concerns about users giving out too much personal information and the threat of  sexual predators. Users of these services also need to be aware of  data theft  or  viruses. However, large services, such as  MySpace  and  Netlog, often work with law enforcement to try to prevent such incidents.[citation needed] In addition, there is a perceived privacy threat in relation to placing too much personal information in the hands of large corporations or governmental bodies, allowing a profile to be produced on an individuals behaviour on which decisions, detrimental to an individual, may be taken. Furthermore, there is an issue over the control of dataâ‚ ¬Ã¢â‚¬ information that was altered or removed by the user may in fact be retained and/or passed to 3rd parties. This danger was highlighted when the controversial social networking site  Quechup  harvested e-mail addresses from users e-mail accounts for use in a  spamming  operation.[43] In medical and scientific research, asking subjects for information about their behaviors is normally strictly scrutinized by  institutional review boards, for example, to ensure that adolescents and their parents have  informed consent. It is not clear whether the same rules apply to researchers who collect data from social networking sites. These sites often contain a great deal of data that is hard to obtain via traditional means. Even though the data are public, republishing it in a research paper might be considered  invasion of privacy.[44] Privacy on Facebook is undermined by three principal factors: users disclose too much, Facebook does not take adequate steps to protect user privacy, and third parties are actively seeking out end-user information using Facebook. Every day teens go on social networking sites and reveal their most inner thoughts for the whole world to see. Information such as street address, phone number, Instant Messaging name are disclosed to an unknown population in cyberspace. Whats more, the creation of a Facebook, MySpace, Twitter etc. account is a fairly easy process to do and no identification is required, which can lead to identity theft or impersonation. For the Net generation, social networking sites have become the preferred forum for social interactions, from posturing and role playing to simply sounding off. However, because such forums are relatively easy to access, posted content can be reviewed by anyone with an interest in the users personal information. There has been a trend for social networking sites to send out only positive notifications to users. For example sites such as Bebo, Facebook, and Myspace will not send notifications to users when they are removed from a persons friends list. Similarly Bebo will send out a notification if a user is moved to the top of another users friends list but no notification is sent if they are moved down the list. This allows users to purge undesirables from their list extremely easily and often without confrontation since a user will rarely notice if one person disappears from their friends list. It also enforces the general positive atmosphere of the website without drawing attention to unpleasant happenings such as friends falling out, rejection and failed relationships. Many social networking services, such as Facebook, provide the user with a choice of who can view their profile. This prevents unauthorized user(s) from accessing their information.[49]Parents have become a big problem to teens who want to avoid their parents to access their MySpace or Facebook accounts. By choosing to make their profile private, teens are able to select who can see their page and this prevents unwanted parents from lurking. This will also mean that only people who are added as friends will be able to view the profile. Teens are constantly trying to create a structural barrier between their private life and their parent A common misuse of social networking sites such as Facebook is that it is occasionally used to emotionally abuse individuals. Such actions are often referred to as trolling. It is not rare for confrontations in the real world to be translated online. Online bullying (aka Cyber-bullying) is a relatively common occurrence and it can often result in emotional trauma for the victim. Depending on the networking outlet, up to 39% of users admit to being â‚ ¬Ã…“cyber-bulliedâ‚ ¬?.[54]  danah boyd, a researcher of social networks quotes a teenager in her article, Why Youth (Heart) Social Network Sites. The teenager expresses frustration towards networking sites like MySpace because it causes drama and too much emotional stress.[55]  There are not many limitations as to what individuals can post when online. Inherently individuals are given the power to post offensive remarks or pictures that could potentially cause a great amount of emotional pain for another individual. Interpersonal communication Interpersonal communication has been a growing issue as more and more people have turned to social networking as a means of communication.Benniger (1987) describes how mass media has gradually replaced interpersonal communication as a socializing force. Further, social networking sites have become popular sites for youth culture to explore themselves, relationships, and share cultural artefacts. Many teens and social networking users may be harming their interpersonal communication by using sites such as Facebook and MySpace. Stated by Baroness Greenfield, an Oxford University Neuroscientist, â‚ ¬Ã…“My fear is that these technologies are infantilizing the brain into the state of small children who are attracted by buzzing noises and bright lights, who have a small attention span and who live for the moment It is not unusual if you often hear your siblings or your friends talk about the people they have met and made friends with through the Internet as social networking is one of the phenomena that have taken the world of Internet by storm. Almost every Web surfer has an account in at least one of the  social networking sites, for these sites are the more enjoyable places to hang around in. Pros: Social networking sites  have paved the way for easier communication to your friends, family, or colleagues. One example is that instead of meeting in a certain place, you and your classmates could discuss a school activity by having a conference in a certain site that you are all members of, thus saving you time and effort. Virtual communities are also formed, which are composed of people connected together by common interests, purpose, and goal. People of different races also get to mingle with each other in just a few clicks. The idea of socializing with millions of people of different backgrounds excites the Web surfers. This is one thing that you can hardly do outside the virtual world. Communication with distant family and friends. Meet new people, be creative, and be yourself It entertains you when youre bored Social networking  websites  are a great way of keeping in touch with family and  friends. You can post blogs, share photos, use instant messaging (Myspace has its own instant messaging service), make comments and add people to your friends list. Social  networkingHYPERLINK http://www.blurtit.com/q430795.html  HYPERLINK http://www.blurtit.com/q430795.htmlsites  allow you to create a profile, where you can share your interests with other users and also, you can make new friends. These type of sites, Myspace in particular, are also used people such as bands or authors to build up friends in order to generate interest in their music and books Cons: Social networking sites require or give you the option to provide personal information such as your name, location, and email address. Unfortunately some people can take this as an opportunity for identity theft. They can copy your information and pretend to be you when engaging in illegal activities. Bad news! So be cautious with what you enter into an online networking site. You could fall into the trap of someone who pretends to be somebody else. For example, they might offer you a job or want to meet up with you just to get your money. This can lead to cyberstalking, where the stalker uses electronic media such as the Internet to pursue or harass you. there is also the chance of peoples profiles being hacked or identities being stolen   Another downside is that sites such as Myspace, which allow users to add their own background, are often very slow due to backgrounds taking up a lot of memory. This has led to users  computers  crashing every time they got onto a profile which uses up a lot of memory. Also, because these types of sites have millions of users, errors can often occur. It hampers the students the most. Students waste a lot of time on the social networking sites. This disturbs their education. It distracts you from your work that is needed to be done. Social Networking-Stats and figures The way we communicate online has gone through a sea-change over last few years. In fact, majority of net users spend most of their time on social Media / Networking sites. Even though  India Software companies are lagging behind  in adoption of social media, others are flocking them in large numbers. Twitter has been a rage over past 1 year, Facebook has become one of the most visited sites on the web, Professionals are flocking Linkedin and keep their profiles updated. Facebook  claims  that 50% of active users log into the site each day. This would mean  at least 175m users every 24 hours. Twitter  now has  75m user accounts, but only around 15m are active users on a regular basis. LinkedIn  has over  50m members worldwide.. Facebook currently has in excess of  350 million active users on global basis.Six months ago, this was 250mÃÆ' ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ã‚ ¦This means over 40% growth in less than 6 months. Flickr now hosts more than  4 billion images. More than 35m Facebook users update their status each day.   Wikipedia  currently  has in excess of  14m articles, meaning that itÃÆ' ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢s 85,000 contributors have written nearly a million new posts in six months. Photo uploads to Facebook have  increased by more than 100%.  Currently, there are around  2.5bn  uploads to the site each month. Back in 2009, the average user had 120 friends within Facebook. This is now around 130. Mobile is even bigger than before for Facebook, with  more than  65m users accessing the site through mobile-based devices.  In six months, this is over 100% increase. There are more than  3.5bn pieces of content  (web links, news stories, blog posts, etc.) shared each week on Facebook. There are now  11m LinkedIn users across Europe. Towards the  end of last year, the average number of tweets per day was over27.3 million. The average number of tweets per hour was around  1.3m. 15% of bloggers spend  10 or more  hours each week blogging, according to Technoratis new  State of the Blogosphere. At the current rate, Twitter will process almost  10 billion  tweets in a single year. About 70% of Facebook users are outside the USA. India is currently the fastest-growing country to use LinkedIn, with around 3m total users. More than 250 Facebook applications have over a  million  combined users each month. 70%  of bloggers are organically talking about brands on their blog. 38% of bloggers post brand or product reviews. More than  80,000  websites have implemented Facebook Connect since December 2008 and more than  60m  Facebook users engage with it across these external sites Top Social Networking sites in India 2010 Orkut.com Facebook.com Twitter Bharatstudent.com hi5.com ibibo.Com MySpace Sites LinkedIn.com PerfSpot.com BIGADDA.com Fropper.com friendster Literature Review Literature review Social Networking in Education BY Geetha Krishnana Overall, an astonishing 96 percent of students with online access report that they ever used any social networking technologies, such as chatting, text messaging, blogging and visiting online communitiesâ‚ ¬Ã‚ ¦Staggering as the 96 percent statistic is, it is intriguing to wonder what the other 4 percent is doing. Just e-mail and web surfing?Further, students report that one of the most common topics of conversation on the social networking scene is education. Almost 60 percent of students who use social networking talk about education topics online and, surprisingly, more than 50 percent talk specifically about schoolwork.Tempting as this statistic might sound to champions of the social-networking-for-education cause, it may be worth considering that most of the discussions that people have on education could be to do with help on homework and troublesome topics, classical problems that would otherwise get discussed in the college canteen perhaps.  It may not mean a new avenue for learning something new it is just a new medium to get problems shared and solved. That is not to say it is not a good thing, but it may not be much more than that.Nonconformistsâ‚ ¬Ã¢â‚¬ students who step outside of online safety and behavior rulesâ‚ ¬Ã¢â‚¬ are on the cutting edge of social networking, with online behaviors and skills that indicate leadership among their peers. The report offers some recommendations for school board members as well. Explore social networking sites.  This is an important recommendation because most often we tend to condemn something without really understanding it. Consider social networking for staff communication and professional development.  This could well help achieve the previous point as well. It will also serve to integrate students and staff in the networking space. Find ways of harnessing the educational value of social networking.  This is a seemingly motherhood statement, but it could be worthwhile for teachers to consciously think of projects and assignments to be executed through networking approaches. Ensure equitable access.  An obvious point, strengthen the access mechanisms for students to technology. Pay attention to nonconformists.  This has already been touched on earlier in this post. Re examine social networking policies.  Another obvious point, come at social networking as an integral component of the education process, not as a diversion. Facebook Impact on Student Grades Raises New Questions for Business BY Lawrence Walsh An Ohio State University study links Facebook use to lower grades. The study comes as businesses worry about the impact of social networking tools on worker productivity, integrity of their intellectual property and data security. Security vendors such as Websense, Fortinet and Trend Micro release new tools to combat embedded threats in social networks.As enterprises grapple with whether social networking creates security risks and productivity losses, a new study from the Ohio State University suggests there is a link between the use of Facebook and lower grades among college students.According to the survey of 219 students, those who said they use Facebook have grade point averages between 3.0 and 3.5 and study 1 to 5 hours per week. Conversely, non-Facebook users have GPAs between 3.5 and 4.0, and study 11 hours or more per week.The study found that 79 percent of Facebook users believe that it has no impact on their academic performance. Research methodology Research methodology Problem Definition In todays era, education is seriously getting hampered through these social networking sites. In the name of connectivity, students and teens are actually wasting a huge amount of time in facebooking and orkuting. The sufferer is none other than them, and the worst part is that they do not even realise it. 80% of the teens and students in India have atleast one active account in either facebook or orkut. So the need of the hour is to find out whether these social networking sites are useful or is it a mere waste of time. Hence, the research objective is to find the factors that motivates the students to open an account in the social networking sites and thus wasting time. Research Objectives 1)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  To find out whether Social networking sites are a threat or a helping hand for education 2)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  To find out the reasons that compel the students to join the networking chain   3) To find out ways by  which the social media can be used constructively in the field of education Research Methodology The research design that will be used would be exploratory research Impact of Social Networking Sites on Children Impact of Social Networking Sites on Children Social networking sites offer people new and varied ways to communicate via the internet,  whether through their PC or their mobile phone. Examples include MySpace, Facebook and  Bebo. They allow people to easily and simply create their own online page or profile and to  construct and display an online network of contacts, often called friends. Users of these  sites can communicate via their profile both with their friends and with people outside their list of contacts. The rapid growth of social networking sites in recent years indicates that they are now a mainstream communications technology for many people. Social networking sites are most popular with teenagers and young adults Research shows that just over one fifth (22%) of adult internet users aged 16+ and  almost half (49%) of children aged 8-17 who use the internet have set up their own profile on a social networking site.4 For adults, the likelihood of setting up a profile is highest among 16-24 year olds (54%) and decreases with age. Some under-13s are by-passing the age restrictions on social networking sites Despite the fact that the minimum age for most major social networking sites is usually 13  (14 on MySpace), 27% of 8-11 year olds who are aware of social networking sites say that  they have a profile on a site. While some of these younger users are on sites intended for  younger children, the presence of underage users on social networking sites intended for  those aged 13 or over was also confirmed by qualitative research . The average adult social networker has profiles on 1.6 sites, and most users check their profile at least every other day. Adult social networkers use a variety of sites, with the main ones being Bebo, Facebook and  MySpace. It is common for adults to have a profile on more than one site on average each  adult with a social networking page or profile has profiles on 1.6 sites, and 39% of adults  have profiles on two or more sites. Half of all current adult social networkers say that they  access their profiles at least every other day. The site people choose to use varies depending on the user. Children are more likely to use Bebo (63% of those who have a social networking site profile), and the most popular site for adults is Facebook (62% of those who have a social networking profile). Two-thirds of parents claim to set rules on their childs use of social  networking sites, although only 53% of children said that their parents set  such rules For many children, the rules and restrictions that their parents set on social networking site  usage are an important influencing factor in the childs use of social networking sites. Two thirds of parents whose children have a social networking page say they set rules on their  childs use of these sites. Most commonly these concerned meeting new people online and  giving out personal details. However, significantly fewer children (53% of those with social  networking profiles) say that their parents set rules on their use of these sites. Attitudes and behaviours towards social networking sites Social networkers fall into distinct groups Social networkers differ in their attitudes to social networking sites and in their behaviour  while using them. Qualitative research indicates that site users tend to fall into five  distinct groups based on their behaviours and attitudes. These are as follows: Alpha Socialisers (a minority) people who used sites in intense short bursts to flirt,  meet new people, and be entertained. Attention Seekers (some) people who craved attention and comments from others,  often by posting photos and customising their profiles. Followers (many) people who joined sites to keep up with what their peers were  doing. Faithfuls (many) people who typically used social networking sites to rekindle old  friendships, often from school or university. Functionals (a minority) people who tended to be single-minded in using sites for a  particular purpose. Non-users of social networking sites also fall into distinct groups Non-users also appear to fall into distinct groups; these groups are based on their reasons  for not using social networking sites: Concerned about safety people concerned about safety online, in particular making  personal details available online. Technically inexperienced people who lack confidence in using the internet and  computers. Intellectual rejecters people who have no interest in social networking sites and see  them as a waste of time. Introduction INDUSTRY OVERVIEW Social Networking sites- Overview A  social network service  focuses on building and reflecting of  social networks  or  social relations  among people, e.g., who share interests and/or activities. A social network service essentially consists of a representation of each user (often a profile), his/her social links, and a variety of additional services. Most social network services are  web based  and provide means for users to interact over the  internet, such as  e-mail  and  instant messaging. Although  online community  services are sometimes considered as a social network service in a broader sense, social network service usually means an individual-catered service whereas  online community  services are group-centred. Social networking sites allow users to share ideas, activities, events, and interests within their individual networks. The main types of social networking services are those which contain category places (such as former school-year or classmates), means to connect with friends (usually with self-description pages) and a recommendation system linked to trust. Popular methods now combine many of these, with  Facebook,  Bebo  and  Twitter  widely used worldwide;  MySpace  and  LinkedIn  being the most widely used in North America;[1]HYPERLINK http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NexopiaNexopia  (mostly in Canada);[2]  Bebo,[3]  Hi5,  Hyves  (mostly in The Netherlands),  StudiVZ  (mostly in Germany),  iWiW  (mostly in Hungary),Tuenti  (mostly in Spain),  Decayenne,  Tagged,  XING;[4],  BadooHYPERLINK #cite_note-4[5]  and  Skyrock  in parts of Europe;[6]  Orkut  and  Hi5  in  South America  andCentral America;[7]  and  Friendster,  Mixi,  Multiply,  Orkut,  Wretch,  renren  and  Cyworld  in Asia and the Pacific Islands and  Orku t  and  Facebookin India. There have been some attempts to standardize these services to avoid the need to duplicate entries of friends and interests (see the  FOAFstandard and the  Open Source Initiative ), but this has led to some concerns about privacy. Although some of the largest social networks were founded on the notion of digitizing real world connections, many other networks as seen in the  List of social networking websites  focus on categories from books and music to non-profit business to motherhood as ways to provide both services and community to individuals with shared interests. Typical structure In general, social networking services allow users to create a profile for themselves, and can be broken down into two broad categories: internal social networking (ISN) and external social networking (ESN) sites such  as  MySpace,  Facebook,  Twitter  and  Bebo. Both types can increase the feeling of community among people. An ISN is a closed/private community that consists of a group of people within a company, association, society, education provider and organization or even an invite only group created by a user in an ESN. An ESN is open/public and available to all web users to communicate and are designed to attract advertisers. ESNs can be smaller specialized communities (i.e. linked by a single common interest e.g. TheSocialGolfer, ACountryLife.Com, Great Cooks Community) or they can be large generic social networking sites (e.g. MySpace, Facebook etc). However, whether specialized or generic there is commonality across the general approach of social networking sites. Users can upload a picture of themselves, create their profile and can often be friends with other users. In most social networking services, both users must confirm that they are friends before they are linked. For example, if  Alice  lists Bob as a friend, then Bob would have to approve Alices friend request before they are listed as friends. Some social networking sites have a favorites feature that does not need approval from the other user. Social networks usually have privacy controls that allows the user to choose who can view their profile or contact them, etc. Social networking sites typically have a section dedicated to comments by friends. On Friendster, this section is called Testimonials. On Facebook, this section is called The Wall. In the beginning, this was a feature that encouraged people to write messages about the person in the profile. But over time, people started writing creative testimonials back, creating a form of conversation.[32] Some social networking sites are created for the benefits of others, such as parents social networking site Gurgle. This website is for parents to talk about pregnancy, birth and bringing up children. .com. This social network allows professionals to exchange information, opportunities, and ideas. Professionals are able to stay informed with new knowledge about their field  Some social networks have additional features, such as the ability to create  groups  that share common interests or affiliations, upload or stream live videos, and hold discussions in forums.  Geo social networking co-opts internet mapping services to organize user participation around geographic features and their attributes. There is also a trend for more  interoperability between social networks  led by technologies such as  OpenID  and  Open Social. Lately, mobile social networking has become popular. In most mobile communities, mobile phone users can now create their own profiles, make friends, participate in chat rooms, create chat rooms, hold private conversations, share photos and videos, and share blogs by using their mobile phone. Mobile phone users are basically open to every option that someone sitting on the computer has. Some companies provide wireless services which allow their customers to build their own mobile community and brand it, but one of the most popular wireless services for social networking in North America is Facebook Mobile. Other companies provide new innovative features which extend the social networking experience into the real world. Another social networking feature in a professional aspect is LinkedIn. Emerging trends in social networks As the increase in popularity of social networking is on a constant rise, new uses for the technology are constantly being observed. At the forefront of emerging trends in social networking sites is the concept of real time and location based. Real time allows users to contribute content, which is then broadcasted as it is being uploaded the concept is similar to live television broadcasts.   Twitter  set the trend for real time services, where users can broadcast to the world what they are doing, or what is on their minds within a 140 character limit.  Facebook  followed suit with their Live Feed where users activities are streamed as soon as it happens. While Twitter focuses on words,  Clixtr, another real time service, focuses on group photo sharing where users can update their photo streams with photos while at an event. Friends and nearby users can contribute their own photos and comments to that event stream, thus contributing to the real time aspect of broadcasting photos and comments as it is being uploaded. In the location based social networking space,  Foursquare  gained popularity as it allowed for users to check-in to places that they are frequenting at that moment.  Gowalla  is another such service which functions in much the same way that Foursquare does, leveraging the  GPS  in phones to create a location based user experience. Clixtr, though in the real time space, is also a location based social networking site since events created by users are automatically geotagged, and users can view events occurring nearby through the Clixtr  iPhone  app. Recently,Yelp  announced its entrance into the location based social networking space through check-ins with their mobile app; whether or not this becomes detrimental to Foursquare or Gowalla is yet to be seen as it is still considered a new space in the internet technology industry.[35] One popular use for this new technology is social networking between businesses. Companies have found that social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter are great ways to build their brand image. According to Jody Nimetz, author of Marketing Jive[36], there are five major uses for businesses and social media: to create brand awareness, as an online reputation management tool, for recruiting, to learn about new technologies and competitors, and as a lead gen tool to intercept potential prospects.[36]. These companies are able to drive traffic to their own online sites while encouraging their consumers and clients to have discussions on how to improve or change products or services. One other use that is being discussed is the use of Social Networks in the Science communities. Julia Porter Liebeskind et al. have published a study on how New Biotechnology Firms are using social networking sites to share exchanges in scientific knowledge.  They state in their study that by sharing information and knowledge with one another, they are able to increase both their learning and their flexibility in ways that would not be possible within a self-contained hierarchical organization. Social networking is allowing scientific groups to expand their knowledge base and share ideas, and without these new means of communicating their theories might become isolated and irrelevant. Social networks are also being used by teachers and students as a communication tool. Because many students are already using a wide-range of social networking sites, teachers have begun to familiarize themselves with this trend and are now using it to their advantage. Teachers and professors are doing everything from creating chat-room forums and groups to extend classroom discussion to posting assignments, tests and quizzes, to assisting with homework outside of the classroom setting. Social networks are also being used to foster teacher-parent communication. These sites make it possible and more convenient for parents to ask questions and voice concerns without having to meet face-to-face. Social networks are being used by activists as a means of low-cost grassroots organizing. Extensive use of an array of social networking sites enabled organizers of the 2009  National Equality March  to mobilize an estimated 200,000 participants to march on Washington with a cost savings of up to 85% per participant over previous methods.[38] The  use of online social networks by libraries  is also an increasingly prevelant and growing tool that is being used to communicate with more potential library users, as well as extending the services provided by individual libraries Issues Privacy On large social networking services, there have been growing concerns about users giving out too much personal information and the threat of  sexual predators. Users of these services also need to be aware of  data theft  or  viruses. However, large services, such as  MySpace  and  Netlog, often work with law enforcement to try to prevent such incidents.[citation needed] In addition, there is a perceived privacy threat in relation to placing too much personal information in the hands of large corporations or governmental bodies, allowing a profile to be produced on an individuals behaviour on which decisions, detrimental to an individual, may be taken. Furthermore, there is an issue over the control of dataâ‚ ¬Ã¢â‚¬ information that was altered or removed by the user may in fact be retained and/or passed to 3rd parties. This danger was highlighted when the controversial social networking site  Quechup  harvested e-mail addresses from users e-mail accounts for use in a  spamming  operation.[43] In medical and scientific research, asking subjects for information about their behaviors is normally strictly scrutinized by  institutional review boards, for example, to ensure that adolescents and their parents have  informed consent. It is not clear whether the same rules apply to researchers who collect data from social networking sites. These sites often contain a great deal of data that is hard to obtain via traditional means. Even though the data are public, republishing it in a research paper might be considered  invasion of privacy.[44] Privacy on Facebook is undermined by three principal factors: users disclose too much, Facebook does not take adequate steps to protect user privacy, and third parties are actively seeking out end-user information using Facebook. Every day teens go on social networking sites and reveal their most inner thoughts for the whole world to see. Information such as street address, phone number, Instant Messaging name are disclosed to an unknown population in cyberspace. Whats more, the creation of a Facebook, MySpace, Twitter etc. account is a fairly easy process to do and no identification is required, which can lead to identity theft or impersonation. For the Net generation, social networking sites have become the preferred forum for social interactions, from posturing and role playing to simply sounding off. However, because such forums are relatively easy to access, posted content can be reviewed by anyone with an interest in the users personal information. There has been a trend for social networking sites to send out only positive notifications to users. For example sites such as Bebo, Facebook, and Myspace will not send notifications to users when they are removed from a persons friends list. Similarly Bebo will send out a notification if a user is moved to the top of another users friends list but no notification is sent if they are moved down the list. This allows users to purge undesirables from their list extremely easily and often without confrontation since a user will rarely notice if one person disappears from their friends list. It also enforces the general positive atmosphere of the website without drawing attention to unpleasant happenings such as friends falling out, rejection and failed relationships. Many social networking services, such as Facebook, provide the user with a choice of who can view their profile. This prevents unauthorized user(s) from accessing their information.[49]Parents have become a big problem to teens who want to avoid their parents to access their MySpace or Facebook accounts. By choosing to make their profile private, teens are able to select who can see their page and this prevents unwanted parents from lurking. This will also mean that only people who are added as friends will be able to view the profile. Teens are constantly trying to create a structural barrier between their private life and their parent A common misuse of social networking sites such as Facebook is that it is occasionally used to emotionally abuse individuals. Such actions are often referred to as trolling. It is not rare for confrontations in the real world to be translated online. Online bullying (aka Cyber-bullying) is a relatively common occurrence and it can often result in emotional trauma for the victim. Depending on the networking outlet, up to 39% of users admit to being â‚ ¬Ã…“cyber-bulliedâ‚ ¬?.[54]  danah boyd, a researcher of social networks quotes a teenager in her article, Why Youth (Heart) Social Network Sites. The teenager expresses frustration towards networking sites like MySpace because it causes drama and too much emotional stress.[55]  There are not many limitations as to what individuals can post when online. Inherently individuals are given the power to post offensive remarks or pictures that could potentially cause a great amount of emotional pain for another individual. Interpersonal communication Interpersonal communication has been a growing issue as more and more people have turned to social networking as a means of communication.Benniger (1987) describes how mass media has gradually replaced interpersonal communication as a socializing force. Further, social networking sites have become popular sites for youth culture to explore themselves, relationships, and share cultural artefacts. Many teens and social networking users may be harming their interpersonal communication by using sites such as Facebook and MySpace. Stated by Baroness Greenfield, an Oxford University Neuroscientist, â‚ ¬Ã…“My fear is that these technologies are infantilizing the brain into the state of small children who are attracted by buzzing noises and bright lights, who have a small attention span and who live for the moment It is not unusual if you often hear your siblings or your friends talk about the people they have met and made friends with through the Internet as social networking is one of the phenomena that have taken the world of Internet by storm. Almost every Web surfer has an account in at least one of the  social networking sites, for these sites are the more enjoyable places to hang around in. Pros: Social networking sites  have paved the way for easier communication to your friends, family, or colleagues. One example is that instead of meeting in a certain place, you and your classmates could discuss a school activity by having a conference in a certain site that you are all members of, thus saving you time and effort. Virtual communities are also formed, which are composed of people connected together by common interests, purpose, and goal. People of different races also get to mingle with each other in just a few clicks. The idea of socializing with millions of people of different backgrounds excites the Web surfers. This is one thing that you can hardly do outside the virtual world. Communication with distant family and friends. Meet new people, be creative, and be yourself It entertains you when youre bored Social networking  websites  are a great way of keeping in touch with family and  friends. You can post blogs, share photos, use instant messaging (Myspace has its own instant messaging service), make comments and add people to your friends list. Social  networkingHYPERLINK http://www.blurtit.com/q430795.html  HYPERLINK http://www.blurtit.com/q430795.htmlsites  allow you to create a profile, where you can share your interests with other users and also, you can make new friends. These type of sites, Myspace in particular, are also used people such as bands or authors to build up friends in order to generate interest in their music and books Cons: Social networking sites require or give you the option to provide personal information such as your name, location, and email address. Unfortunately some people can take this as an opportunity for identity theft. They can copy your information and pretend to be you when engaging in illegal activities. Bad news! So be cautious with what you enter into an online networking site. You could fall into the trap of someone who pretends to be somebody else. For example, they might offer you a job or want to meet up with you just to get your money. This can lead to cyberstalking, where the stalker uses electronic media such as the Internet to pursue or harass you. there is also the chance of peoples profiles being hacked or identities being stolen   Another downside is that sites such as Myspace, which allow users to add their own background, are often very slow due to backgrounds taking up a lot of memory. This has led to users  computers  crashing every time they got onto a profile which uses up a lot of memory. Also, because these types of sites have millions of users, errors can often occur. It hampers the students the most. Students waste a lot of time on the social networking sites. This disturbs their education. It distracts you from your work that is needed to be done. Social Networking-Stats and figures The way we communicate online has gone through a sea-change over last few years. In fact, majority of net users spend most of their time on social Media / Networking sites. Even though  India Software companies are lagging behind  in adoption of social media, others are flocking them in large numbers. Twitter has been a rage over past 1 year, Facebook has become one of the most visited sites on the web, Professionals are flocking Linkedin and keep their profiles updated. Facebook  claims  that 50% of active users log into the site each day. This would mean  at least 175m users every 24 hours. Twitter  now has  75m user accounts, but only around 15m are active users on a regular basis. LinkedIn  has over  50m members worldwide.. Facebook currently has in excess of  350 million active users on global basis.Six months ago, this was 250mÃÆ' ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ã‚ ¦This means over 40% growth in less than 6 months. Flickr now hosts more than  4 billion images. More than 35m Facebook users update their status each day.   Wikipedia  currently  has in excess of  14m articles, meaning that itÃÆ' ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢s 85,000 contributors have written nearly a million new posts in six months. Photo uploads to Facebook have  increased by more than 100%.  Currently, there are around  2.5bn  uploads to the site each month. Back in 2009, the average user had 120 friends within Facebook. This is now around 130. Mobile is even bigger than before for Facebook, with  more than  65m users accessing the site through mobile-based devices.  In six months, this is over 100% increase. There are more than  3.5bn pieces of content  (web links, news stories, blog posts, etc.) shared each week on Facebook. There are now  11m LinkedIn users across Europe. Towards the  end of last year, the average number of tweets per day was over27.3 million. The average number of tweets per hour was around  1.3m. 15% of bloggers spend  10 or more  hours each week blogging, according to Technoratis new  State of the Blogosphere. At the current rate, Twitter will process almost  10 billion  tweets in a single year. About 70% of Facebook users are outside the USA. India is currently the fastest-growing country to use LinkedIn, with around 3m total users. More than 250 Facebook applications have over a  million  combined users each month. 70%  of bloggers are organically talking about brands on their blog. 38% of bloggers post brand or product reviews. More than  80,000  websites have implemented Facebook Connect since December 2008 and more than  60m  Facebook users engage with it across these external sites Top Social Networking sites in India 2010 Orkut.com Facebook.com Twitter Bharatstudent.com hi5.com ibibo.Com MySpace Sites LinkedIn.com PerfSpot.com BIGADDA.com Fropper.com friendster Literature Review Literature review Social Networking in Education BY Geetha Krishnana Overall, an astonishing 96 percent of students with online access report that they ever used any social networking technologies, such as chatting, text messaging, blogging and visiting online communitiesâ‚ ¬Ã‚ ¦Staggering as the 96 percent statistic is, it is intriguing to wonder what the other 4 percent is doing. Just e-mail and web surfing?Further, students report that one of the most common topics of conversation on the social networking scene is education. Almost 60 percent of students who use social networking talk about education topics online and, surprisingly, more than 50 percent talk specifically about schoolwork.Tempting as this statistic might sound to champions of the social-networking-for-education cause, it may be worth considering that most of the discussions that people have on education could be to do with help on homework and troublesome topics, classical problems that would otherwise get discussed in the college canteen perhaps.  It may not mean a new avenue for learning something new it is just a new medium to get problems shared and solved. That is not to say it is not a good thing, but it may not be much more than that.Nonconformistsâ‚ ¬Ã¢â‚¬ students who step outside of online safety and behavior rulesâ‚ ¬Ã¢â‚¬ are on the cutting edge of social networking, with online behaviors and skills that indicate leadership among their peers. The report offers some recommendations for school board members as well. Explore social networking sites.  This is an important recommendation because most often we tend to condemn something without really understanding it. Consider social networking for staff communication and professional development.  This could well help achieve the previous point as well. It will also serve to integrate students and staff in the networking space. Find ways of harnessing the educational value of social networking.  This is a seemingly motherhood statement, but it could be worthwhile for teachers to consciously think of projects and assignments to be executed through networking approaches. Ensure equitable access.  An obvious point, strengthen the access mechanisms for students to technology. Pay attention to nonconformists.  This has already been touched on earlier in this post. Re examine social networking policies.  Another obvious point, come at social networking as an integral component of the education process, not as a diversion. Facebook Impact on Student Grades Raises New Questions for Business BY Lawrence Walsh An Ohio State University study links Facebook use to lower grades. The study comes as businesses worry about the impact of social networking tools on worker productivity, integrity of their intellectual property and data security. Security vendors such as Websense, Fortinet and Trend Micro release new tools to combat embedded threats in social networks.As enterprises grapple with whether social networking creates security risks and productivity losses, a new study from the Ohio State University suggests there is a link between the use of Facebook and lower grades among college students.According to the survey of 219 students, those who said they use Facebook have grade point averages between 3.0 and 3.5 and study 1 to 5 hours per week. Conversely, non-Facebook users have GPAs between 3.5 and 4.0, and study 11 hours or more per week.The study found that 79 percent of Facebook users believe that it has no impact on their academic performance. Research methodology Research methodology Problem Definition In todays era, education is seriously getting hampered through these social networking sites. In the name of connectivity, students and teens are actually wasting a huge amount of time in facebooking and orkuting. The sufferer is none other than them, and the worst part is that they do not even realise it. 80% of the teens and students in India have atleast one active account in either facebook or orkut. So the need of the hour is to find out whether these social networking sites are useful or is it a mere waste of time. Hence, the research objective is to find the factors that motivates the students to open an account in the social networking sites and thus wasting time. Research Objectives 1)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  To find out whether Social networking sites are a threat or a helping hand for education 2)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  To find out the reasons that compel the students to join the networking chain   3) To find out ways by  which the social media can be used constructively in the field of education Research Methodology The research design that will be used would be exploratory research

Glass Menagerie :: essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  ?The Glass Menagerie?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the ?The Glass Menagerie?, two themes are used so that the characters can deal with their painful facts of life. ?Illusion? and ?Escape? are the two themes which all the characters use. Tom Wingfield uses both of these themes to try and live a good happy life. Tom is capable of maintaining a life outside of his home, at his job, and going out of town. Tom is not a business man, he prefers more of a literature and reading environment to sustain his fantasies. Amanda Wingfield is another character that uses illusion and escape to deal with the painful facts of life also.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Wingfields are distinguished and tied together by their similarly weak relationships to reality. However, the illusions to which they concede are not exclusively a characteristic of theirs. The outside world is just as open to illusion. Tom also finds illusion in the movies he watches, Tom think?s that other viewers at the movies he attends are substituting on-screen adventure for real-life adventure, which fullfils his illusion rather than real life. Amanda's relationship to illusion is the most complicated in the play. Unlike her children, she is partial into the real world values and longs for social and financial success. Yet her attachment to these values is exactly what prevents her from perceiving a number of truths about her life. Amanda's retreat into illusion is in many ways more pathetic than her children's, because it is not a willful constructive imagination, but instead a wistful distortion of reality.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Tom shows ?escape? because of not having a father, In the beginning of the movie, The Merchant Marine Service and the fire escape outside the apartment, haunts Tom. The play takes an unclear attitude toward the moral implications and even the effectiveness of Tom's escape. As an able bodied young man, he is locked into his life not by outside factors but by emotional ones. By his loyalty to and maybe even love for Laura and Amanda. Escape for Tom means the restrain and denial of these emotions in himself, and it means doing great harm to his mother and sister.

Can We Talk Essay

Divorce in the United States is very common and excepted. With powerful words like till â€Å"death do us part†, and â€Å"Adultery† being said. Communication is a must to make the marriage work with affective affirmation and self-disclosure making the words can we talk mean more now than ever before. I can relate to the article â€Å"Can We Talk† in my current new marriage for the first 1 year we never argued or had a fight. Most fights were petty and now found out to be lack of affective affirmation meaning behavior that makes your partner feel loved, cared for or special (Schoenberg, N., 2011). Self-Disclosure The act of verbally or nonverbally revealing information about yourself to other people(Sole K.,2011) In my personal relationship has gone both ways for the positive when making her feel she knows that she can trust you as well as getting to know you more and everything about you must want to know. Then the negative side when revealing to much information and then scaring them away like when you make her feel like she is married on the first date or smothering her. I would say Self-Disclosure should be used regularly after the first date and somewhat on the first date to get to know each other. The similarities I have found in my gender communication is that most men and woman complain about similar problems they are having with their gender like most men may say she talks to much or is too affectionate or not affectionate enough. Then most females would say us men are not affectionate, don’t talk, lack of emotions and so on. The times when gender based situations accrue when a man expects the female to make dinner, clean the house, make their lunch and for the men take out the trash, mow the lawn, rake the leaves. All gender specific related similarities that usually result into a situation but not always. I do feel my marriage fits into the gender specific similarities with my wife doing the laundry, dinner, making lunch, etc. I fix what she breaks and paint, maintenance, fix car problems, celling fans, bought and installed the T.V., Laptop all electronics etc. The generalizations regarding gender has caused conflicted but with better communication and me helping out more solved the problem for now. REFERENCES Schoenberg, N. (2011, January 17). Can we talk? Researcher talks about the role of communication in happy marriages, McClatchy-Tribune News Service, ProQuest Newsstand, Document ID: 2240370261, Retrieved from: http://search.proquest.com.proxy-library.ashford.edu/docview/840600645/fulltext/13BC619D20D31078D66/1?accountid=32521 Sole K., (2011) Making Connections, Bridgepoint Education, Inc., ch.7.7, retrieved from: https://content.ashford.edu/books/AUCOM200.11.1/sections/sec7.7

Vibrant Story in Your Narrative Essay Make Your Professor Your Reader

Vibrant Story in Your Narrative Essay Make Your Professor Your Reader Vibrant Story in Your Narrative Essay: Make Your Professor Your Reader This form of essays involves narrations of events and stories and the detailed description of how they unfold. These pieces of writing are used at various stages in school life and the art world. Typically, most assignments include telling stories of an individual’s life and its connection with class themes. These forms of essays are usually engaging and fun, as writers select interesting topics, have rough drafts on them before writing and revise their work after writing. So, here are the tips on how to make your narrative writing interesting and challenging: Go for stories that illustrate themes There are two components of narrative essays: the story itself and its analysis. These essays usually mean to communicate something that may be an issue, concept, event or a certain theme, hence you must use personal chronology to show an idea. Most narrative essays are not referenced or researched but are developed from the personal point of view. The personal artistic is what stands out as evidence to show certain points the author is trying to make. These essays are used to test a person’s creativity in storytelling skills as well as the ability to link current issues to topics in discussion. Always ensure your story stays in line with the prompts Narratives are mostly written in school as assignments or just for artistic purpose driven by certain prompts that might be from the teacher or appropriate parties. However, to make your story captivating you should follow the set guidelines and requirements so as to produce a true masterpiece essay. There are numerous topics that one can write about but the most common ones include: The transformation of a person’s character or personality The lack of privileges and discrimination experiences you’ve had The failure you’ve experienced and the consequences How you overcame some adverse experiences Choose the story with a convenient plot Interesting narratives tells stories in an illuminated and vibrant manner. The story should be brief and concise. Always hit your points head on. One should try to minimize characters complication as much as possible by setting the story and the plot. Long and broad narrations are normally boring. â€Å"My final year in high school† is a topic that is too wide and would have to involve a lot of concepts as opposed to simple but more detailed narrations. Reduce the number of characters as much as possible (but within the bound of reason). Only essential ones are to be incorporated. Make sure your story has vibrant details Best narratives are usually specific in details, portraying specific images and not general. Stories of this kind capture readers to sit through your story till the very end. Consider the following issues when deciding over good essays: Use your imagination (but again, within the bound of reason). Always try and stay true to your story as most narrations are not fictions. So, now you understand what you should focus on to make your narrative paper interesting for your professor. The key is in the detail and topic that should be not too wide but worth of telling about. This way, you’ll be able to show all your narrative skills and make your essay great. At our custom writing service you can buy narrative essays online which will be written by highly qualified academic experts.

Strengths and weaknesses of reason Essays

Strengths and weaknesses of reason Essays Strengths and weaknesses of reason Essay Strengths and weaknesses of reason Essay Reason is a way of thinking characterized by logic. It is the ability to think, understand and draw conclusions. It is often contrasted with emotionalism, which is thinking driven by desire, passion, or prejudice. [1] Reasoning is very important in our daily life. Every time we do something there is a reason behind it. Reasoning is a way of knowing, which will bring about a logical conclusion to what we are doing. Whether what we are doing is right or wrong. For example: A casual smoker can reason whether smoking is good for him or not by reasoning out. As he knows that smoking will affect his health and he will ruin his life. There is no gain in smoking but he is wasting his time and money which is not worth it. He is risking his life for few minutes of pleasure. So he can clearly see that what he is doing is wrong. Reason gives you more confidence to work ahead and achieve your goal. When ever you reason, you have expectation which keeps a fire aflame. For example when a businessman is working in an organization he is working to make maximum profit. That is also one of the reasons and expected outcome why he/she is working for. In initial stage he might make losses but he/she shouldnt get discouraged by it. Flame of a fire should be there to give inner strength to work upon it. Anything you do in your life has a reason behind it. For example, a student has an option of choosing different courses for his/her career. At that time, when student chooses an International curriculum there is reason behind it that he/she might wish to go to abroad for their further education. International curriculums like IGCSE, IB Diploma, A-Level and so on. When one wants to acquire education nationally then they would choose National or State education. In life often you have to make choices which involve opportunity cost. [1] http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Reason In Todays generation every one would wish to know the reason for what they are doing. Working without a reason is like travelling in a bus without a destination. For example: When a student goes to school he questions himself why am I going to school. At that time he has an ambition which is reason for him. He might wish to see himself as a doctor, engineer, businessman, lawyer, policeman, journalist, teacher and many more for which he/she works rigidly. A business man for example: Reliance is a company which started with initial capital of just $300 . The founder of this company was Dhirubhai H. Ambani. Today we can see that this is Indias largest private sector company with revenues of $16. 7billion. We always reason when we are learning something new. Reasoning will always be based on circumstances, experience, experiment, research, knowledge. For example: when a child is told not to play with a knife he will not listen. No matter how many times his parents warn him. He will only understand what it means when he is injured by that sharp knife. He will go through the pain and bleeding. That is a childs experience and knowledge about this object. He will be careful in the future. He will learn as he grows up. His parents warned him because they had knowledge about the sharpness of knife and how injurious it can be. They have also learnt it the same way. So the next time we do something we will try reasoning it. In science and mathematics we reason with facts and proved theorems. It acts as backbone for us to deal with experiments and solving. Scientist does research with reason that they can discover or invent new facts. Newtons Third Law stated that Every action has equal and opposite reaction [2] this was derived by many experiments. A very simple example to support this law is in sports. Cricket, when the ball is coming towards the batsman it is hit by the bat and the ball goes in the opposite direction with a greater speed due to the force applied by the bat. This is how they reason out. [2] International Baccalaureate Physics 2nd Edition Greff Kerr, Nancy Kerr ,Paul Ruth In mathematics we have different theorems and formulas which are derived by many researches from which they came into a rational conclusion. For example: We have theorems like sum of equilateral triangle is 180 degree ,the opposite angles of isosceles triangle are equal, in squares all sides are equal and each angle is of 90 degree. These are few plane geometric theorems which are proven by Euclid Alexandria. [3] This is the way how students are able to understand mathematical concepts. In this there is deductive reasoning. However like everything there are two sides to the coin. So here strength is one side of the coin and weakness is another side of the coin. Despite all its advantages, the process of reasoning has many shortcomings which make it inapplicable in various situations. In psychology, for example emotion plays a more important role than reasoning. The psychologist needs to understand the emotional situation of his client. If he uses his reasoning to solve his client problem he would fail to help him in any way. Here understanding of emotions plays vital role. For every emotion there is not a reason behind it. So there is no reason for having mental problem. The illness is natural by which there is change in the human behavior. The behavior which he has is an abnormal behavior for which a psychology can do this by tracing out or understanding his problems. Also for analyzing any historical character it is important to understand his thought process and emotional situation at that time. Reasoning his actions with the basic principles of behavior and psychology is not an effective method of understanding the history. Aurangzeb was a religious bigot. He did everything in the name of religion even though his actions generated unhappiness. There was no reasoning behind his planning. Literature is another area of knowledge where reason remains an individual approach and can vary from person to person. Writing and understanding literature involves an empathy and a thorough understanding of the various human characters. [3] http://derrel. net/math/euclid/euclid. htm More than reason, emotions and feelings play a greater role in a language as a way of knowing. It is more important to explore the feelings of the characters so that the readers can relate it to their life, rather than reason it with wit and ethics. For Example: In Dolls house Nora has an attitude towards spending more money than the total income. Here she has attitude of living life in a luxurious way. So to understand her character, language and emotions play imperative role in knowing them. Another area of knowledge where reason proves to be subjective and personal is art. An artist makes more use of the artistic sense/skill within him to produce his painting. Creativity and his own concepts are portrayed in an artists work, and consequently reasoning is personal based on his own ideas and conventions of art. Here people have different perception about the different art. Perception greatly varies from one people to another people. Reason is an indispensible part of a judgment for decision making but it can be subjective and not necessarily identical to another persons point of view. Reasoning depends on the premises of logic if premises are right my conclusion through reasoning will be correct and if the premises are weak my interpretation will be wrong. Reasoning is best when it is supported by fact and information and analyzed systematically without bias and prejudice. Bibliography  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reason