Week 15
5/13: Social Networks
Agenda for this week:
Review from last week:
Microsoft Office Tools
Poll on social networks
Presentation
Discussion of social networks
Hands on and demonstration
Homework:
Read lesson online, view materials
Go to one social network. Find the following
How to post
How to add picture or link
Privacy settings
How to find friends
Unique features
Tell us your favorite social network by either:
Discussion board
Google Form
Recording:
Did you miss the class? You can view the recording on social networks which was recorded on Tuesday's class.
Quick links:
Zoom classroom: https://sdccd-edu.zoom.us/j/9191959460?pwd=OXh0RE9ZTVZTWElTMUQ0ZzAxQzExdz09
Passcode: emeritus
Additional resources:
Introduction to Social Networks: What are social networks?
Social networks are the use of social media websites and apps to connect with family, friends, and those with similar interests. Social networks bring people together to talk, share ideas, and make friends.
Unique ways social networks can benefit us
Staying connected: Connecting with family and friends
Community building: Finding groups that share similar interests or experiences
News and information: Access to news, trends and public discussions
Personal development: Learning new skills and exploring professional opportunities
Support networks: Communities that offer support for life situations
Social networks can benefit older adults
AARP Community: AARP (American Association of Retired Persons) offers an online community where older adults can connect, share experiences, and find support. It’s a great place to engage with peers and discuss various topics.
Facebook: While Facebook is not exclusively for older adults, it remains one of the most popular social platforms worldwide. Many seniors use Facebook to connect with family, friends, and local communities. It’s relatively user-friendly and offers features like groups and events.
Nextdoor: Nextdoor is a neighborhood-based social network where people can connect with their neighbors, share local news, and ask for recommendations. It’s a great way for older adults to stay informed about community events and engage with nearby residents.
Meetup: Meetup is an excellent platform for finding local groups based on shared interests. Older adults can join groups related to hobbies, fitness, book clubs, or other activities. It’s a fantastic way to meet like-minded people in person or virtually.
Senior-specific forums: Various online forums cater specifically to seniors. These forums cover a wide range of topics, from health and travel to hobbies and technology. One site (seniorforums.com) is an assortment of many types of discussions including retirement, senior centered, hobbies and interests, and a community discussion board.
Social networking terms and elements
Public Profile: Social networks will include a public profile, which might include things like a photo, a short bio, the town where you live and in some cases more personal information (like your birthday, where you went to college and your interests). In most cases, you can make your profile as personal or vague as you are comfortable. For some sites, like a dating site, you will include more information which will be relevant to that site.
Friends and followers: Friends and followers are the social part of social networks. These are people you allow to access your profile. They can see any photos or posts that you make and interact with you via comments, likes and messages. You can also see their posts and interact with them. Some people prefer to have lots of friends and followers, while others may be a bit choosier. Some people may even choose a public profile, which means that anyone can follow them or be friends with them. This is a great marketing tool for those who are in a business or selling goods.
Home feed: The home feed is the page you see when you log on. It is usually a “feed” showing updates from friends. There may also be a notifications section where you can review recent posts from your friends and followers.
Likes, comments, shares and threads: Feedback is important in social networking. Most sites have a “like” button, which is an easy way of supporting a post. Facebook is an example with a more diverse set of feedback icons, such as sadness, surprise, or love. In this way, you can respond without saying anything. Most sites will also support comments on posts. These can create conversations and boost the activity within the social network. Users can also share a post, sending it out on their feed as well, increasing the audience for that post. This is called sharing. If there are multiple comments on a single post, it is referred to as a thread.
Groups: Some sites have a group element which helps users find people with similar interests or engage on discussions on certain topics. This can revolve around a topic of interest (a band or an author), a former residence (those from your hometown), or even a former educational institution (your high school graduating class). These groups are mostly created by individuals, whether they be fans, previous members of the community, or a member of the graduating class. Groups are a great way to connect with like-minded individuals and can be anything that you imagine them to be. (I have a friend who set up a group for Cicadas.)
Hashtag: Hashtags are a word or keyword phrase preceded by the #symbol . Users put a hashtag by a name or phrase to help others as they search for a similar topic. For example, you can take a picture of your dog and put it on Instagram with the hashtag #cuteestdog You can then go to Instagram and search for #cuteestdog, and see your dog as well as every other dog who has been identified as the cutest dog. Note: Hashtags have no space between the hash symbol and the phrase, and there are no spaces within the phrase. So, while #cuteestdog might get you there, # cuteestdog may not, and #cuteest dog will not either. However, you can search for cutest dog and might see your hash tag turn up. But you will also see dogs and cutest anything as well, since there is no hash tag. Makes sense???
Tagging: In some sites, tagging is a way to identify a person in a photo. It is done by clicking on the picture and adding their name. If you are tagged, you will be notified and will have the option of saving that post to your home page.
Home page: Besides the home feed, there is usually also a home page. This is where people will go to see all of the posts directly related to you. They can also find your photos, your interests, and more. You would have to be a friend of the person in order to see most of the things on their home page.
What do I need to join a social network?
All social networks require a unique username and a password. Some people create a username that helps identify them, while others want to maintain an anonymity. The password is very important for maintaining your privacy. Some social networks will need more information. If you are joining a social network based on where you live (Next Door for example), then you will have to provide some type of proof on residency. Many will require your email address so they can contact you about updates. Some social network apps may require access to things such as your camera and your location. Depending on what you want to provide, you may choose not to participate in a social network based on what they require.
What information do they want from us?
Social networks are free, but not really. Most rely on some type of advertising. Users are the target of this advertising, and companies will use social networking data to find our tastes and interests. Each social network has a distinct purpose and will collect different data based on that. There are people (data brokers) who collect information about you and then sells it. (Cambridge Analytics is an example of this). There are analytical tools which can take your information and make predictions about you. It is said that Facebook knows more about you than even your closest family members! Some of the things they look at include:
Your age and gender
Things you have purchased
Things you have reviewed online (like Yelp)
Your location
Things you have liked, shared or posted
Who has responded to your posts and likes?
What do these people have in common with you?
Your occupation and work interests
The dark side to social networking:
We have seen in recent years a trend towards spreading misinformation via social networks. In these cases, we have seen them create fear and distrust among the community. We saw them spur illegal activities such as riots and invasions. In some cases, they have damaged relationships and the community in general.
One less harmful effect (to the community at least) is information overload and overwhelm. It can be difficult and time consuming to keep up, causing you to focus on the social network instead of your life outside the bubble.
It can also affect privacy, whether it is through posting your location online, tweeting something inappropriate, or even the fact that once you post it, it is no longer your property but the property of the social network.
Young people especially are faced with additional issues with social networks. They provide a type of peer pressure to keep up, and can create cyberbullying, which can lead to stress, anxiety and depression. Also, research has shown that there are additional risks of excessive social networking including feelings of isolation, decreased attention, increased distractions and procrastination. It has been associated with physical problems (activity levels declining, postural problems, eye strain) and sleep disruption.
Impact of social media on mental health
Impact of social media on the community
VIdeo: How social media addiction destroys the brain
Movies depicting Social Networks
•The Social Network (2010) Details the growth of Facebook and challenges found. (Streaming on Netflix)(Trailer)
•The Circle (2017) Based on the novel, a world where a powerful tech company’s social network promotes total transparency (purchase on Amazon, YouTube)(Trailer)
•The Social Dilemma (2020): Behind the scenes of social media and insights on how to improve (streaming on Netflix)(Trailer)
•The Antisocial Network (2024) A look back at a social site dedicated to freedom of expression and the exponential growth of an underground network (streaming on Netflix)(Trailer)
The Social Dilemma
I was inspired to watch (again) this movie prior to our lesson. At the conclusion, I was also inspired to find the transcript and to copy certain parts of the transcript into a document, organized under category. I then used AI to summarize what I had done. Here is the final product.
How to improve our privacy and safety on social networks?
Review privacy settings before signing up. Read privacy updates when they are sent.
Avoid publishing anything personal (address, phone, birthday) about yourself or others.
Note that for most social media sites, (including Facebook) the default privacy setting is not to hide your information when you sign up. You can change this in settings.
Caution when clicking on links in posts
Know what you post: It is permanent!
Don’t trust who it is from (they may be hacked)
NEVER send personal or financial information to businesses using social media
Avoid posting when you are away from home or “checking in”
Maintain good virus protection and keep operating system and browsers up to date.
What is the deal with Tik Tok?
TikTok
TikTok is a short-form video sharing app with a feed including a slew of micro-videos made by its users. Videos are a maximum of 15 seconds long, with the option of combining them for a total of 60 seconds. It can be charming and hilarious. TikTok runs on interactions based on location and interests. It is intended to inspire creativity and spread entertainment. It is mostly used by Millennials and Generation Z-ers, but other demographics are picking it up.
However, TikTok has been under fire by our Government over potential privacy issues with China, who creates TikTok. Some of the points mentioned:
•US government concerned that TikTok (a Chinese company) could be forced to shared data with the Chinese Government or manipulate it to align with Chinese interests. Viewed as a national security risk.
•TikTok denies it and says that banning the app will violate free speech rights and other social media platforms collect data and facial privacy concerns
•Some experts recommend an independent agency to regulate social media companies.
We will have to see what turns up as a potential solution to this problem.
X which was formerly Twitter
Twitter is now X. Twitter changed its name to X as part of Elon Musk's vision to transform the platform into an "everything app" akin to China's WeChat. Here are the key points about the rebranding:
New owner (Elon Musk) New name (X) to transform the platform into an “everything” app
Musk thought Twitter was too limited: He sees a future of messaging, payments, streaming and more
He likes X (His companies include SpaceX and X.com which became PayPal)
His vision (all encompassing app) may lack the funding and infrastructure needed
Now, mostly the only change is in the name X
What are some examples of social networks?
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/
Post and view notes to friends
Must “friend” someone to see their page
Share pictures, links, information
Send out birthday greetings, interact with a TV show or movie
Share information
AARP Community (https://community.aarp.org )
Online community for older adults
Many different forums
Good for connecting, sharing experiences and finding support
Senior Forum (https://www.seniorforums.com/ )
Similar to AARP
Many types of discussion groups
Includes community discussion board
Next Door: https://www.nextdoor.com
Private social network for neighbors and community
Used for reasons such as safety, recommendations for services, lost pets, items for sale, and even to meet neighbors
To join, address has to be verified, users must use their real name, and website is protected by password and encrypted with HTTPS.
Information is not shared with advertisers
Next Door: https://www.nextdoor.com
Private social network for neighbors and community
Used for reasons such as safety, recommendations for services, lost pets, items for sale, and even to meet neighbors
To join, address has to be verified, users must use their real name, and website is protected by password and encrypted with HTTPS.
Information is not shared with advertisers
Meetup: https://www.meetup.com
Features offline (face to face) group meetings in various areas of the world.
Centered around a common interest (politics, books, movies, pets, health, careers)
Join with your zip code and tag topics you are interested in
Instagram: https://instagram.com/
Pictures, comments and tags
Includes filtering to create interesting shots
Can follow anyone
Pictures can be taken or use one in gallery
Must use mobile device to post
Use: Good for personal and business
Others social networks of interest:
Online Dating Services: There are a variety of online dating services.
Possible senior friendly sites: SeniorMatch, OurTime, Zoosk, EliteSingles, Match, Over50Date and eHarmony
Snapchat: https://www.snapchat.com/ (short videos or chats)
Communicating: WhatsApp (App only)
PatientsLikeMe: https://www.patientslikeme.com/
Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/ (online photo sharing)
Yelp: https://yelp.com (online reviews and recommendations)
YouTube: https://youtube.com (Did you know it was also a social network???)