a project report on a perceptional analysis on ...

7/29/2019 A PROJECT REPORT ON A Perceptional Analysis On Banning Of Social Networking Websites At Work

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A PROJECT REPORT ON

A Perceptional Analysis On

Banning Of Social Networking Websites At Work

Submitted to

OSMANIA UNVERSITY

For

The partial fulfillment of B.com (Honours) Degree Course

(2009-2012)

By

Vibhore Goel

(Roll No. : 110009407136)

INDIAN INSTITUE OF MANAGEMENT AND COMMERCE

Adj. to Telephone Bhavan, Khairtabad.

Hyderabad 500 004.


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DECLARATION

I, Vibhore Goel, student of Indian Institute Of Management and Commerce

(Khairtabad), Hyderabad, affiliated to Osmania University pursuing B.COM HONOURS

hereby declare that the project work entitled A Perceptional Analysis On Banning Of

Social Networking Websites At Worksubmitted to Indian Institute Of Management and

Commerce is a record of an original work done by me under the guidance of my

supervisor, Mr. A.V. Ayyapu Reddy, Faculty Member of IIMC.

1100-09-407-136


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CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that Vibhore Goel, bearing Hall Ticket No. 1100-09-407-136 has

satisfactorily completed the project work on A Perceptional Analysis On Banning Of

Social Networking Websites At Workunder the guidance of Mr. A.V. Ayyapu Reddy,

project supervisor in partial fulfillment of B.COM HONOURS course during 2011-2012

as prescribed by OSMANIA UNIVERSITY, Hyderabad.


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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to express my deep sense of gratitude to all those who have assisted and

guided me in the completion of my project work and helped me achieve the objectives

of the study.

I would like to thank all the respondents of the survey who have given their valuable

time to answer the questionnaire.

I am also thankful to our college principle, Mr. K. Raghuveer, and vice principle, Mr. A.V.

Ayyapu Reddy who is also my project supervisor, for guiding me throughout the study

and helping me in successfully completing the project.

I also thank our college librarian, Mrs. S. Geeta who has assisted me in finding valuable

information whenever necessary.


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INDEX

Unit No. Topic Page No.

1 Introduction To SocialNetworking

1

2 Objectives AndMethodology

13

3 Facebook And TwitterProfile And Social

Networking At Work

17

4 Analysis OfPerception Towards

Social Networking

32

5 Conclusions AndSuggestions

54

Bibliography

Annexure


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UNIT 1

INTRODUCTION TO SOCIAL NETWORKING

Contents:

Social NetworkingMeaning

History

Social Impact and Interaction

Typical Structure of the websitesEmerging trends in social networking

Application Domains

Issues

Market share of Social Networking Websites


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SOCIAL NETWORKING

A social networking service is an online service, platform, or site that focuses on

building and reflecting of social networks or social relations among people, who, for

example, share interests and/or activities. A social network service 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. Online

community services are sometimes considered as a social network service, though in a

broader sense, social network service usually means an individual-centered service

whereas online community services are group-centered. 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 that 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, Google+ and Twitter widely used

worldwide.

History

The potential for computer networking to facilitate new forms of computer-mediated

social interaction was suggested early on. Efforts to support social networks via

computer-mediated communication were made in many early online services, including

Usenet, ARPANET, LISTSERV, and bulletin board services (BBS). Many prototypical

features of social networking sites were also present in online services such as America

Online, Prodigy, and CompuServe. Early social networking on the World Wide Web

began in the form of generalized online communities such as Theglobe.com (1995),

Geocities (1994) and Tripod.com (1995). Many of these early communities focused on

bringing people together to interact with each other through chat rooms, and

encouraged users to share personal information and ideas via personal web pages by
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usenethttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bulletin_board_systemhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/America_Onlinehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/America_Onlinehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prodigy_%28online_service%29http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CompuServehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geocitieshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tripod.comhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tripod.comhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geocitieshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CompuServehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prodigy_%28online_service%29http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/America_Onlinehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/America_Onlinehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bulletin_board_systemhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usenet


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providing easy-to-use publishing tools and free or inexpensive web space. Some

communities - such as Classmates.com - took a different approach by simply having

people link to each other via email addresses. In the late 1990s, user profiles became a

central feature of social networking sites, allowing users to compile lists of "friends" and

search for other users with similar interests. New social networking methods were

developed by the end of the 1990s, and many sites began to develop more advanced

features for users to find and manage friends. This newer generation of social

networking sites began to flourish with the emergence of SixDegrees.com in 1997,

followed by Makeoutclub in 2000, Friendster in 2002, and soon became part of the

Internet mainstream. Friendster was followed by MySpace and LinkedIn a year later,

and, finally, Bebo. Attesting to the rapid increase in social networking sites' popularity,

by 2005, it was reported that MySpace was getting more page views than Google.

Facebook, launched in 2004, has since become the largest social networking site in the

world.

Social Impact

Web-based social networking services make it possible to connect people who share

interests and activities across political, economic, and geographic borders. Through e-

mail and instant messaging, online communities are created where a gift economy andreciprocal altruism are encouraged through cooperation. Information is particularly

suited to gift economy, as information is a non-rival good and can be gifted at practically

no cost.

Facebook and other social networking tools is increasingly the object of scholarly

research. Scholars in many fields have begun to investigate the impact of social-

networking sites, investigating how such sites may play into issues of identity, privacy,

social capital, youth culture, and education.

Social Interaction

Put simply, social networking is a way for one person to meet up with other people on

the Net. That's not all though. Some people use social networking sites for meeting new
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classmates.comhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_profilehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SixDegrees.comhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MySpacehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LinkedInhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bebohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MySpacehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Googlehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facebookhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Online_communitieshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gift_economyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reciprocal_altruismhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cooperationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gift_economyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nonrival_goodhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facebookhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Identity_%28social_science%29http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Privacyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_capitalhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Youth_culturehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Educationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Educationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Youth_culturehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_capitalhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Privacyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Identity_%28social_science%29http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facebookhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nonrival_goodhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gift_economyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cooperationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reciprocal_altruismhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gift_economyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Online_communitieshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facebookhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Googlehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MySpacehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bebohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LinkedInhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MySpacehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SixDegrees.comhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_profilehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classmates.com


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friends on the Net. Other's use it to find old friends. Then there are those who use it to

find people who have the same problems or interests they have, this is called niche

networking. Following this trend is the emerging trend of people meeting online to meet

offline. More and more relationships and friendships are being formed online and then

carried to an offline/in person setting. Social networking sites play a vital role in this area

as well, being able to meet someone as a "friend" and see what common interests you

share and how they have built up their friend base and "likes" you can truly see a more

whole picture of the person you are talking with and most sites are free instead of being

pay based which allows younger people with stricter budgets to enjoy some of the same

features.

Typical structure of these websites

Basics

Social networking sites share some conventional features. Most often, individual users

are encouraged to create profiles containing much information about them. Users can

often upload pictures of themselves to their profiles, post blog entries for others to read,

search for other users with similar interests, and compile and share lists of contacts. In

addition, user profiles often have a section dedicated to comments from friends and

other users. To protect user privacy, social networks usually have controls that allow

users to choose who can view their profile, contact them, add them to their list of

contacts, and so on.

Additional features

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.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. One of the most

popular wireless services for social networking in North America is Facebook Mobile.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Group_%28online_social_networking%29http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Group_%28online_social_networking%29


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Emerging trends in social networking

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

web" and "location-based." Real-time allows users to contribute content, which is then

broadcast as it is being uploaded - the concept is analogous to live radio and television

broadcasts. Twitterset the trend for "real-time" services, wherein 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 wherein users can update their photo streams with

photos while at an event.

Companies have begun to merge business technologies and solutions, such as cloud

computing, with social networking concepts. Instead of connecting individuals based on

social interest, companies are developing interactive communities that connect

individuals based on shared business needs or experiences. Many provide specialized

networking tools and applications that can be accessed via their websites, such as

LinkedIn. Others companies, such as Monster.com, have been steadily developing a

more "socialized" feel to their career center sites to harness some of the power of social

networking sites. These more business related sites have their own nomenclature for

the most part but the most common naming conventions are "Vocational Networking

Sites" or "Vocational Media Networks", with the former more closely tied to individual

networking relationships based on social networking principles.

Foursquare gained popularity as it allowed for users to "check-in" to places that they arefrequenting at that moment. Gowalla is another such service that 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
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Real-time_webhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Real-time_webhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twitterhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facebookhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clixtrhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloud_computinghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloud_computinghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Applicationshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LinkedInhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monster.comhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foursquare_%28service%29http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gowallahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GPShttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GPShttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gowallahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foursquare_%28service%29http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monster.comhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LinkedInhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Applicationshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloud_computinghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloud_computinghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clixtrhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facebookhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twitterhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Real-time_webhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Real-time_web


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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.

Social networks and science

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 and education

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 withouthaving to meet face-to-face. The advent of social networking platforms may also be

impacting the way(s) in which learners engage with technology in general. The use of

online social networks by libraries is also an increasingly prevalent and growing tool that

is being used to communicate with more potential library users, as well as extending the

services provided by individual libraries.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPhonehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yelp,_Inc.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yelp,_Inc.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPhone


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Business model

Few social networks currently charge money for membership. In part, this may be

because social networking is a relatively new service, and the value of using them has

not been firmly established in customers' minds. Companies such as MySpace and

Facebook sell online advertising on their site. Their business model is based upon large

membership count, and charging for membership would be counterproductive. Some

believe that the deeper information that the sites have on each user will allow much

better targeted advertising than any other site can currently provide.

Social networks operate under an autonomous business model, in which a social

network's members serve dual roles as both the suppliers and the consumers of

content. This is in contrast to a traditional business model, where the suppliers and

consumers are distinct agents. Revenue is typically gained in the autonomous business

model via advertisements, but subscription-based revenue is possible when

membership and content levels are sufficiently high.

Application domains

Government applications

Social networking is more recently being used by various government agencies. Social

networking tools serve as a quick and easy way for the government to get the opinion of

the public and to keep the public updated on their activity. The Centers for Disease

Control demonstrated the importance of vaccinations on the popular children's site

Whyville and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has a virtual island

on Second Life where people can explore underground caves or explore the effects of

global warming. Likewise, NASA has taken advantage of a few social networking tools,

including Twitterand Flickr.

Business applications

The use of social networking services in an enterprise context presents the potential of

having a major impact on the world of business and work.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MySpacehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facebookhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Online_advertisinghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centers_for_Disease_Controlhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centers_for_Disease_Controlhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vaccinationshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whyvillehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Oceanic_and_Atmospheric_Administrationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Lifehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twitterhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flickrhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flickrhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twitterhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Lifehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Oceanic_and_Atmospheric_Administrationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whyvillehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vaccinationshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centers_for_Disease_Controlhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centers_for_Disease_Controlhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Online_advertisinghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facebookhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MySpace


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Social networks connect people at low cost; this can be beneficial forentrepreneurs and

small businesses looking to expand their contact bases. These networks often act as a

customer relationship management tool for companies selling products and services.

Companies can also use social networks for advertising in the form of banners and text

ads. Since businesses operate globally, social networks can make it easier to keep in

touch with contacts around the world.

Applications for social networking sites have extended toward businesses and brands

are creating their own, high functioning sites, a sector known as brand networking. It is

the idea a brand can build its consumer relationship by connecting their consumers to

the brand image on a platform that provides them relative content, elements of

participation, and a ranking or score system. Brand networking is a new way tocapitalize on social trends as a marketing tool.

Social and political applications

Social networking sites have recently showed a value in social and political movements.

In the Egyptian revolution, Facebook and Twitter both played a pivotal role in keeping

people connected to the revolt. Egyptian activist have credited social networking sites

with providing a platform for planning protest and sharing news from Tahrir Square in

real time. By presenting a platform for thousands of people to instantaneously share

videos of mainly events featuring brutality, social networking proves to be a vital tool in

revolutions.

Educational applications

The National School Boards Association reports that almost 60 percent of students who

use social networking talk about education topics online, and more than 50 percent talk

specifically about schoolwork. Yet the vast majority of school districts have stringent

rules against nearly all forms of social networking during the school day even though

students and parents report few problem behaviors online.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entrepreneurhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Small_businesshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brand_networkinghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_School_Boards_Associationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_School_Boards_Associationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brand_networkinghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Small_businesshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entrepreneur


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Social networks focused on supporting relationships between teachers and their

students are now used for learning, educator professional development, and content

sharing. Ning for teachers, TermWiki, Learn Central, TeachStreet and other sites are

being built to foster relationships that include educational blogs, eportfolios, formal and

ad hoc communities, as well as communication such as chats, discussion threads, and

synchronous forums. These sites also have content sharing and rating features.

Issues

Effecting the productivity of employees

The use of social networking sites has become very easy in todays world of growing

technology. Anyone can access his or her profile with just an operating system and internet

connectivity. Employees at work often get tempted to use these websites. They use social

media extensively while working at office. It is argued that it decreases their productivity and

efficiency and thus decreases the companys profits. Another perspective is that using such

sites relieves the employees stress and helps the business in many other ways. The main issue

arising in many parts of the world is whether social media be banned at workplace or not.

Privacy

Privacy concerns with social networking services have been raised growing concerns

amongst users on the dangers of giving out too much personal information and the

threat ofsexual predators. Users of these services also need to be aware of data theft

orviruses. However, large services, such as MySpace and Netlog, often work with law

enforcement to try to prevent such incidents.

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 individual's behavior on which decisions, detrimental to anindividual, may be taken.

Furthermore, there is an issue over the control of datainformation that was altered or

removed by the user may in fact be retained and/or passed to third parties. This danger
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TeachStreethttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Privacy_concerns_with_social_networking_serviceshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexual_predatorhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_insecurityhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_virushttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MySpacehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Netloghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Netloghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MySpacehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_virushttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_insecurityhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexual_predatorhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Privacy_concerns_with_social_networking_serviceshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TeachStreet


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was highlighted when the controversial social networking site Quechup harvested e-mail

addresses from users' e-mail accounts for use in a spamming operation.

Privacy on social networking sites can be undermined by many factors. For example,

users may disclose personal information, sites may not take adequate steps to protect

user privacy, and third parties frequently use information posted on social networks for a

variety of purposes. "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".

Access to information

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. Parents who want to access their child's MySpace or Facebook account

have become a big problem for teenagers who do not want their profile seen by their

parents. By making their profile private, teens can select who may see their page,

allowing only people added as "friends" to view their profile and preventing unwanted

viewing of the profile by parents. Most teens are constantly trying to create a structural

barrier between their private life and their parents. To edit information on a certain social

networking service account, the social networking sites require you to login or provide a

password. This prevents unauthorized user(s) from adding, changing, or removing

personal information, pictures, and/or other data.

Potential for misuse

The relative freedom afforded by social networking services has caused concern

regarding the potential of its misuse by individual patrons. In October 2006, a fake

Myspace profile created in the name of Josh Evans by Lori Janine Drew led to the

suicide ofMegan Meier. The event incited global concern regarding the use of social

networking services for bullying purposes.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quechuphttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-mail_spamhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loginhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passwordhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myspacehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suicide_of_Megan_Meierhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suicide_of_Megan_Meierhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myspacehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passwordhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loginhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-mail_spamhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quechup


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At the same time, genuine use of social networking services has been treated with

suspicion on the ground of the services' misuse. In September 2008, the profile of

Australian Facebook user Elmo Keep was banned by the site's administrators on the

grounds that it violated the site's terms of use. Keep is one of several users of Facebook

who were banned from the site on the presumption that their names aren't real, as they

bear resemblance the names of characters like Sesame Street's Elmo.

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 them, relationships, and share cultural artifacts". 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, "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." The convenience that social network

sites give users to communicate with one another can also damage their interpersonal

communication.

Psychological effects of social networking

As social networking sites have raised in popularity over the past years, people have

been spending an excessive amount of time on the Internet in general and social

networking sites in specific. This has led researchers to debate the establishment of

Internet addiction as an actual clinical disorder. Social networking can also affect theextent to which a person feels lonely. In a Newsweek article, Johannah Cornblatt

explains Social-networking sites like Facebook and MySpace may provide people with

a false sense of connection that ultimately increases loneliness in people who feel

alone.


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Market share

According to ComScore, up to end of November 2011:

WORLDWIDE UNIQUE

VISITORS

(000)

Percentage

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedln

Google Plus

MySpace

Others

Total

792,999

167,903

94,823

66756

61,037

255,539

1,438,877

55.1%

11.7%

6.6%

4.6%

4.2%

17.8%

100%
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ComScorehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ComScore


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UNIT 2

OBJECTIVES AND METHODOLOGY


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Objectives

To elicit the consumer perception towards internet and social networkingwebsites.

To know the most used social networking service.

To analyze the data obtained and come to a consensus whether people wouldlike to ban use of social networking sites in office premises or not.

Methodology

Data should be analyzed and presented in a simple and proper manner such that

people are able to understand it easily. Data analysis goes through various stages of

data collection, sorting, analyzing, interpreting and presenting it. Data analysis has

different approaches by different people.

The first step is to collect the data from various sources that are available. This data is

raw and unorganized. The next step is to sort the data so that analyzing it becomes

easy. Sorting is done according to the purpose. Analysis is done on this data using

various tools. Tables and graphs are made to present this data. Observations are

carried out and interpretations are made according to the data collected.

The final step is to present the data in a structural manner so that people are able to

understand it quickly and easily. First a table is created according to the data collected.

It is followed a graphical representation in the form of columns and bars. Lastly, a

meaningful interpretation is made which is based on the data. This is the organized and

meaningful data. The presentation of data should look attractive so that people feel

interested to look at the data and use it.

Sample of the survey

A sample of 100 people has been selected for the purpose of carrying out the survey.

Their views about social networking were taken irrespective of whether they use the

sites or not. The sample was randomly selected.


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Method of data collection

There was a twofold method of collecting the data for this project.

Primary data- A questionnaire method was used to collect primary data. A total of

21 questions were part of the questionnaire which were asked to find out about

the different the perspectives of different people towards social networking. This

data was systematically presented in the form of tables, charts and bar graphs

and then interpretation was made accordingly.

Secondary data- Secondary data was collected from various sources such as

newspapers, internet, magazines, journals and various other books. This data is

used to focus on the problem in detail and contains various facts relating to the

topic.

Period of study

The period of study was spread across 3 to 4 weeks. A survey was conducted to collect

primary data and secondary data was collected through other sources.

Implications of the study

There have been various implications of the study. This study was useful in finding out

how much time people spend on internet and how much time is allocated to social

networking. The project was useful in finding out the most used and most popular social

networking website among people which was Facebook. This study helped to know

whether people use these sites while work or study and whether they knew its pros and

cons.

This project helped in creating awareness about the advantages and disadvantages of

using social media in office. Finally, it helped to elicit the consumer perception towards

social networking websites.


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Limitations of the study

The sample size was limited to a number of 100 people only. Since the sample

size was small, the study may or may not have reflected the accurate

characteristics of the general public.

It was assumed that all the respondents who were part of the study knew about

the social networking sites.

The survey was taken up for a limited period of 3 to 4 weeks. Thus, it does not

present the changes in the attitude of the people which occur over a period of

time.

A major limitation of any survey is that we cannot generalize the data to all thepeople. Different people have different thinking and thus every aspect of each

individual could not be covered under the study. Another study with a much

larger sample and spread across a long period of time could more efficiently

bring out whether people would like to ban social networking while working or

not. Further research could widen the frame of reference by drawing on larger samples

nationally and internationally and addressing users of different ages and demographic

profiles. Further investigation into this model could clarify and confirm its importance in

business and industry.


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UNIT 3

Profile of Facebook and Twitter

Advantages and disadvantages of using Social Networking

Websites at work


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Profile

Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004,

operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. As of February 2012, Facebook has

more than 845 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after

which they may create a personal profile, add other users as friends, and exchange

messages, including automatic notifications when they update their profile. Additionally,

users may join common-interest user groups, organized by workplace, school or

college, or other characteristics, and categorize their friends into lists such as "People

From Work" or "Close Friends". The name of the service stems from the colloquial

name for the book given to students at the start of the academic year by some

university administrations in the United States to help students get to know each other.

Facebook allows any users who declare themselves to be at least 13 years old to

become registered users of the site.

Facebook was founded by Mark Zuckerberg with his college roommates and fellow

students Eduardo Saverin, Dustin Moskovitz and Chris Hughes. The Web site's

membership was initially limited by the founders to Harvard students, but was expanded

to other colleges in the Boston area, the Ivy League, and Stanford University. It

gradually added support for students at various other universities before opening to high

school students, and eventually to anyone aged 13 and over. However, based on

ConsumersReports.org in May 2011, there are 7.5 million children under 13 with

accounts, violating the site's terms of service.

A January 2009 Compete.com study ranked Facebook as the most used social

networking service by worldwide monthly active users.Entertainment Weekly included

the site on its end-of-the-decade "best-of" list, saying, "How on earth did we stalk our
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exes, remember our co-workers' birthdays, bug our friends, and play a rousing game of

Scrabulous before Facebook?" Quantcast estimates Facebook has 138.9 million

monthly unique U.S. visitors in May 2011. According to Social Media Today, in April

2010 an estimated 41.6% of the U.S. population had a Facebook account.

Nevertheless, Facebook's market growth started to stall in some regions, with the site

losing 7 million active users in the United States and Canada in May 2011. Facebook

filed for an initial public offering on February 1, 2012.

History

Mark Zuckerberg wrote Facemash, the predecessor to Facebook, on October 28, 2003,

while attending Harvard as a sophomore. According to The Harvard Crimson, the site

was comparable to Hot or Not, and "used photos compiled from the online facebooks of

nine houses, placing two next to each other at a time and asking users to choose the

'hotter' person".

To accomplish this, Zuckerberg hacked into the protected areas of Harvard's computer

network and copied the houses' private dormitory ID images. Harvard at that time did

not have a student "facebook" (a directory with photos and basic information).

Facemash attracted 450 visitors and 22,000 photo-views in its first four hours online.

The site was quickly forwarded to several campus group list-servers, but was shut down

a few days later by the Harvard administration. Zuckerberg was charged by the

administration with breach of security, violating copyrights, and violating individual

privacy, and faced expulsion. Ultimately, however, the charges were dropped.

Zuckerberg expanded on this initial project that semester by creating a social study tool

ahead of an art history final, by uploading 500 Augustan images to a Web site, with one

image per page along with a comment section. He opened the site up to his classmates,

and people started sharing their notes.

The following semester, Zuckerberg began writing code for a new Web site in January

2004. He was inspired, he said, by an editorial in The Harvard Crimson about the
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Facemash incident. On February 4, 2004, Zuckerberg launched "Thefacebook",

originally located at thefacebook.com.

Membership was initially restricted to students of Harvard College, and within the first

month, more than half the undergraduate population at Harvard was registered on the

service. Eduardo Saverin (business aspects), Dustin Moskovitz (programmer), Andrew

McCollum (graphic artist), and Chris Hughes soon joined Zuckerberg to help promote

the Web site. In March 2004, Facebook expanded to Stanford,Columbia, and Yale. It

soon opened to the other Ivy League schools, Boston University, New York University,

MIT, and gradually most universities in Canada and the United States.

Facebook was incorporated in mid-2004, and the entrepreneurSean Parker, who had

been informally advising Zuckerberg, became the company's president. In June 2004,

Facebook moved its base of operations to Palo Alto, California. The company dropped

The from its name after purchasing the domain name facebook.com in 2005 for

$200,000.

Facebook expanded membership eligibility to employees of several companies,

including Apple Inc. and Microsoft. Facebook was then opened on September 26, 2006,

to everyone of age 13 and older with a valid email address.

Ownership

The ownership percentages of the company are as follows. Mark Zuckerberg: 28.4%,

Accel Partners: 10%, Digital Sky Technologies: 10%, Dustin Moskovitz: 6%, Eduardo

Saverin: 5%, Sean Parker: 4%, Peter Thiel: 3%, Greylock Partners and Meritech Capital

Partners: between 1
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Source: Wikipedia

to 2% each, Microsoft: 1.3%, Li Ka-shing: 0.75%, the Interpublic Group: less than 0.5%.

A small group of current and former employees and celebrities own less than 1% each,

including Matt Cohler, Jeff Rothschild, Adam D'Angelo, Chris Hughes, and Owen VanNatta, while Reid Hoffman and Mark Pincus have sizable holdings of the company. The

remaining 30% or so are owned by employees, an undisclosed number of celebrities,

and outside investors. Adam D'Angelo, chief technology officer and friend of

Zuckerberg, resigned in May 2008. Reports claimed that he and Zuckerberg began

quarreling, and that he was no longer interested in partial ownership of the company.

Revenue

Most of Facebook's revenue comes from advertising. Microsoft is Facebook's exclusive

partner for serving banner advertising, and therefore Facebook serves only

advertisements that exist in Microsoft's advertisement inventory.
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Facebook generally has a lowerclickthrough rate (CTR) for advertisements than most

major Web sites. According to BusinessWeek.com, banner advertisements on

Facebook have generally received one-fifth the number of clicks compared to those on

the Web as a whole, although specific comparisons can reveal a much larger disparity.

For example, while Google users click on the first advertisement for search results an

average of 8% of the time (80,000 clicks for every one million searches), Facebook's

users click on advertisements an average of 0.04% of the time (400 clicks for every one

million pages).

Source: Wikipedia
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Profile

Twitter is an online social networking service and micro blogging service that enables its

users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, known as "tweets". It

was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July. The service rapidly

gained worldwide popularity, with over 300 million users as of 2011, generating over300 million tweets and handling over 1.6 billion search queries per day. It has been

described as "the SMS of the Internet."

Twitter Inc. is based in San Francisco, with additional servers and offices in New York

City.

Creation

Twitter's origins lie in a "daylong brainstorming session" held by board members of the

podcasting company Odeo. Dorsey introduced the idea of an individual using an SMS

service to communicate with a small group. The original project code name for the

service was twttr, an idea that Williams later ascribed to Noah Glass, inspired by Flickr

and the five-character length of American SMS short codes. The developers initially

considered "10958" as a short code, but later changed it to "40404" for "ease of use and

memorability." Work on the project started on March 21, 2006, when Dorsey published

the first Twitter message at 9:50 PM Pacific Standard Time (PST): "just setting up my

twttr".
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"...we came across the word 'twitter', and it was just perfect. The definition was 'a short

burst of inconsequential information,' and 'chirps from birds'. And that's exactly what the

product was." Jack Dorsey

The first Twitter prototype was used as an internal service for Odeo employees and the

full version was introduced publicly on July 15, 2006. In October 2006, Biz Stone, Evan

Williams, Dorsey, and other members of Odeo formed Obvious Corporation and

acquired Odeo and all of its assets including Odeo.com and Twitter.com from the

investors and shareholders. Williams fired Glass who was silent about his part in

Twitter's startup until 2011. Twitter spun off into its own company in April 2007.

Leadership

As chief executive officer, Dorsey saw the startup through two rounds of capital funding

by the venture capitalists who backed the company.

On October 16, 2008, Williams took over the role of CEO, and Dorsey became

chairman of the board.[28]

On October 4, 2010, Williams announced that he was stepping down as CEO. Dick

Costolo, formerly Twitter's chief operating officer, became CEO. According to a Twitter

blog, dated October 4, 2010, Williams was to staywith the company and "be completely

focused on product strategy."

According toThe New York Times, "Mr. Dorsey and Mr. Costolo forged a close

relationship" when Williams was away. According toPC Magazine, Williams was "no

longer involved in the day-to-day goings on at the company". He is focused on

developing a new startup, but he became a member of Twitter's board of directors, and

promised to "help in any way I can". Stone is still with Twitter but is working with AOL as

an "advisor on volunteer efforts and philanthropy".
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Dorsey rejoined Twitter in March 2011, as executive chairman focusing on product

development. His time is split with Square (where he is CEO), whose offices are within

walking distance of Twitter's in San Francisco.

In September 2011, Board Members and investors Fred Wilson and Bijan Sabet

resigned from Twitter's Board of Directors.

Funding

Twitter raised over US$57 million from venture capitalist growth funding, although exact

numbers are not publicly disclosed. Twitter's first A round of funding was for an

undisclosed amount that is rumored to have been between $1 million and $5 million. Its

second B round of funding in 2008 was for $22 million and its third C round of funding in

2009 was for $35 million from Institutional Venture Partners and Benchmark Capital

along with an undisclosed amount from other investors including Union Square

Ventures, Spark Capital and Insight Venture Partners. Twitter is backed by Union

Square Ventures, Digital Garage, Spark Capital, and Bezos Expeditions.

In May 2008,The Industry Standardremarked that Twitter's long-term viability is limited

by a lack of revenue. Twitter board member Todd Chaffee forecast that the company

could profit from e-commerce, noting that users may want to buy items directly from

Twitter since it already provides product recommendations and promotions.

The company raised $200 million in new venture capital in December 2010, at a

valuation of approximately $3.7 billion. In March 2011, 35,000 Twitter shares sold for

$34.50 each on Sharespost, an implied valuation of $7.8 billion. In August, 2010 Twitter

announced a "significant" investment lead by Digital Sky Technology that, at $800million, was reported to be the largest venture round in history.
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Use Of Social Networking Websites At Work

Social networks have become the lifeline of communication for many a working person

across the world. They are the platform that people share with friends and family to

catch up on what is happening in each others life. People have little time to actually

connect in the real world that makes social networks especially important.

Should social networks be banned at the workplace is a rather serious and volatile

discussion. It is a question that is being discussed in many management and HR

meetings even as you are reading this. Policies are probably being drawn up to be

included in gigantic employee manuals but this is something that should be handled

with careful consideration, and forethought. It is easy for a business to ban social

networks from the workplace but, should they do this without considering the

advantages that the experience of being on the sites brings to the company.

Social networking is slowly taking over the Internet. People are using these sites to do

more than just connect to friends and those who have the same interests, they are now

being used to establish business contacts and maintain these business relationships.

But, with all the information that people display on their social networking site, such as

pictures that show them having a night out with friends, people are wondering do socialnetworking sites have a place in the business world? This is an excellent question that

many company heads are now asking themselves and weighing the pros and cons of

the issue, as well as having the rest of the world weigh in on this decision

To Ban or Not to Ban

According to a report from Robert Half Technology, a whopping 54% of U.S. companies

say that they have banned workers from using social networking sites like Twitter,

Facebook, LinkedIn and MySpace while on the job. The study, released today, also

found that 19% of companies allow social networking use only for business purposes,

while 16% allow limited personal use. Some of the reasons typically given by employers

for wanting to ban social networks at the workplace are as follows:
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Exposure of companys computers and network to virus and spyware.

Loss in productivity affecting the bottom line.

Affect on available bandwidth to the business.

Legal Liability

Leaking of corporate information.

Only 10% of the 1,400 CIOs interviewed said that their companies allow employees full

access to social networks during work hours.

"Using social networking sites may divert employees' attention away from more

pressing priorities, so it's understandable that some companies limit access," said Dave

Willmer, executive director of Robert Half Technology and a Computerworldcolumnist,

in a statement. "For some professions, however, these sites can be leveraged as

effective business tools, which may be why about one in five companies allow their use

for work-related purposes."

A study released last summer concluded that social networking use could hurt the

bottom line.

Nucleus Research, an IT research firm, reported in July that employee productivity

drops 1.5% at companies that allow full access to Facebook in the workplace. That

survey of 237 corporate employees also showed that 77% of workers who have a

Facebook account use it during work hours.

Nucleus said that the survey found that "some" employees use the social networking

site for as much as two hours a day at work And of those using Facebook at work, 87%

said they had no clear business reason for accessing the network.

Interestingly a large number of businesses use social networks to recruit employees.

Then it seems strange that they want to ban the same sites where they found their

employees. Social networks offer an efficient and effective mode of communication that

cannot be negated and simply banning the sites would be like throwing the baby away

with the bath water.
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According to an AT&T a study on social networking technologies, access to social

networking sites at the workplace actually increases employee productivity and

efficiency. Employees feel that access to a wide and rich source of information on

social networks often provided them solutions to problems and also inspired them

creatively.

AT &Ts white paper on this subject also showed that 74% of European employers

stated the following benefits to allowing access to social networks at the workplace:

Access to information and solution to problems.

A medium of sharing knowledge and information between employees, suppliers

and customers.

Basis for better team building and internal structure in the workplace.

Advantages

Its very easy to jump to the conclusion that social networking is damaging to

productivity, but there are benefits. Ask yourself if the morale boost for your staff and

potential for free marketing to their friends is something your business can afford to

miss.

1. Theres a morale boost:When considering whether social networking sites should be

used in a business, consider the morale that it gives workers. They can have a laugh or

two during the day that can loosen up the rest of their day so that they are ready to

work.

2. Free marketing to friends: Those workers who acknowledge that they work for that

particular company are able to give the business free marketing to all their friends.

When they comment that they had a great day at work, this makes the business more

appealing to those that are looking for a great business to work for. In addition, when

someone has a problem with a certain case that they are working on, they can reach

out with their network and gain other peoples perspective. This can help bring a whole
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wider view of thinking that would otherwise be cut off if social networking was not

allowed.

3. You can never completely block social networks: Blocking social networking from

occurring at work really does not work properly. With all the electronics that are

available that allow instant access to these sites, the business is really only kidding

themselves. You may block it on the computer, but otherwise, you have done nothing. If

people want to find a way around the block they will, and all the hard earned money that

you spent on putting these blocks in place are useless and a complete waste of funds

that could have been used for something much more helpful.

4. Form relationships with customers: Social media networking sites can help for your

employees to stay connected to customers to form a lasting relationship, which is

something that every business strives for.

5.Builds credibility:You can build trust with customers if you can connect with them on

both personal and professional level. Using social networking sites is all about sharing

information, not only your own information but other peoples information that you think

can be useful for others as well. The more your customers know about you, the better.

Despite having to do a bit of work, it definitely pays off as you can be tapped for an offerif someone catches wind of your products or services. As long as you dont pursue them

too aggressively, you will do well here.

6. Building a strong brand and knowing your competition:Another huge advantage of

social networking is that you can relatively quickly build a brand for your business. This

is good news for people who are marketing online or thinking about a cheap and

effective marketing strategy. Your marketing message will spread all around the web in

a short time virtually for free. From a marketing perspective, one of the biggest

advantages of social networking is that you can spy on your competition. All you need

to do is follow them on the biggest social sites and you will have a good picture of what

they are doing. This makes it easier for you to come up with a market plan and find your

own niche.


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Disadvantages

There are many reasons why bosses have banned social networking in their business.

But are they enough to convince you to block Facebook and Twitteret alin your office?

1. Time Consuming:For starters, people are obsessed with these social networks. They

feel a need to let everyone know what they are doing during all times of the day,

including the work day. This means that more and more employees are accessing the

social network while they should be focusing on work for their boss. Therefore, in order

to make sure that people remain on task, social networking has been banned

If this is not your kind of thing that it would just be a waste of time for you. The key to

social networking is that it is supposed to be fun, whether you are just doing it for kicks

or clicking around for business purposes. That should be reasonable enough for

anyone, but there are those people who don't see the point. For them, it can be a

disadvantage.

2.Increased susceptibility to attack:Using these social network sites at work can increase

the chances of the computer being targeted for an attack. For example, many of the

scams out there that involve social network sites obtain personal data from the

computer in which the site is being accessed. If this were to happen at a business, they

risk the chance of having confidential client information released. So for safety, these

sites should be blocked from the business world .

3.Affecting the productivity of employees:The use of social networking sites has become

very easy in todays world of growing technology. Anyone can access his or her profile

with just an operating system and internet connectivity. Employees at work often get

tempted to use these websites. They use social media extensively while working atoffice. It is argued that it decreases their productivity and efficiency and thus decreases

the companys profits. Another perspective is that using such sites relieves the

employees stress and helps the business in many other ways. The main issue arising

in many parts of the world is whether social media be banned at workplace or not.


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4. Greater scope for dissent in the workplace:Allowing social network sites to be used in

the workplace can lead to arguments among employees as they fight over ridiculous

aspects such as who are friends with whom. This can only decrease the productivity

and the morale in the workplace. In addition, it can lead to more arguments that turn into

a he said, she said sort of problem that does not help productivity in the least and can

cause even more problems at work.

5.Access to information and misuse: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. Parents who want to access their child's

MySpace or Facebook account have become a big problem for teenagers who do not

want their profile seen by their parents. By making their profile private, teens can selectwho may see their page, allowing only people added as "friends" to view their profile

and preventing unwanted viewing of the profile by parents. To edit information on a

certain social networking service account, the social networking sites require you to

login or provide a password. This prevents unauthorized user(s) from adding, changing,

or removing personal information, pictures, and/or other data.

What Next?

Clearly the use of social networks is important to employees and plays a crucial role in

their lives and should not be banned at the workplace completely. What is important is

to specify how such use may be permissible in the workplace. Employee-employer

communications are essential to clarify issues such as how much time may be spent

online and that company information should not be revealed, knowingly or unknowingly.

Some experts suggest that having a company presence on social networks, in the form

of a group, help bind employees and strengthen the corporate team. It is interesting to

note that over 40,000 MySpace groups and 4,000 Facebook groups are either company

or employee based.

So the discussion goes on. What is your take on this subject?
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UNIT 4

ANALYSIS OF CONSUMER PERCEPTION

TOWARDS SOCIAL NETWORKING


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Table 1: Age of respondents

(N=100)

Particulars Frequency Percentage

0 15 yrs15 30 yrs

30 45 yrs

45 and above

292

2

3

292

2

3

Total 100 100

The age of respondents of the survey is shown in this table. The respondents who were

surveyed were mostly aged between 15 and 30 years with 92 %. People with less than

15 years of age were only 2. People with age between 30 and 45 years were also 2 and

there were 3 people whose age was above 45 years.

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Age

0-15 yrs

15-30 yrs

30-45 yrs

Above 45 yrs


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Table 2: Occupation of respondents

(N=100)


EmployeeStudent

Businessperson

490

6

490

6

Total 100 100

The above table presents the occupation of the people surveyed. The highest number

of respondents were students with 90. There were 4 people who were working as

employees and 6 people who were running a business. Thus, it can be concluded that

the respondents who were surveyed consisted mostly of the youth.

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Occupation

Employee

Student

Businessperson

Other


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Table 3: Time spent on internet everyday

(N=100)


0 2 hrs2 4 hrs

More than 4 hrs

8315

2

8315

2

Total 100 100

This table shows the average time spent by people every day. Most of the people said

they use internet between 0 and 2 hours (83%). 15% of the people use it for more than

2 hours but less than 4 hours and only 2 out of 100 use it for more than 4 hours. It can

be clearly seen that many people prefer to use internet for not more than 2 hours per

day. With the internet connection becoming easily available and cheaper by the day,

there are some people who have started using it for longer periods.

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Time Spent On Internet Everyday

0-2 hrs

2-4 hrs

More than 4 hrs


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Table 4: Use of social networking websites

(N=100)


YesNo

955

955

Total 100 100

This table shows how many of the people surveyed use social networking sites. A

majority of them said they use social networking sites on a regular basis. 95% of the

people do social networking while only 5% stay away from it. This shows the popularity

of social networking sites. Anyone can join these sites and use it without any payment.

They provide a place for networking, playing games and act as a stress buster. Thus, it

is no surprise that most of the people are getting addicted to social networking.

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Use Social Networking Sites

Yes

No


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Table 5: Time spent on social networks everyday

(N=100)


Less than 1 hour1 3 hrs

More than 3 hrs

7019

11

7019

11

Total 100 100

It is also important to know how much time people spend on social networking sites.

70% of the people use it for less than an hour. 19 people said they use it for more than1 hour but less than 3 hours and 11 people said they use it for more than 3 hours. A lot

of people do not spend too much time on these websites but some people who are

addicted use it extensively. With the mushrooming popularity of such sites, we can

expect that there could be more people in the future who start using it for more time.

0

10

2030

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Time Spent On Social Networks Everyday

Less than 1 hour

1-3 hrs

More than 3 hrs


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Table 6: Use of internet for -

(N=100)


Using social networksSurfing for information

Both

2018

62

2018

62

Total 100 100

This table shows what people usually do while they are online i.e. the reason for using

internet. Some people use it only for social networking while some use it only to search

the information they need. But most of the people are interested in both, social networks

and information related websites. Though the majority of people are using it for both the

purposes, it can be seen that 1 out of every 5 individuals is only interested in social

networking which is a bad sign.

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Use Of Internet

Using social networks

Surfing for information

Both


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Table 7: Most used social networking website

(N=100)


FacebookTwitter

Myspace

Orkut

Google+

828

1

3

6

828

1

3

6

Total 100 100

The most popular social networking website was Facebook. Facebook totally out-

numbered all other social networks with an astonishing 82% of the people. Facebooks

popularity has immensely increased in the past couple of years. Twitter was the second

most popular social networking website with 8% while Myspace, Orkut and Google+ had

even less number of users.

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Most Popular Social Networking Website

Facebook

Twitter

Myspace

Orkut

Google+


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Table 8: Reason for use of social networking websites

(N=100)


Takes stress away

Networking

Playing games

20

65

15

20

65

15

Total 100 100

A question arises as to why people use social networking sites so often. A majority of

people are using them for networking i.e. connecting with old and new friends and

sharing their day to day stories. Some of the people said they use them for relieving the

stress when they are tired and some people use it for playing games.

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

Reason For Use Of Social Networking

Takes stress away

Networking

Playing games


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Table 9: Use of social media at work or study

(N=100)


YesNo

3763

3763

Total 100 100

This is one of the most important things to know as far as the topic is concerned

whether people use social networking sites while working and studying or not. 63% of

the respondents do not use such sites while working or studying. But around 37 people

said they use social media while working or studying which is fairly a large number.

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

Use Of Social Media At Work Or Study

Yes

No


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Table 10: Aware of the pros and cons of social media at work

(N=100)


YesNo

7228

7228

Total 100 100

This bar graph depicts whether the people are aware of the advantages and

disadvantages of using social media at work or not. 72% of the people said they know

about the benefits and harms of using social networks while working and the rest said

they are not aware them. It can be seen that a majority of people know about the pros

and cons of using social media at work.

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

Aware Of Pros And Cons Of Using Social media at work

Yes

No


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Table 11: Social networking at work decreases productivity of people

(N=100)


YesNo

Maybe

168

76

168

76

Total 100 100

This pie graph shows whether the people think social networking decreases the

productivity and efficiency of employees or not. 16 out of 100 said yes, using these sites

distracts the concentration of employees and affects their efficiency while 8 said they

dont think it will affect the efficiency of employees. 76% of the people are not sure

whether it will affect the employees efficiency or not. Thus, many people do not if it will

affect the employees and there should be more awareness about it.

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

Social Networking Decreases Productivity At Work

Yes

No

Maybe


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Table 12: Aware that foreign companies have banned these sites at work

(N=100)


YesNo

5050

5050

Total 100 100

There are some foreign companies that have banned social networking websites in their

office because of efficiency concerns. This table shows whether the respondents

surveyed are aware of this fact or not. The number of people in both the categories is

equal. There are 50 people who said they are aware of this fact and 50 said they are not

aware it.

0

5

10

15

20

a project report on a perceptional analysis on ...

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