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on these websites. There are social concerns about the protection of information
privacy and online stalking. In order to allay such social concerns, many SNS have
launched various privacy settings or options for their users.
However, even if various privacy options or privacy settings are available for
SNS users and the users understand that they themselves also take a certain level of
self responsibility to protect their information privacy, the actual responsibility,
whether legal or moral, remains murky at best when the users reveal their real name
on the websites. Although the users who give out their real name can enjoy
information sharing with each other, they may lose complete control over their
digital identity.
This “digital identity” can be defined as information to “describe the persona an
individual presents across all the digital communities in which he or she is
represented” (Odin Lab 2010 ). The social influence of SNS where the digital
identity of individual users is developed remains a matter of debate. This chapter
examines the social impact of real name SNS on individuals from the viewpoint of
digital identity risk management. (Hereafter, “SNS” should be interpreted to mean
“SNS which encourages users to reveal
their real names,” unless otherwise
specified.)
13.2 Social Networking Services (SNS)
13.2.1 Business Model and Architecture
SNS have been attracting a growing number of users; clearly a response to the user
perception that there are significant benefits to membership. For instance, SNS
enable users to activate and broaden their network of “friends”. On the relevant
website, users can enjoy sharing information such as their profile, photos and
feelings with other users, and are also able to search for and find existing friends
in real life or even new friends with similar interests or the same taste on a world
wide scale.
In many cases, using SNS are free and large parts of their operations are covered
by advertising revenue (see Negoro 2006 ). This relationship is one of the root
causes of the SNS debate covered in this chapter. With the purpose of getting
advertising revenue, the providers of SNS websites need to make the website as
attractive as possible for the advertising clients. Generally, the higher the website
access rate, the higher the value of the SNS for the advertising media. To generate
more traffic to the SNS website, it becomes necessary for the SNS that it increases
both registration numbers and the quality of users' personal information. This
situation has facilitated the current circumstance in which the business model has
to balance user privacy with commercial sense.
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