Outside communication can be observed and commented on by anyone who is part of network. This promotes additions nodes of communication and contact. Social networking sites also have some potential pitfalls to negotiate, such as the unintended consequences of publicly posting sensitive personal information, confusion over privacy settings, and contact with people one doesn’t know, but the evidence suggests that people quickly become adept at assimilating and using the necessary rules.
Adult social networkers use a variety of sites, with the main ones being , Facebook and MySpace, although there are a variety of other including Bebo, Ning, Linkedin and many more. 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 use a social networking site), and the most popular site for adults is Facebook (62%). There is also a difference between socio-economic groups. ABC1s with a social networking profile were more likely to use Facebook. C2DEs, who were more likely to have a profile on MySpace. Social networkers fall into distinct groups and differ in their attitudes to social networking sites and in their behaviour while using them. Ofcom’s 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 – people who used sites in intense short bursts to flirt, meet new people, and be entertained.
* Attention Seekers – people who craved attention and comments from others, often by posting photos and customising their profiles.
* Followers – people who joined sites to keep up with what their peers were doing.
* Faithfuls – people who typically used social networking sites to rekindle old friendships, often from school or university.
* Functionals – people who tended to be single-minded in using sites for a particular purpose.
Non-users of social networking sites also appear to fall into distinct groups:
* 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.
The opportunities for community engagement using these platform are fairly clear: it allows a user to engage with a large number of people for little or no cost aside from the time use to create and publicise the information; accessibility is not limited by mobility; translation applications exist online so language is not necessarily an issue; BME and hard to reach groups respond positively to situations where they are in control and this platform provides an opportunity to respond from your own machine, at home; information is 'opt-in' and far more likely to be read than paper based literature.
Many people are technologically literate but find traditional websites difficult to navigate. Social networking offers the opportunity engage using content other than simple text and pictures, third party application including maps, photo streams, RSS feeds, and links to other resources are all possible and enhance the communication experience.
Social networks provide for a cornerstone of engagement namely giving the public the means to engage and the opportunity to engage in a time frame which suits them. There is a growing expectation that social networks will be part of the available resources, many public figures now boast a social network profile. Increasing home internet access facilitates the use of social networking sites, although potential users often have alternative points of access (for example at school or at work). Increased connection speeds and the wider availability of broadband enable richer use of the internet, including uploading as well as viewing content. The specific technology that has enabled this growth in the number and popularity of social networking sites is part of a wider online phenomenon, enabling self-expression, communication and user interaction online, known as Web 2.0.
Research in a number of academic fields has shown that social networks operate on many levels, from families up to the level of nations, and play a critical role in determining the way problems are solved, organizations are run, and the degree to which individuals succeed in achieving their goals.
The literature on social networks and political participation has generally focused on the role of social networks in mobilizing citizens to participate. Brian Adams in his paper on local democracy and social networks examined the question: once citizens decide to participate, how can they use social networks to help them achieve their political goals? Based on interviews with citizens in a mid-sized city, he argued that social networks are a political resource akin to time, money and civic skills, and that they can facilitate engagement by helping citizens achieve various political tasks.
The Local Government Information Unit (LGIU) is on record as saying "Social networking has the potential to revolutionise how councils engage with children and young people." It recently ran a course which "[explored] how local government can harness the potential of social networking sites to promote youth participation in the democratic process and in the delivery of children's services." (Jan 2009)
The speed of development in technology makes it susceptible to the stalling tactics of the intellectually disinterested who hold to the idea that social networking is actually a distraction from the business of democracy rather than an aid to it. Six months ago hardly anyone used Twitter, in six months time perhaps no-one will anymore. Right now it is the social networking tool of choice for many people, a wide cross section of society that includes MPs, councillors and professionals in a variety of fields, who find the ability to micro-blog information quickly to a group of "followers" an invaluable communication and engagement tool.
Social networking tools come and go quickly and users are becoming used to and adapting to the speed of change. This speed of change means that there’s no point waiting for the rise of a dominant form of communication. Its likely that as a society of users we will become increasingly skilled at picking and choosing those tools which best suit our needs, rejecting some in favour of others as more advanced options become available.
One interesting feature of social networks is that they tend to blur the boundaries between personal and professional life. Many people quite like knowing where their councillor is going on holiday or what their MP is watching on TV. It makes these relationships more human and that's important in a world that is increasingly post-hierarchical and more collaborative. But it also raises some difficult issues and will make a lot of people uncomfortable. The notion of boundaries is one often used by rejecters of social networks, voicing the fear that people will come to know too much about them.
Web based communications have a lot of advantages, low cost, quick, interactive, waste free. It has been pointed out that 35 % of households in the UK are still not online. However there are a plethora of internet sources: libraries, internet cafés and places that provide wireless access and so do much to overcome this difficulty.
Mobile phone using 3G technology offer access and the latest generation will often be pre-configured for Face, Myspace or other social network -further proof of its perceived importance. Young people in particular are comfortable with conducting their online affairs in public places or while on the move.
"Silver Surfers" a term applied to older members of the community for whom the internet is a relatively new experience are another developing demographic and as a group combine a high degree of civic responsibility with a desire to be kept informed, the use of social networks to facilitate this is clearly mandated.
While some local authority ITC managers may be concerned about opening their servers to social networks, there is little to be concerned about, normal monitoring for abuse should suffice.
interaction between users take place online and there is no need to download client software to individual machines. The only interaction likely to be required on for example Facebook, would be the loading of a picture of the user to their profile. It is not that long ago that councils were arguing that junior members of staff did not need email or external internet access and before that telephones, since these were likely to distract from work. Since then email then has become an accepted form of communication with staff at all levels and internet access is an important information gathering resource.
If cloud computing and browser based application become the norm there will be an increasing need to provide online access across the internet. The simplicity of the networks has promoted their popularity in a way which would have been hard to credit less than a decade ago. The general public have a growing expectation that people in the public eye will be available on social networks.
Social network level can improve communication and are not bounded by the normal hierarchies of local government. Given the number of button social networked and, some at least, of their related applications push, in terms of providing access to minority, BME, senior and other members of the community who historical have been hard to reach it is difficult to see any reason for not implementing access to social network immediately and make the general public aware that this is happening through the PR channels.
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