Essay on Exposure of the issue about privacy and surveillance on the social network: the research of social networks effects on adolescents aged 13-19 years old by Leona Li
Social media can be used as an effective tool for socialization. Many people prefer to utilize new forms of social media in order to be connected with the society they live in. It is necessary to realize the significance of the relationship between social networks and the society. Special attention should be paid to the way the mediated technologies influence adolescents because their perception of the society can be viewed as initial perception, which requires further development. As a result, adolescents can be manipulated easily by the social media.
According to recent studies, adolescents can be both positively and negatively influenced by the content of the social media, e.g. social networking sites. For example, much information found on the social network carries violence because of violent indicators. In general, adolescents may ignore the information, which plays an important role in providing the control over privacy issues of adolescents. In addition, many adolescents cannot identify the key aspects of the content provided to them. Therefore, I will place emphasis on the exposure to the issue about privacy and surveillance on the social network in my research. I will be focused on adolescents aged 13-19 years old, exploring both negative and positive influences of the social media content based on the issues of privacy and surveillance.
Researchers pay due attention to the privacy issues in their studies, especially if these issues are connected with the social media content. For example, “the danger of cyberstaking and communicating with strangers online” (Barnes, 2006) may have negative impact on adolescents. Nevertheless, the area of research study should be limited. In order to have a better understanding of the above mentioned privacy issues, it is necessary refer to Danah Boyd’s study regarding the role of adolescents involved in the social media playing field (2007) and the study conducted by Albrechtslund (2008) regarding the role of participatory surveillance from the social networks.
Based on my primary readings and research-based practices, my hypothesis will be the more information is provided to adolescents regarding privacy and surveillance issues on the social networks, the less harm will be made by the existing negative social media content. The most suitable research method for providing a comprehensive research on the required topic will be the quantitative research method. This research method will help to conduct an experiment through quantitative interviews of random adolescents aged13-19 years old as the sample of the experiment. The research question will be: what is the impact of the social media networks on adolescents’ awareness of the relationship between the society and themselves based on the issues of Privacy and Surveillance?
Literature Review
The issue of Privacy and Surveillance in the social media has been widely discussed in scientific literature, especially in the field of media studies. Researchers take into consideration the role of the relationship with adolescents, highlighting the negative effects of the social media. Nevertheless, there is much evidence that both sides of the issue of Privacy and Surveillance influence the awareness of adolescents regarding the relationship between mediated technologies and the society. It has been found that the social media and adolescents are closely connected in the way they interact; therefore, it is not easy to define either the social networks or adolescents can dominate in this interaction. Adolescents may experience surveillance on the social media both in a positive and negative way. Thus, adolescents should be focused on the understanding of their role in the social networks.
Susan B. Barnes states in her essay “A Privacy Paradox: Social networking in the United States” that the phenomenon of privacy issues of adolescents should be explored better, for example the uploading of their private information in social networking, because the consequences may be negative. She conducted a classroom survey, which involved the opinions of adolescents regarding the social media. The findings of her research pointy out to the fact that the social networks may become “a form of entertainment” for many adolescents. Moreover, some of adolescents may even “ignore the difference between life online and off–line”(Barnes, 2006). Barnes shows the relationship between the social media and adolescents in a way that is based on the negative aspects of the effects of the social media on adolescents, placing emphasis on the privacy issues.
Having analyzed a wide range of articles, I may conclude that it is difficult to give a clear definition to the issues of privacy and surveillance on the social media. According to Mark Andrew’s study, “The work of being watched: Interactive Media and the Exploration of Self-Disclosure”(2002) and Danah Boyd’s study, “Social networks Sites: Public, Pirate or What?” the issues of privacy and surveillance can be defined from the perspective of time and space. According to Danah Boyd, the sample of her study involves adolescents and the way they are “socialized into a society complicated by shifts in the public and private” (Boyd, 2007). However, Andrew points out to the fact that the surveillance issues regarding the social media use cannot be considered as the “disappearance of privacy for per user” because these issues can be assessed as the “shift in control over personal information from individuals to Private Corporation” (Andrew, 2002). According to Barnes (2006), “surveillance systems can exert the same type of control in contemporary culture”(p. 6) Andrew is focused on his study on both the positive and negative aspects of the social media influence and the role of surveillance, defining it from general perspective.
According to recent study conducted by Anders Albrechtslund (2008), the privacy issues in the social media may have different consequences in relation to adolescents, while the surveillance issues on the social media are “something potentially empowering, subjectivity building and even playful” (p. 19). Thus, Albrechtslund states that surveillance can be perceived as an online content that requires the separation into several parts, depending on the context. For example, one of them is “the hierarchical, vertical concept of surveillance” (Albrechtslund, 2008). Fundamentally, this concept shows the positive impact of surveillance.
My research will be based on the continuation of the studies mentioned above. I will study the exposure of the issues of privacy and surveillance on the social network based on the effects on adolescents aged 13-19 years old. The sample in my experiment will be a special group of adolescents aged 13-19 because this age period plays an important role in the education transformation from high school level to college or university levels. Based on my literature review, I realize that it is crucial for me to explore the definitions of the terms like “surveillance” and “privacy issues” more profoundly.
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