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I read with interest your comments on social media sites. I know that being asked to express yourselves in 150 on such a potentially broad topic is difficult and it great to see it working . . despite the limitations. I'm a little surprised that LinkedIn has come up a few times. I'm not surprised Facebook has made the list. I am unfamiliar with adverts.ie so I plan to explore that as well as  Instagram some more, as I watch for some more discussion here. Feel welcome to write informally - but of course it is always good to cite your sources when expressing your views and opinion. Your personal experience and reflection in using Social Media is also welcome.

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I read with interest your comments on social media sites. I know that being asked to express yourselves in 150 on such a potentially broad topic is difficult and it great to see it working . . despite the limitations. I'm a little surprised that LinkedIn has come up a few times. I'm not surprised Facebook has made the list. I am unfamiliar with adverts.ie so I plan to explore that as well as  Instagram some more, as I watch for some more discussion here. Feel welcome to write informally - but of course it is always good to cite your sources when expressing your views and opinion. Your personal experience and reflection in using Social Media is also welcome.

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My most preferred social media site is LinkedIn and the feature I wish to analyse is the Groups feature. The main advantage of this feature for me is the amount I can learn from conversations. I learn about new resources and I get a better understanding of topics that interest me. The feature also facilitates valuable connections to leaders I wish to emulate and other professionals with similar interests to me (Arruda, 2014). To counteract a substantial spam and self-promotion problem with the Groups feature (Kapko, 2015), LinkedIn did away with Open Groups in 2015 and made them all private (Beck, 2015). However, changes with respect to filtering and moderation were introduced at the same time and seem to have created extra headaches for some Community Managers (Donovan, 2015). It seems that LinkedIn forgot that there is a social side to information, and automation can sometimes lack the subtle information brokering and negotiation skills (Brown & Duguid, 2000, pp. 41-50) required for tasks like moderation.

References

Arruda, W., 2014. The 5 most important LinkedIn features you aren't using correctly. [Online]
Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/williamarruda/2014/08/19/the-5-most-important-linkedin-features-you-arent-using-correctly/
[Accessed 19 December 2017].

Beck, M., 2015. LinkedIn is making all LinkedIn Groups private starting Oct. 14. [Online]
Available at: https://marketingland.com/linkedin-is-making-all-linkedin-groups-private-starting-oct-14-145530
[Accessed 19 December 2017].

Brown, J. S. & Duguid, P., 2000. The social life of information. Boston, Mass: Harvard Business School Press.

Donovan, L., 2015. Why the new LinkedIn Group changes are a Community Manager’s worst nightmare. [Online]
Available at: https://marketingland.com/why-the-new-linkedin-group-changes-are-a-community-managers-worst-nightmare-150048
[Accessed 19 December 2017].

Kapko, M., 2015. 3 things we hate about LinkedIn Groups. [Online]
Available at: https://www.cio.com/article/2913779/linkedin/3-things-we-hate-about-linkedin-groups.html
[Accessed 19 December 2017].

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The author attempts to throw a brief, but critical glance at their least preferred social media application: Instagram. Instagram markets itself as a photo-sharing application and service that allows users to share pictures and videos either publicly, or privately.

In an interview, the actor Glenn Close recently commented on US-President Donald Trump’s Twitter habits: “Social networks are now like our nervous system, and if you keep pumping that kind of crap into the nervous system, it is going to have an effect on a population” (The Guardian). While Close might not be an expert on Social Networks, the author believes she is accurately describing, possible effects of social media consumption.

Telling stories and responding with other stories is a social practice that contributes to creating identity (DCU p.3). But storytelling on Instagram consists of heavily edited and filtered pictures and at best short captions. Its reality is almost virtual. “Virtual reality is not "real," but it has a relationship to the real. It becomes a play space for thinking about the real world.” (Turkle 1995). This is what Instagram is to the author: a play space for creating an idealised and unachievable identity. How is that social?

References

Jeffs L. (2017) “You lose power if you get angry”, Interview with Glenn Close. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/dec/16/glenn-close-harvey-weinstein-mental-illness-cult-fatal-attraction [retrieved 19th December 2017].

Turkle S. (1995) Constructions and Reconstructions of Self in Virtual Reality: Playing in the MUDs, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Available at: http://web.mit.edu/sturkle/www/constructions.html [retrieved 19th December 2017]

Dublin City University, Working Paper OSC1 Section 3: Social Context (2017) Unit 6- Internet, Self, and Experience in Everyday Life, p. 3, Dublin City University

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Part 1.1 Online academic posting

Objective: Demonstrate your ability to critically analyse a social media site or application.

Task Description: Critically analyse one feature of your most preferred or least preferred social media site or application in the context of the course notes and recommended readings and your own additional readings.

The author has chosen to critically analysis the arbitration section of the ecommerce website "Adverts.ie". "Adverts.ie, is a community based market place where individuals can buy or sell items online". Adverts.ie, (2006).

Whilst considering interactions carried out electronically on a preferred platform you would expect a certain level of netiquette to exist similar to a transaction taking place face to face.

Negative feedback was submitted post transaction as a result of one party being unsatisfied. The complaint was referred to the customer support team who acted as the Leviathan Authority. With over 1000,000 registered users the marketplace community can be compared to the "Commonwealth" as defined by Hobbes et al (2016). The fundamental structure and process of arbitration used is rudimentary but effective.

Common ground was achieved utilising two grounding constraints as outlined by Clark and Browne (1991). Reviewing and revising communication through the intermediary resolved the issue and created a positive user experience for both parties.

References

Adverts.ie, https://www.techireland.org/companies/adverts-ie

Wallace, P. (2016). The Psychology of the Internet. 2nd Edition Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Hobbes, Thomas., Rogers, G.A.J. and Schuhmann, Karl. (2006) Leviathan. Bristol: Thoemmes Continuum.

Clark, H.H. and Brennan, S.E. (1991) Grounding in communication. In Resnick, L.B., Levine, J., and Teasley, S.D. (Eds.), Perceptions on socially shared cognition. American Psychological Association.

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I have chosen to review LinkedIn’s Personal Profile feature, as my favoured professional and social media platform. Currently working for this large multinational, I have an appreciation for the vision and mission of the company - to “connect the world’s professionals to make them more productive and successful” (LinkedIn.com, 2017).

Wallace (2016) sees the Internet as a “collection of distinct neighbourhoods where people with common interests and goals…” can interact and share information. I feel that a LinkedIn profile offers an individual access to a ‘neighbourhood’, within which they can showcase their service offering (themselves) and are encouraged to connect with others (recruiters/hiring managers) who can help them to realise their aspirations and goals with respect to employment.

Acknowledging that other sites can facilitate relationships both romantic and platonic, I believe that no other platform rival’s LinkedIn’s potential to change one’s professional life or future direction more. These social and professional media platforms are a testament to the powerful force the internet has become and its ability to trigger life-changing opportunity, which goes beyond the virtual and enters our reality.

References:

LinkedIn.com, (2017). About us/Mission.

Available at: https://press.linkedin.com/about-linkedin

Accessed 17 December 2017

Wallace, Patricia, (2016). The Psychology of the Internet. Second Edn., Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

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Whilst many aspects of social media can act as enablers for human interaction, a specific ethical problematic occurs when the media platform utilises manipulation techniques to increase and promote usage.
Referencing Facebook, various aspects of the HCI design have been constructed with the deliberate intention to increase time spent online through the “time-distortion effect”. (Aiken p10) Receiving “Likes” has been proven to enhance self-esteem and stimulate the release of dopamine, a neurotransmitter that is responsible for feelings of pleasure. (Aiken p51,61) Dopamine is a key facet in the reward and reinforcement cycle of addiction. Additional habit-forming factors appeal to human inquisitiveness, voyeurism, relief from boredom and a need for self-expression. 
Referencing former executive Chamath Palihapitiya, “The short-term, dopamine-driven feedback loops that we have created are destroying how society works. No civil discourse, no cooperation, misinformation, mistruth.” (Guardian, 2017)

References:
Aiken, M. (2017). The Cyber Effect. UK: John Murray.p10, 51, 61.
Wong, J. (2017).
Former Facebook executive: social media is ripping society apart. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/dec/11/facebook-former-executive-ripping-society-apart [Accessed 17/12/2017].