Social media
From Blindside
Contents |
[edit] What is it
There are several definitions of social media:
What some now call Internet 2.0 began in the late '90s when weblogs allowed publication on the Internet at essentially zero cost and in real time with no technical skills. This extended the functionality of the Internet to the masses. Wikis, which allow real time publication in a more structured environment, became well-known at the same time, thanks to Wikipedia. Aggregated groups of weblogs hosted by a single entity, such as MySpace or Facebook, are hugely popular. Specialist websites using a hybrid weblog technology, such as YouTube or Flickr, are among the most popular sites on the web. There may be as many as 100 million active weblogs, according to the Gartner Group, and as many as 200 million abandoned blogs. There are an estimated 2.5 million weblogs in the UK.
Virtual environments such as Second Life, massive multi-player online games are another class of social media, allowing fictional characters created by the user to interact in real time on the web. They are covered elsewhere on this wiki.
The third definition of social media is a property of convergence, where SMS text messaging, instant messaging on a web platform, mobile telephony and portable computing devices allows people to be connected virtually at all times and at all places.
Each of the defitions carries implications for information assurance.
[edit] Impact & Maturity assessment
The Impact Level for all 3 definitions of social media is 3, our highest level, based on the very large numbers of people involved and the wide varieties of information exchanges made possible. The Maturity Levels for weblogs and virtual environments are estmated at 2, despite their large number, as more functionality will be added to both. The Maturity Level of converged personal communications is estimated at 1, again despite its ubiquity, as proprietary platforms and technical underperformance have made it difficult to realise its potential.
[edit] Information Assurance issues
Answer: what seem to be the likely information assurance issues of the emerging technology under discussion
[edit] Timescale
Social media is one of the most accepted forms of media in the present day. Penetration of it is been experienced on a rapid scale throughout the globe so 2-5 years is sufficient for its impact.
[edit] Examples
[edit] Comments (attributed)
What people say about this emerging technology (attributed)
[edit] Organisations
[edit] Documents & research papers
Tracing the evolution of Social Software
