Chimney Sweeper Essay

A great writer, or poet, will make their readers feel as if they are a part of their story. The reader will feel happy when the character is happy, or sad when the character is sad. This is achieved by various rhetorical strategies that writers use. Some of these strategies include imagery and word diction. Sometimes it is one sentence that really gets to the reader. Other times it is simply one word that can make the reader feel anything from warm to sad. In William Blake’s poem, â€Å"The Chimney Sweeper,† from Songs of Innocence, there is an important transition in which the reader’s sense of emotions change from negative feelings of darkness, death, and misery to positive emotions of happiness, hope, and salvation. This transition in emotions reflects the child’s innocence and oblivion to his victimization whereas in the same poem from Songs of Experience the child is aware that he is the victim and therefore only reveals feelings of bitterness and sarcasm. This contrast is important to my understanding of the Innocence poem because it reveals a softer and more innocent perspective than the poem of Experience does. In the first half of the poem Blake uses word diction that gives off negative connotations in order to illustrate the horrible conditions the young chimneysweepers live in. The chimneysweeper says, â€Å"And my father sold me while yet my tongue/Could scarcely cry † ‘weep! ‘weep! ‘weep! ‘weep! ’† (2-3). Not only does the word â€Å"weep† clearly give off a sense of sadness and depression, but the fact that it is repeated four times puts an emphasis on the sadness that the chimneysweeper feels. The quote implies that the father sold his child at a very young age. As a result, the child was still too young to weep and therefore could not refuse to be sold. Another quote says, â€Å"So your chimneys I sweep & in soot I sleep† (4). When one hears the word â€Å"sweep†, they are imagining dirt and filth being lifted off the ground. Moreover, the phrase â€Å"in soot I sleep†, if one imagines it in a literal sense, shows that the child is literally sleeping in soot, which is the black debris that the smoke from the chimney creates. As a result, this quote illustrates a dirty and filthy setting that these chimneysweepers are forced to live in. A phrase that, without a doubt, gives off a sense of death and hell is â€Å"coffins of black† (12). The chimneysweeper uses this phrase to describe where the other chimneysweepers are locked in Tom’s dream, which is still filthy and almost suffocating. While these quotes and phrases observe and reveal the terrible conditions that these children are living in, the chimneysweeper in the Experience poem reasons why he is living in those conditions by blaming his parents. This comparison makes evident the different perspectives from each poem. Hints of hope are first revealed in the Innocence poem where Blake uses the child’s sarcasm to show that in moments of darkness and unhappiness there is still space for optimism so as not to suffer so much. This is revealed when the chimneysweeper reassures Tom to â€Å"never mind it, for when your head’s bare/You know that the soot cannot spoil your white hair† (7-8). In a way this would make Tom feel hopeful because with a bare head, the soot cannot ruin his hair. But in a metaphorical sense, it implies that darkness (the soot) will not prevail over everything, which gives one hope. What follows this sense of hope is Tom’s description of his dream: And by came an Angel who had a bright key/And he open’d the coffins & set them all free/Then down a green plain leaping, laughing, they run/And wash in a river, and shine in the Sun/Then naked and white, all their bags left behind/They rise upon clouds and sport in the wind. (13-18) This stanza contains numerous amounts of words and phrases that all give a positive connotation of hope, freedom, warmth, and happiness. Words such as â€Å"Angel†, â€Å"bright key†, â€Å"laughing†, â€Å"Sun†, and â€Å"white† give off a feeling that is too good to be true, which explains why it is a dream in the first place. But that hope and happiness is so strong that when Tom awakes, he continues his work happily. This utopian perspective clearly shows the innocence of these children, while the child in the poem of Experience has no sense of hope because he is aware of the reality he is living in. While the children in the Innocence poem use religious words and phrases to give them something to look forward to, the child in the Experience poem condemns religion. Blake shows how religion is used to almost condone the treatment and conditions of these chimneysweepers when he writes, â€Å"And the Angel told Tom, if he’d be a good boy/He’d have God for his father and never want joy† (19-20). This quote implies that obedience and sticking to your duties will bring happiness in the afterlife. The same thing is implied when the chimneysweeper says, â€Å"So if all do their duty they need not fear harm† (24). In other words, as long as these chimneysweepers continue with their gruesome work while refraining from complaints, they will be happy and will be rewarded in the afterlife for their good behavior. This mentality seems to convince the children that it is acceptable live in these horrible conditions because they will be rewarded once they pass. In contrast, the child in the Experience poem does not see the afterlife or God as something or someone to look forward to because he blames God for the position he is in. He mocks God by saying, â€Å"And are gone to praise God and his Priest and King/Who make up a heaven of our misery† (11-12). The child’s parents are praying in the church and believe that they have not caused their child any injury. In this case, it is the parents that are condoning the brutal life of their child. This major difference between the two poems is important because it reveals how differently each child views the situation they are in as chimneysweepers. Blake’s use of word diction and imagery in the poem of Innocence and in the poem of Experience differentiates the two opposing perspectives of each poem. Because the Innocence poem transitions from darkness and hopelessness to freedom and hopefulness, my understanding of this poem is extremely different from the other. It is clear that the chimneysweeper in the Experience poem is aware that he is the victim; therefore, his feelings of sadness and despair block him from seeing any hope. Instead, he blames God and his parents for the life he lives. In contrast, I am given the sense that the chimneysweeper in the Innocence poem is completely oblivious to the fact that he is a victim, and therefore it is easier for him to see the light in the darkest moments; in this sense he is still innocent of any hard feelings towards his father or God.

The History Of The Curriculum Theory Education Essay

You have been assigned to a low-performing in-between school campus. Your overseer has requested that you make alterations in the school course of study to increase pupil accomplishment. Describe your program of action to increase pupil accomplishment degrees at this in-between school. Describe and discourse how the informal and concealed course of study impact and alter the formal course of study? Provide specific illustrations. Include parental outlooks and prohibitions as portion of the informal course of study. What constructs about course of study are present in the heads of pedagogues in a school with which you are familiar? Historically, instruction has played a major function in determining the lives of all persons. Curriculum theory has continually evolved and, there has ever been a conflict to better and spread out the course of study. Several inquiries that plague pedagogues today are â€Å" Which course of study should we follow? † and â€Å" What cognition is of most deserving? † . There are a battalion of course of study theories that help pedagogues understand the construct of pupil acquisition and accomplishment. This chapter is an effort to expose pedagogues to the diverse course of study theories that influence today ‘s educational system.What is course of study?From a historical position, course of study is any papers or program that exists in a school or school system that defines the work of instructors. This program guides pedagogues in placing the content of the stuff to be taught. Many work programs may dwell of text editions, resource stuffs, or range and sequence c harts. â€Å" The intent of a course of study is non to abandon organisational boundaries but to enable the organisation to map within those boundaries more efficaciously and, over clip more expeditiously † ( English and Larson, 1996 ) . â€Å" A course of study can carry through these ends by: ( 1 ) clear uping organisational boundaries ; ( 2 ) specifying the nature of the work to be done ; ( 3 ) associating the major undertakings to be accomplished to one another within the entire work procedure or work flow ( coordination ) ; ( 4 ) shaping criterions by which work is to be measured or assessed ; ( 5 ) specifying rating processs by which work consequences can be compared to work performed ; ( 6 ) devising alterations in the work performed through feedback ; and ( 7 ) reiterating the above stairss in order to accomplish a higher degree of work public presentation on a consistent footing † ( English and Larson, p.24 ) . There are at least three different types of course of study in schools: formal course of study, informal course of study, and concealed course of study The formal course of study normally appears in province ordinances, course of study ushers, or officially sanctioned range and sequence charts. The formal course of study is what will be found in instructor ‘s lesson programs. The informal course of study represents the unofficial facets of planing or presenting the course of study. This type of course of study involves the subtle but of import personality traits that a instructor interacts with the kid – positively or negatively. Informal course of study contains those things that we teach that are unplanned and self-generated. The concealed course of study is non recognized at schools. It deals with outlooks and premises. These are instructions, which are presented to pupils but are non consciously received by them. Hidden course of study can be destructive, negative and insurgent, or it can be constructive, desirable and positive. Tanner describes this as the collateral course of study. Tanner stresses that collateral acquisition is in the manner of formation of digesting attitudes, of likes and disfavors, may be and frequently more of import that the spelling lesson in geographics or history that is learned ( Tanner,1995 ) .Curriculum Alignment TheoryCurriculum alliance is an of import scheme necessary to heighten academic accomplishment degrees of all pupils. Because of high bets proving, pupils need to be prepared to go through province tests. Fenwick English, a prima advocate of course of study alliance, maintains that there is an interrelatedness between the tried course of study, taught course of study and written course of study. When all three are working together, the relationship is called â€Å" tight † . In order to bring forth optimal educational consequences, stairss must be taken to aline the written course of study ( found in text editions, course of study ushers and supports resources ) , the taught course of study ( instructors ‘ lesson programs ) and the tested co urse of study ( TAAS, ITBS, SAT, etc. ) Fenwick English describes course of study as a papers of some kind, and its intent is to concentrate and link the work of schoolroom instructors in schools ( 1992 ) . School territories tend to buy text editions that are normally non aligned to the course of study or province trials. This presents a job. Focus and connectivity are lost. Curriculum articulation ( Vertical Teaming ) refers to the focal point and perpendicular connectivity in a school or school system. Several design and bringing issues originate associating to curriculum articulation. In design, instructors must specify in the work program the needed degrees of focus/connectivity desired to optimise pupil public presentation vertically. In bringing, plan monitoring is indispensable to guarantee design unity vertically ( English, 1992 ) . Last, if what is tested is non being taught nor addressed in stuffs used by pupils, trial tonss and related educational results will non make the outlooks of the pupils, instructors, decision makers, parents, and the populace. In an epoch of answerability, course of study alliance offers pupils an chance to go successful. In Allan Glatthorn ‘s book The Principal as Curriculum Leader, he presents a six- measure course of study procedure that aids in alliance: ( 1 ) Plan the undertaking. A commission should be appointed to supervise the undertaking. The commission members must be trained in the alignment procedure. ( 2 ) Focus the course of study. The course of study should concentrate on the territory ‘s aims. ( 3 ) Analyze the trials. Grade degree squads should analyse trial informations. This scheme would let instructors to bespeak which of the command aims are more likely to be tested. ( 4 ) Analyze the text. Teachers should analyse where the command aims are explained in the text. ( 5 ) Measure the consequences. The commission should reexamine and discourse all the consequences, observing countries needed to be improved. ( 6 ) Use the consequences. Complete alliance charts. Teachers should utilize the command objectives to develop annually and unit programs that guarantee equal interven tion of all aims. Aims tested should hold precedence and objectives non tested should hold 2nd precedence ( Glatthorn, 1997 ) . Quality Control in Curriculum Quality control refers to a uninterrupted procedure or organisational autonomy and development that addition organisational effectivity. Three cardinal ingredients that must be present are 1 ) a work criterion, 2 ) work appraisal, and 3 ) activity. As all these elements become congruent, work public presentation in an organisation in improved. Multiple Intelligence Theory Howard Gardner has created the theory of Multiple Intelligences. He maintains that most school systems frequently focus on a narrow scope of intelligence that involves chiefly verbal/linguistic and logical/mathematical accomplishments. While cognition and accomplishments in these countries are indispensable for lasting and booming in the universe, he suggests that there are at least six other sorts of intelligence that are of import to fuller human development and that about everyone has available to develop. They include, visual/spatial, bodily/kinesthetic, musical, interpersonal, naturalist and intra-personal intelligence. Gardner believes that the eight intelligences he has identified are independent, in that they develop at different times and to different grades in different persons. They are, nevertheless, closely related, and many instructors and parents are happening that when an single becomes more adept in one country, the whole configuration of intelligence may be enhanced . The undermentioned philosophic theories examine course of study from a wide position that includes all of the scholar ‘s experiences to the more restricted position that sees it as academic capable affair. ( 1 ) Idealist Curriculum Theory – This theory was prevailing during the yearss of Plato. Idealists viewed course of study as a organic structure of rational capable affair and learned subjects that are conceptional and conceptual. Mathematics, history and literature for case were ranked really high. The overruling end of Idealist instruction was to promote pupils to be searchers of truth. ( 2 ) Realist Curriculum Theory – Aristotle founded Realism. Realist course of study maintains that the most effectual and efficient manner to happen out about world is to analyze it through consistently organized capable affair subjects. Realist course of study involves direction in the countries of reading, authorship, and calculation. Deriving cognition through research met hods are stressed. ( 3 ) Naturalist Curriculum Theory – The Naturalists position of course of study differed from the earlier theoreticians. Learning should actively affect kids in covering with the environment, utilizing their senses, and work outing jobs. Naturalists maintained that echt instruction is based on the preparedness and demands of the human being. ( 4 ) Pragmatic ( Experiential ) Curriculum Theory- This course of study theory attacks larning through sing. The kid ‘s involvements, demands and experiences are taken into consideration. ( 5 ) Existentialist Curriculum Theory – The course of study includes the accomplishments and topics that explain physical and societal world. â€Å" The important acquisition stage is non in the construction of cognition, nor in curricular organisation but instead in the pupil ‘s building of its significance ( Gutek, 120 ) † . ( 6 ) Conservatism Curriculum Theory – The course of study should convey the general civilization to all and supply appropriate instruction to the assorted strata in society. This course of study included the basic accomplishments found in most school plans – reading, authorship, and math.Personal Practical KnowledgeIn his work, Personal Knowledge, Michael Polanyi demonstrates that the scientist ‘s personal engagement in the prod uction of cognition is an indispensable portion of the scientific discipline itself. â€Å" Even the exact scientific disciplines, â€Å" knowing is an art, of which the accomplishment of the apprehender, guided by his personal committedness and his passionate sense of increasing contact with world, is a logically necessary portion † . Polanyi describes, â€Å" cognizing † in the art of siting a motorcycle. In this description he states that the rule by which the bicycler keeps his balance is known, but the cognition is in the â€Å" making † . Key Concepts Accountability – This term refers to keeping schools and instructors responsible for what pupils learn. Content- A word used to place the course of study and divide it from school direction. Criterion-Referenced Test – Measures of public presentation compared to predetermined criterions or aims. Core/Fused Curriculum – Integration of the two or more topics ; for illustration, English and societal surveies. Problem and subject orientations frequently serve as the integration design. Curriculum -Curriculum is any papers or program that exists in a school or school system that defines the work of instructors. Curriculum Alignment – A connectivity between what is tested, taught and written. Curriculum Compacting – Content development and bringing theoretical accounts that abbreviated the sum of clip to cover a subject without compromising the deepness and comprehensiveness of stuff taught. Curriculum Development – A procedure whereby picks in planing a learning experience for pupils are made and activated through a set of co-ordinated activities. Curriculum Guide – A written statement of aims, content, and activities to be used with a peculiar topic at specified class degrees ; normally produced by province sections or local educational bureaus. Curriculum Management Planning – A systematic method of be aftering for alteration. Formative Evaluation – Student accomplishment is monitored throughout the school twelvemonth. This will be done through pupil /teacher conferences, departmental meetings, curriculum manager monitoring and conferences. Feedback and suggestions for betterment will be considered. Knowing in Action – This construct refers to the kinds of know-how we reveal in our intelligent action. By detecting and reflecting in our actions, we make cognizing in action implicit. We reveal it in a self-generated mode ; and we are unable to set it in words ( Schon, p. 25, 1987 ) . Performance Objective – Targeted outcome steps for measuring the acquisition of peculiar procedure based accomplishments and cognition. Sequence – The organisation of an country of survey. Frequently, the organisation is chronological, traveling from simple to complex. Staff Development – Body of activities designed to better the proficiencies of the pedagogue practician. Subject-Content – The type of course of study that stresses the command of capable affair, with all other results considered subordinate. Summational Evaluation – Teachers and pupils will reflect on the course of study procedure. Met and unmet ends and aims will be discussed at length. Improvements and polishs will be based on the summational rating Tacit Knowledge – Tacit cognition is â€Å" cognizing in action † . To go adept in the usage of this tool is to larn to appreciate, straight and without immediate logical thinking, the qualities of the stuff that we apprehend through the silent esthesis of the tool in our manus ( Schon, p. 25, 1987 ) . Curriculum Websites – The undermentioned sites provide information on course of study and the course of study alliance procedure.

Upper Tier Rights

There are many cases in the history of constitutional law that involve the wording of the United States Constitution. One case that deals with many parts of the constitution is Miranda v Arizona. This was a case that the Supreme Court voted on in 1966. This is a case of upper tier rights, because it deals with the constitutional rights. It mostly deals with the fourteenth amendment which is a right to due process and the sixth amendment which is a right to counsel.A suspect, Ernesto Miranda, was arrested on mostly circumstantial evidence for the kidnapping and rape of an 18 year old female. During the interrogation by the police Miranda confessed to the kidnapping and rape of the female. He also signed a paper that said he was giving a voluntary statement to the police and that the police were not forcing him to confess to the crimes which he may or may not have committed. To most this sounds like the police did an alright job they got a confession out of him and there was no signs o f abuse by the police.So many would say what is the problem? Why is this even considered a constitutional law case? How did Miranda v. Arizona turn into a landmark United States Supreme Court case? When this case went to trial Miranda’s court appointed attorney found out that the police never informed Miranda of his Constitutional right to counsel. So in fact by not informing Miranda that he had the right to counsel the police violated his Fourteenth Amendment which is the right to due process and his sixth amendment which is a right to counsel.If he would have had counsel present in the room he may never have signed that form confessing to the kidnapping and rape of that 18 year old woman. Miranda’s court appointed attorney at trial objected to the confession saying that his clients fifth, sixth, and fourteenth amendment rights were violated. The trial judge overruled the objection mainly because the defendant never formally asked to have an attorney present or to see or speak with his attorney. So Miranda was convicted of the crime and sent to up to 30 years in prison.Miranda’s attorney the appealed the decision all the way up to the Arizona supreme court. The Arizona Supreme Court ruled that they also believed that his rights were not violated because he never asked for an attorney. The Next step Miranda’s Attorney took was that he asked the United States Supreme Court to hear the case and they did. Then on June 13th, 1966 then United States Supreme Court ruled that Ernesto Miranda’s Constitutional rights had been violated by the police. The vote was close it was a 5-4 vote.Chief Justice Earl Warren along with Justices, Black, Douglass, Brennan, and Fortas thought that Miranda’s rights were violated and Justices Clark, Harlan, Stewart, and White thought that the police had acted in the correct manor. This was one of the most historical cases in United States Supreme court history. This basically told police that if you did not inform the individual that he has a right to counsel you can not use any confession or information gathered from that. This is considered an upper tier rights case because it not only deals with one amendment but it actually deals with two others.The fifth, sixth and fourteenth amendments all come into play with this case. Police no Mirandize all suspects before talking to them and almost all law enforcement personal actually do it as they are arresting the suspect just to make sure. A suspect has the right to waive Miranda but then can not use it in the court case later on. In conclusion Miranda v Arizona became a land mark case in United States law history because it one had many constitutional rights broken in it that were corrected by the United States Supreme Court.It also actually helped the law enforcement agencies do their job better. It helped prevent other suspects from having their rights broken like Ernesto Miranda had his. Like stated earlier this is a prime example of upper tier rights because it not only deals with one constitutional right but three and they are three of the most important amendments, the fifth, sixth, and fourteenth amendments.Sources Miranda v. Arizona, U. S. Supreme Court Case Summary & Oral Argument. (n. d. ). The Oyez Project | U. S. Supreme Court Oral Argument Recordings, Case Abstracts and More. Retrieved December 10, 2010, from http://www. oyez. org/cases/1960-1969/1965/1965_759 Miranda v. Arizona. (n. d. ). LII | Legal Information Institute at Cornell Law School. Retrieved December 10, 2010, from http://www. law. cornell. edu/supct/html/historics/USSC_CR_0384_0436_ZS. html The Supreme Court . Expanding Civil Rights . Landmark Cases . Miranda v. Arizona (1966) | PBS. (n. d. ). PBS: Public Broadcasting Service. Retrieved December 10, 2010, from http://www. pbs. org/wnet/supremecourt/rights/landmark_miranda. html

Individual assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

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Contraception and Abortion Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

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Sex, love and romance research paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Sex, love and romance research paper - Essay Example LeAnn Rimes makes her first assertion here. In the slew of â€Å"unsuitable† dates who turn up - the â€Å"cell-phone junkie†; the Emo youth, complete with black flowers; an impressionable-looking, eager young man – Rimes shows her viewers, her fans the implausibility of finding true love by searching for it in such an obvious manner. Online dating is most definitely not the way to go, according to the song, if you are looking for the â€Å"butterflies†. One might as well dream about dating their teddy bears. The teddy bear also assumes a symbolic role here. To the archetypal lonely girl and/or woman, her teddy bear becomes a symbol of the security and warmth of a relationship. She wants her man to be as considerate, gentle, funny and thoughtful as her teddy bear would be, were he a real man. This video shows this quite plainly in the form of the girl’s dream of her date with the bear who makes her laugh, makes her feel desired, who is in short, The Perfect Gentleman. Research on romantic love and its construction reveals that heterosexual love, which is the only mode of sexuality touched upon in this song, is heavily â€Å"scripted†. Romance novels go a long way in strengthening these already established theories about love: According to publishers surveys, romance novels are read by almost 40 million American women. They account for 56 percent of mass-market paperback sales in the United States. More than 2,200 new titles are published every year. Romance novels aimed specifically at adolescents have been sold through school book clubs since about 1980, gaining in popularity every year. Although most romance novels are published in the United States, England and Canada, their readership is global (Puri, 1997). (Sex, Love and Romance, p. 265) The basic moral that runs through a typical romance novel is no matter how hard a man is from the outside, inside

Poems that Speak of Men's Minds Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

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Electronic Cigarette Sustainable Business in Japan- External Analysis Assignment

Electronic Cigarette Sustainable Business in Japan- External Analysis - Assignment Example PESTEL analysis is the best tool for making market analysis for external factors that might affect the operation of a business. External factors affecting Magpie Pty Limited include environmental factors, political, social cultural, technological, legal and economic factors. Consequently, in order to capture or maintain maintain a market, strategic measures to curb changes in these factors must be enforced by a company (Berg, 2009). The political environment of any nation is crucial in operating a business. Some of the political factors likely to affect the operations include, government stability, corruption levels, tax policy which includes rates and incentives, freedom of the press and government involvement in trade unions. It is important to have good relations with the political class in foreign markets. This is because of the value of political lobbying in business. This is not different in Japan as several laws have been enacted to deal with electronic smoking in the country. The Japanese health sector enacted some laws in 2003 inhibiting smoking of electronic cigarettes in public. The implementation of the laws about smoking electronic cigarettes in Japan operates on a two tier system. The first tier allows partial permission for smoking electronic cigarettes on the condition that they are nicotine free. The government has not yet given out a medical license to electronic cigarettes that contain nicotine. Magpie Pty Limited must adhere to the regulations set including analyzing the transport industry, local authorities and property owners. The transport industry includes airports if the cigarettes are meant for export and further distribution. Some airports however do not allow use of electronic c igarettes. The political environment in Japan is partially seen to be supporting sale of electronic cigarettes. This can be evident by the fact that electronic cigarettes are not exposed to the same tax laws as compared

MANAGEMENT RESEARCH REPORT Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 8250 words

MANAGEMENT RESEARCH REPORT - Essay Example 2010) Additionally the number of customers and potential customers who visited the shop floor and the website of the company have decreased as seen in the table below. Table 2: CUSTOMERS/WEBSITE VISITORS FOR CAPITAL 04 LTD. YEAR SHOPFLOOR CUSTOMERS WEBSITE VISITORS 2005 1,000,000 45,000 2006 800,000 37,500 2007 650,000 25,000 2008 250,000 20,000 2009 100,000 10,000 2010 20,000 3,000 (Source: Capital 04 Ltd. Data 2010.) The evidences given in the tables above are clear manifestation of the financial instability and poor growth in Capital 04 Limited, which this report sorts to reverse as a way forward for the company. The main issue in this case is the analysis of the financial issues in the company including analysing the reasons behind the aspect. Scope of Report The report would try to analyse the reasons behind the poor financial state and performance of the company. It would also try to investigate the possible reasons that may have led to Capital 04 becoming unprofitable. This wo uld include analysing the business model of the company and would try to find any gaps in the business model that may have led to this situation. The study would include analysis of data from secondary as well as primary sources in an attempt to find a solution for the organisation that would help it to maintain sustainability and remain viable for the next course of time. The primary research would involve a comprehensive analysis of the issues faced by the company from various perspectives. What is more, the report would ultimately present a set of credible recommendations that would help the company to get back to profitability and maintain market sustainability. Constraints The project would... The research affirms that over the past few decades, the consumer perceptions have greatly altered in terms of their beliefs and needs. The patience level with which to wait to be served or be satisfied with the product has reduced. With the advancement in technology we have to come to expect complete deliver and that too in time. This change in dynamics of customer thinking has led to a transformation in the whole procedure from the preparation of the product, through retailing and finally to the consumers. This has transformed the whole supply chain deriving from costs to service requirements along with the customer and retailer change. The retail business has been a line a work that has greatly contributed to increasing the efficiency and productivity of consumer products as well as the service sector. It happens to be one of the largest established businesses in terms of number of establishments and employees in United States of America. Other than USA, the retail sector also hap pens to be a major entity contributing to the economies of other nations as well. The last decade however, has caused a major flux in the retail business environment. There are two sides of this scenario; on one side the hike in the private labels and promotions have contributed to increasing the power of the retailers. On the other side however, the increase in the number of discounters and warehouses have taken a major toll on the traditional retailers and has also increased the competitiveness in the industry.

Reliability and Validity Essay Example for Free

Reliability and Validity Essay Reliability is defined as the consistency of the measurement. The term can also be defined as the extent to which one instrument can be used in a similar way, every time it is utilized under similar circumstance, and with similar subjects. This is what it means to say that the measurements or the instruments are reliable. It is also the repeatability of measurement. Any measurement is considered reliable where the results of the same test are the same. It is crucial to note that reliability cannot be measured, but it is given as an estimate. To find out the reliability of a measurement, it is important to carry out an experiment more than once or use the same instrument for similar experiments. There are two basic kinds of reliability: test/retest and internal consistency. The first type is the most traditional approach in estimating reliability. The argument behind this approach is that there should be similar results in test 1 and test 2. The three basic concepts of this approach are: the measuring instrument should be implemented in two differing tests for every subject; the relationship between the two tests should be accurately computed; and the assumption that the fundamental condition should be made between the two tests. The other approach is the estimation of reliability by listing queries in a questionnaire that gauge the same concept. For instant, two groups of three queries can be written that gauge the same concept. Then the relationship between the two sets of three queries can be run to evaluate the reliability of the instrument. It is important to know how reliability test ought to be. Some of the guidelines to reliability are . 90 indicates high reliability, . 80 indicates moderate reliability, and . 70 indicates low reliability. High reliability is revealed where the majority of standardized tests show a score of . 90. For majority tests, low reliability is where for majority of standardized tests reveal a score of . 70. This is equivalent to 49 percent consistent variation. Reliability estimate of . 80 are moderate, where the estimate is below . 60, it is usually considered inappropriately low (Worthen, Borg and White, 1993). Validity refers to the strength of conclusions, deductions and proposals. A more formal definition by Cook and Campbell (1979) is that validity is the best estimate of the accuracy and inaccuracy available, of a provided deduction, proposal or conclusion. It is basically the degree to which a test does what it is supposed to do. It is the subjective finding that is based on experimentation and empirical pointers. There are two basic types of validity: face validity and construct validity. The face validity is the most basic and must be supported by other types. What is refers to is whether on the surface the measure seems to measure does what it is supposed to do. Face validity is the beginning point, and it is not valid for any use. The test has been used to indicate high reliability in punishing witches. From this test, it is estimated that 100,000 women argued to be witches were condemned and burnt. A measure that has construct validity is one that has been proved to measure what it is supposed to gauge. Criterion, which includes predictive and concurrent; convergence, and discriminative validity are elements that contributive to construct validity. Validity and reliability of the development of experimental evaluations is a basic part of the scientific method. Without a reliable and valid method, accurate scientific results and deductions cannot be obtained (Worthen, Borg and White, 1993). Freuds Theory of Personality vs. Neo-Freudian Psychoanalytic Theories Sigmund Freud was the first individual to come up with the theory that explains how the mind or psyche operates. He developed his ideas from working with people suffering from psychological disorders. He held the belief that personality is made up of three basic structures. The three are the id, the ego and the superego. The id according to Freud is the structure that has instincts. He argued that this structure is totally unconscious. This means that the id does not have any contact with the realism (Mischel, 1999). The second structure of personality comes up as a child experiences the demands and limitations of the realism. This structure is what Freud referred to as the ego. This according to Freud is the structure of personality that emerges to deal with the stresses and the constraints of the reality. It is considered the executive structure of personality. This is due to the fact that it utilizes reason in decision making. According to Freud the ego and the id lack morality. They do not take into consideration what is wrong or right. The moral structure of personality according to Freud is the superego. It is the branch that takes into consideration if an act is right or wrong. It is what is basically known as the conscience. The consideration of Freud about personality is that it is similar to an iceberg. This means that most of our personality is in existence beneath our degree of consciousness. His argument is that most of the personality exists in this form. In examining people’s personality, there is revelation of the evidence of ego and superego. Where the two are partly unconscious and partly conscious, the id is the unconscious, which means that it is one that exists below our awareness. The ego utilizes the defense mechanism to solve the conflict between wishes of the id and the limitations of the superego. Freud added that it is the contradicting demands of the personality structures that lead to anxiety. According to Freud, oppression is the strongest and most persistent defense mechanism. It is the mechanism that pushes the unacceptable demands of the id out of consciousness. It is basically the foundation of all the other defense mechanisms (Mitchell and Black, 1995). Neo-Freudian theorists are those who were in agreement with the ideas of Freud, but transformed them and used them to come up with their own theories. The ideas of Freud, though controversial have influenced a lot of theorists. Most of the theorists support the idea of the unconscious psyche and its significance in childhood. There are other ideas that the theorists did not agree with. Some of these thinkers include Carl Jung, Alfred Adler, Erich Fromm, Erik Erikson and Karen Horney. Jung was in agreement with the idea of the unconscious mind. There are various reasons as to why most of these theorists disagreed with Freud. Erikson disagreed with the idea that personality is developed entirely from childhood experiences. There are a number of general similarities between the ideas of Freud and those of the neo-Freudian theorists. There was agreement with the fact that the unconscious is the key influence of character (Mischel, 1999). They also agreed that there is influence on personality from childhood events. The Neo-Freudian theorist like Jung agreed with the ideas of defense mechanism and dream interpretation. The neo-Freudian theorists disagreed with the argument that development stopped at age five or six. They also did not agree with instinctual drives. The other thing that they failed to agree on is the emphasis on the pathological factions of personality, degrading and pessimistic. From the point of view of one of the neo-Freudian theorists, the paper will evaluate Alfred Adler. He agreed with Freud on the importance of the initial years of one’s life. He also agreed with the unconsciousness of what drives us. He also agreed on the ideas of Freud on dream interpretation and analysis. His disagreement was based on the influence of the parents in a child’s development, people actively establishing their own destiny; availability of therapy goals; and the influence of superiority, not sexuality (Mitchell and Black, 1995). The Situation versus Trait Controversy The situation versus trait controversy is a topic that has been assessed, discussed, analyzed and resolved by very many psychologists in the past few years. This controversy is basically the disagreement on whether it the situation or traits that are responsible for the character of a person. The debate is said to have been started by Walter Mischel in his title Personality and Assessment. The book offered to empirical arguments about the approach to personality. His first argument was that character traits have a relationship of approximately 0. 30 with the way individuals behave in specific situations. The other argument is that the cross-situational constancy of character is about 0. 20 to 0. 30. His conclusion was that character traits are not positive predictors of the way people behave. He added that situations are more significant in people’s behavior. He also claimed that character traits do not exist in reality. This was supported by the argument that behavior changes with situation. His ideas arose a lot of debates on the issue with some people in support and others opposing. During this time, there were psychologists who were already carrying out researches to measure personality. The ideas of Mischel were supported by the critics of personality. They were basically behaviorism theorists who claimed that the best explanation of behavior was the environment. They based this argument on the notion of psychology being a science of tangibles and observables as opposed to intangibles like emotions, character traits and thoughts. For some time this idea was adapted quite a number of psychologists (Mischel, 1999). The other side of the debate took effect from the 70s, where psychologists began accepting the innate states like cognitions that influence how people behave. From this point of view, it is argued that the character traits are the ones that determine how people behave. This is the side of the debate that garnered more support that the situation one. Many of the psychologists now are in agreement with the fact that character traits exists in reality and that it is best suited in predicting behavior that the environment. The agreement is that both of the experimental arguments by Mischel were partially accurate, but the relationships approximations of 0. 30 between character traits and the way people behave, and behavior across environments, were given by other psychological researchers to be 0. 40. The supporters of the situation side of argument did not anticipate questions about the interpretation of their empirical results. It was not possible to tell whether it was 0. 30 or 0. 40 that was the small correlation (Fleeson and Noftle, 2009). It was also not possible to tell how this compared to the relationship between environments and how people behave. The answers were provided by two supporters of trait psychology, David Funder and Dan Ozer. They provided the answers by reviewing the different standard experiments in social psychology. These experiments were aimed at establishing how behavior is affected by environment. One of the studies evaluated was by Stanley Milgram. This is the study on obedience that employed counterfeit electric shocks to establish the way individuals reacting to hurting others. Here Funder and Ozer realized that the relationship between environments and the way people behave was from 0. 36-0. 42. This was almost similar to predictive capability of character traits. Another study that nullified the work of Mischel was the findings of Seymour Epstein. His findings suggested that in one complete behavior over a considerable period of time, as opposed to viewing single situations, the cross-situational constancy of the way people behave can be normally as high as 0. 80 to 0. 90. This means that the trait side of the controversy seemed to carry more weight than the situation side. The trait side of explaining behavior is what is followed by most psychologists currently, although studies are always being carried out (Fleeson and Noftle, 2009). References: Fleeson, W. , Noftle, E. E. (2009). The End of the Person-Situation Debate: an Emerging Synthesis in the Answer to the Consistency Question, Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 2 (4), 1667-1684. Mischel, W. (1999). Introduction to Personality. Sixth edition. Fort Worth, Texas: Harcourt Brace. Mitchell, S. Black, M. J. (1995). Freud and Beyond: a History of Modern Psychoanalytic Thought. New York: Basic Books. Worthen, B. R. , Borg, W. R. , and White, K. R. (1993). Measurement and Evaluation in the School. New York: Longman.

Impact of Social Networking Sites on Children

Impact of Social Networking Sites on Children Social networking sites offer people new and varied ways to communicate via the internet,  whether through their PC or their mobile phone. Examples include MySpace, Facebook and  Bebo. They allow people to easily and simply create their own online page or profile and to  construct and display an online network of contacts, often called friends. Users of these  sites can communicate via their profile both with their friends and with people outside their list of contacts. The rapid growth of social networking sites in recent years indicates that they are now a mainstream communications technology for many people. Social networking sites are most popular with teenagers and young adults Research shows that just over one fifth (22%) of adult internet users aged 16+ and  almost half (49%) of children aged 8-17 who use the internet have set up their own profile on a social networking site.4 For adults, the likelihood of setting up a profile is highest among 16-24 year olds (54%) and decreases with age. Some under-13s are by-passing the age restrictions on social networking sites Despite the fact that the minimum age for most major social networking sites is usually 13  (14 on MySpace), 27% of 8-11 year olds who are aware of social networking sites say that  they have a profile on a site. While some of these younger users are on sites intended for  younger children, the presence of underage users on social networking sites intended for  those aged 13 or over was also confirmed by qualitative research . The average adult social networker has profiles on 1.6 sites, and most users check their profile at least every other day. Adult social networkers use a variety of sites, with the main ones being Bebo, Facebook and  MySpace. 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 have a social networking site profile), and the most popular site for adults is Facebook (62% of those who have a social networking profile). Two-thirds of parents claim to set rules on their childs use of social  networking sites, although only 53% of children said that their parents set  such rules For many children, the rules and restrictions that their parents set on social networking site  usage are an important influencing factor in the childs use of social networking sites. Two thirds of parents whose children have a social networking page say they set rules on their  childs use of these sites. Most commonly these concerned meeting new people online and  giving out personal details. However, significantly fewer children (53% of those with social  networking profiles) say that their parents set rules on their use of these sites. Attitudes and behaviours towards social networking sites Social networkers fall into distinct groups Social networkers differ in their attitudes to social networking sites and in their behaviour  while using them. 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 (a minority) people who used sites in intense short bursts to flirt,  meet new people, and be entertained. Attention Seekers (some) people who craved attention and comments from others,  often by posting photos and customising their profiles. Followers (many) people who joined sites to keep up with what their peers were  doing. Faithfuls (many) people who typically used social networking sites to rekindle old  friendships, often from school or university. Functionals (a minority) people who tended to be single-minded in using sites for a  particular purpose. Non-users of social networking sites also fall into distinct groups Non-users also appear to fall into distinct groups; these groups are based on their reasons  for not using social networking sites: 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. Introduction INDUSTRY OVERVIEW Social Networking sites- Overview A  social network service  focuses on building and reflecting of  social networks  or  social relations  among people, e.g., who share interests and/or activities. A social network service essentially consists of a representation of each user (often a profile), his/her social links, and a variety of additional services. Most social network services are  web based  and provide means for users to interact over the  internet, such as  e-mail  and  instant messaging. Although  online community  services are sometimes considered as a social network service in a broader sense, social network service usually means an individual-catered service whereas  online community  services are group-centred. Social networking sites allow users to share ideas, activities, events, and interests within their individual networks. The main types of social networking services are those which contain category places (such as former school-year or classmates), means to connect with friends (usually with self-description pages) and a recommendation system linked to trust. Popular methods now combine many of these, with  Facebook,  Bebo  and  Twitter  widely used worldwide;  MySpace  and  LinkedIn  being the most widely used in North America;[1]HYPERLINK http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NexopiaNexopia  (mostly in Canada);[2]  Bebo,[3]  Hi5,  Hyves  (mostly in The Netherlands),  StudiVZ  (mostly in Germany),  iWiW  (mostly in Hungary),Tuenti  (mostly in Spain),  Decayenne,  Tagged,  XING;[4],  BadooHYPERLINK #cite_note-4[5]  and  Skyrock  in parts of Europe;[6]  Orkut  and  Hi5  in  South America  andCentral America;[7]  and  Friendster,  Mixi,  Multiply,  Orkut,  Wretch,  renren  and  Cyworld  in Asia and the Pacific Islands and  Orku t  and  Facebookin India. There have been some attempts to standardize these services to avoid the need to duplicate entries of friends and interests (see the  FOAFstandard and the  Open Source Initiative ), but this has led to some concerns about privacy. Although some of the largest social networks were founded on the notion of digitizing real world connections, many other networks as seen in the  List of social networking websites  focus on categories from books and music to non-profit business to motherhood as ways to provide both services and community to individuals with shared interests. Typical structure In general, social networking services allow users to create a profile for themselves, and can be broken down into two broad categories: internal social networking (ISN) and external social networking (ESN) sites such  as  MySpace,  Facebook,  Twitter  and  Bebo. Both types can increase the feeling of community among people. An ISN is a closed/private community that consists of a group of people within a company, association, society, education provider and organization or even an invite only group created by a user in an ESN. An ESN is open/public and available to all web users to communicate and are designed to attract advertisers. ESNs can be smaller specialized communities (i.e. linked by a single common interest e.g. TheSocialGolfer, ACountryLife.Com, Great Cooks Community) or they can be large generic social networking sites (e.g. MySpace, Facebook etc). However, whether specialized or generic there is commonality across the general approach of social networking sites. Users can upload a picture of themselves, create their profile and can often be friends with other users. In most social networking services, both users must confirm that they are friends before they are linked. For example, if  Alice  lists Bob as a friend, then Bob would have to approve Alices friend request before they are listed as friends. Some social networking sites have a favorites feature that does not need approval from the other user. Social networks usually have privacy controls that allows the user to choose who can view their profile or contact them, etc. Social networking sites typically have a section dedicated to comments by friends. On Friendster, this section is called Testimonials. On Facebook, this section is called The Wall. In the beginning, this was a feature that encouraged people to write messages about the person in the profile. But over time, people started writing creative testimonials back, creating a form of conversation.[32] Some social networking sites are created for the benefits of others, such as parents social networking site Gurgle. This website is for parents to talk about pregnancy, birth and bringing up children. .com. This social network allows professionals to exchange information, opportunities, and ideas. Professionals are able to stay informed with new knowledge about their field  Some social networks have additional features, such as the ability to create  groups  that share common interests or affiliations, upload or stream live videos, and hold discussions in forums.  Geo social networking co-opts internet mapping services to organize user participation around geographic features and their attributes. There is also a trend for more  interoperability between social networks  led by technologies such as  OpenID  and  Open Social. Lately, mobile social networking has become popular. In most mobile communities, mobile phone users can now create their own profiles, make friends, participate in chat rooms, create chat rooms, hold private conversations, share photos and videos, and share blogs by using their mobile phone. Mobile phone users are basically open to every option that someone sitting on the computer has. Some companies provide wireless services which allow their customers to build their own mobile community and brand it, but one of the most popular wireless services for social networking in North America is Facebook Mobile. Other companies provide new innovative features which extend the social networking experience into the real world. Another social networking feature in a professional aspect is LinkedIn. Emerging trends in social networks As the increase in popularity of social networking is on a constant rise, new uses for the technology are constantly being observed. At the forefront of emerging trends in social networking sites is the concept of real time and location based. Real time allows users to contribute content, which is then broadcasted as it is being uploaded the concept is similar to live television broadcasts.   Twitter  set the trend for real time services, where users can broadcast to the world what they are doing, or what is on their minds within a 140 character limit.  Facebook  followed suit with their Live Feed where users activities are streamed as soon as it happens. While Twitter focuses on words,  Clixtr, another real time service, focuses on group photo sharing where users can update their photo streams with photos while at an event. Friends and nearby users can contribute their own photos and comments to that event stream, thus contributing to the real time aspect of broadcasting photos and comments as it is being uploaded. In the location based social networking space,  Foursquare  gained popularity as it allowed for users to check-in to places that they are frequenting at that moment.  Gowalla  is another such service which functions in much the same way that Foursquare does, leveraging the  GPS  in phones to create a location based user experience. Clixtr, though in the real time space, is also a location based social networking site since events created by users are automatically geotagged, and users can view events occurring nearby through the Clixtr  iPhone  app. Recently,Yelp  announced its entrance into the location based social networking space through check-ins with their mobile app; whether or not this becomes detrimental to Foursquare or Gowalla is yet to be seen as it is still considered a new space in the internet technology industry.[35] One popular use for this new technology is social networking between businesses. Companies have found that social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter are great ways to build their brand image. According to Jody Nimetz, author of Marketing Jive[36], there are five major uses for businesses and social media: to create brand awareness, as an online reputation management tool, for recruiting, to learn about new technologies and competitors, and as a lead gen tool to intercept potential prospects.[36]. These companies are able to drive traffic to their own online sites while encouraging their consumers and clients to have discussions on how to improve or change products or services. One other use that is being discussed is the use of Social Networks in the Science communities. Julia Porter Liebeskind et al. have published a study on how New Biotechnology Firms are using social networking sites to share exchanges in scientific knowledge.  They state in their study that by sharing information and knowledge with one another, they are able to increase both their learning and their flexibility in ways that would not be possible within a self-contained hierarchical organization. Social networking is allowing scientific groups to expand their knowledge base and share ideas, and without these new means of communicating their theories might become isolated and irrelevant. Social networks are also being used by teachers and students as a communication tool. Because many students are already using a wide-range of social networking sites, teachers have begun to familiarize themselves with this trend and are now using it to their advantage. Teachers and professors are doing everything from creating chat-room forums and groups to extend classroom discussion to posting assignments, tests and quizzes, to assisting with homework outside of the classroom setting. Social networks are also being used to foster teacher-parent communication. These sites make it possible and more convenient for parents to ask questions and voice concerns without having to meet face-to-face. Social networks are being used by activists as a means of low-cost grassroots organizing. Extensive use of an array of social networking sites enabled organizers of the 2009  National Equality March  to mobilize an estimated 200,000 participants to march on Washington with a cost savings of up to 85% per participant over previous methods.[38] The  use of online social networks by libraries  is also an increasingly prevelant and growing tool that is being used to communicate with more potential library users, as well as extending the services provided by individual libraries Issues Privacy On large social networking services, there have been growing concerns about users giving out too much personal information and the threat of  sexual predators. Users of these services also need to be aware of  data theft  or  viruses. However, large services, such as  MySpace  and  Netlog, often work with law enforcement to try to prevent such incidents.[citation needed] In addition, there is a perceived privacy threat in relation to placing too much personal information in the hands of large corporations or governmental bodies, allowing a profile to be produced on an individuals behaviour on which decisions, detrimental to an individual, may be taken. Furthermore, there is an issue over the control of dataâ‚ ¬Ã¢â‚¬ information that was altered or removed by the user may in fact be retained and/or passed to 3rd parties. This danger was highlighted when the controversial social networking site  Quechup  harvested e-mail addresses from users e-mail accounts for use in a  spamming  operation.[43] In medical and scientific research, asking subjects for information about their behaviors is normally strictly scrutinized by  institutional review boards, for example, to ensure that adolescents and their parents have  informed consent. It is not clear whether the same rules apply to researchers who collect data from social networking sites. These sites often contain a great deal of data that is hard to obtain via traditional means. Even though the data are public, republishing it in a research paper might be considered  invasion of privacy.[44] Privacy on Facebook is undermined by three principal factors: users disclose too much, Facebook does not take adequate steps to protect user privacy, and third parties are actively seeking out end-user information using Facebook. Every day teens go on social networking sites and reveal their most inner thoughts for the whole world to see. Information such as street address, phone number, Instant Messaging name are disclosed to an unknown population in cyberspace. Whats more, the creation of a Facebook, MySpace, Twitter etc. account is a fairly easy process to do and no identification is required, which can lead to identity theft or impersonation. For the Net generation, social networking sites have become the preferred forum for social interactions, from posturing and role playing to simply sounding off. However, because such forums are relatively easy to access, posted content can be reviewed by anyone with an interest in the users personal information. There has been a trend for social networking sites to send out only positive notifications to users. For example sites such as Bebo, Facebook, and Myspace will not send notifications to users when they are removed from a persons friends list. Similarly Bebo will send out a notification if a user is moved to the top of another users friends list but no notification is sent if they are moved down the list. This allows users to purge undesirables from their list extremely easily and often without confrontation since a user will rarely notice if one person disappears from their friends list. It also enforces the general positive atmosphere of the website without drawing attention to unpleasant happenings such as friends falling out, rejection and failed relationships. Many social networking services, such as Facebook, provide the user with a choice of who can view their profile. This prevents unauthorized user(s) from accessing their information.[49]Parents have become a big problem to teens who want to avoid their parents to access their MySpace or Facebook accounts. By choosing to make their profile private, teens are able to select who can see their page and this prevents unwanted parents from lurking. This will also mean that only people who are added as friends will be able to view the profile. Teens are constantly trying to create a structural barrier between their private life and their parent A common misuse of social networking sites such as Facebook is that it is occasionally used to emotionally abuse individuals. Such actions are often referred to as trolling. It is not rare for confrontations in the real world to be translated online. Online bullying (aka Cyber-bullying) is a relatively common occurrence and it can often result in emotional trauma for the victim. Depending on the networking outlet, up to 39% of users admit to being â‚ ¬Ã…“cyber-bulliedâ‚ ¬?.[54]  danah boyd, a researcher of social networks quotes a teenager in her article, Why Youth (Heart) Social Network Sites. The teenager expresses frustration towards networking sites like MySpace because it causes drama and too much emotional stress.[55]  There are not many limitations as to what individuals can post when online. Inherently individuals are given the power to post offensive remarks or pictures that could potentially cause a great amount of emotional pain for another individual. Interpersonal communication Interpersonal communication has been a growing issue as more and more people have turned to social networking as a means of communication.Benniger (1987) describes how mass media has gradually replaced interpersonal communication as a socializing force. Further, social networking sites have become popular sites for youth culture to explore themselves, relationships, and share cultural artefacts. Many teens and social networking users may be harming their interpersonal communication by using sites such as Facebook and MySpace. Stated by Baroness Greenfield, an Oxford University Neuroscientist, â‚ ¬Ã…“My fear is that these technologies are infantilizing the brain into the state of small children who are attracted by buzzing noises and bright lights, who have a small attention span and who live for the moment It is not unusual if you often hear your siblings or your friends talk about the people they have met and made friends with through the Internet as social networking is one of the phenomena that have taken the world of Internet by storm. Almost every Web surfer has an account in at least one of the  social networking sites, for these sites are the more enjoyable places to hang around in. Pros: Social networking sites  have paved the way for easier communication to your friends, family, or colleagues. One example is that instead of meeting in a certain place, you and your classmates could discuss a school activity by having a conference in a certain site that you are all members of, thus saving you time and effort. Virtual communities are also formed, which are composed of people connected together by common interests, purpose, and goal. People of different races also get to mingle with each other in just a few clicks. The idea of socializing with millions of people of different backgrounds excites the Web surfers. This is one thing that you can hardly do outside the virtual world. Communication with distant family and friends. Meet new people, be creative, and be yourself It entertains you when youre bored Social networking  websites  are a great way of keeping in touch with family and  friends. You can post blogs, share photos, use instant messaging (Myspace has its own instant messaging service), make comments and add people to your friends list. Social  networkingHYPERLINK http://www.blurtit.com/q430795.html  HYPERLINK http://www.blurtit.com/q430795.htmlsites  allow you to create a profile, where you can share your interests with other users and also, you can make new friends. These type of sites, Myspace in particular, are also used people such as bands or authors to build up friends in order to generate interest in their music and books Cons: Social networking sites require or give you the option to provide personal information such as your name, location, and email address. Unfortunately some people can take this as an opportunity for identity theft. They can copy your information and pretend to be you when engaging in illegal activities. Bad news! So be cautious with what you enter into an online networking site. You could fall into the trap of someone who pretends to be somebody else. For example, they might offer you a job or want to meet up with you just to get your money. This can lead to cyberstalking, where the stalker uses electronic media such as the Internet to pursue or harass you. there is also the chance of peoples profiles being hacked or identities being stolen   Another downside is that sites such as Myspace, which allow users to add their own background, are often very slow due to backgrounds taking up a lot of memory. This has led to users  computers  crashing every time they got onto a profile which uses up a lot of memory. Also, because these types of sites have millions of users, errors can often occur. It hampers the students the most. Students waste a lot of time on the social networking sites. This disturbs their education. It distracts you from your work that is needed to be done. Social Networking-Stats and figures The way we communicate online has gone through a sea-change over last few years. In fact, majority of net users spend most of their time on social Media / Networking sites. Even though  India Software companies are lagging behind  in adoption of social media, others are flocking them in large numbers. Twitter has been a rage over past 1 year, Facebook has become one of the most visited sites on the web, Professionals are flocking Linkedin and keep their profiles updated. Facebook  claims  that 50% of active users log into the site each day. This would mean  at least 175m users every 24 hours. Twitter  now has  75m user accounts, but only around 15m are active users on a regular basis. LinkedIn  has over  50m members worldwide.. Facebook currently has in excess of  350 million active users on global basis.Six months ago, this was 250mÃÆ' ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ã‚ ¦This means over 40% growth in less than 6 months. Flickr now hosts more than  4 billion images. More than 35m Facebook users update their status each day.   Wikipedia  currently  has in excess of  14m articles, meaning that itÃÆ' ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢s 85,000 contributors have written nearly a million new posts in six months. Photo uploads to Facebook have  increased by more than 100%.  Currently, there are around  2.5bn  uploads to the site each month. Back in 2009, the average user had 120 friends within Facebook. This is now around 130. Mobile is even bigger than before for Facebook, with  more than  65m users accessing the site through mobile-based devices.  In six months, this is over 100% increase. There are more than  3.5bn pieces of content  (web links, news stories, blog posts, etc.) shared each week on Facebook. There are now  11m LinkedIn users across Europe. Towards the  end of last year, the average number of tweets per day was over27.3 million. The average number of tweets per hour was around  1.3m. 15% of bloggers spend  10 or more  hours each week blogging, according to Technoratis new  State of the Blogosphere. At the current rate, Twitter will process almost  10 billion  tweets in a single year. About 70% of Facebook users are outside the USA. India is currently the fastest-growing country to use LinkedIn, with around 3m total users. More than 250 Facebook applications have over a  million  combined users each month. 70%  of bloggers are organically talking about brands on their blog. 38% of bloggers post brand or product reviews. More than  80,000  websites have implemented Facebook Connect since December 2008 and more than  60m  Facebook users engage with it across these external sites Top Social Networking sites in India 2010 Orkut.com Facebook.com Twitter Bharatstudent.com hi5.com ibibo.Com MySpace Sites LinkedIn.com PerfSpot.com BIGADDA.com Fropper.com friendster Literature Review Literature review Social Networking in Education BY Geetha Krishnana Overall, an astonishing 96 percent of students with online access report that they ever used any social networking technologies, such as chatting, text messaging, blogging and visiting online communitiesâ‚ ¬Ã‚ ¦Staggering as the 96 percent statistic is, it is intriguing to wonder what the other 4 percent is doing. Just e-mail and web surfing?Further, students report that one of the most common topics of conversation on the social networking scene is education. Almost 60 percent of students who use social networking talk about education topics online and, surprisingly, more than 50 percent talk specifically about schoolwork.Tempting as this statistic might sound to champions of the social-networking-for-education cause, it may be worth considering that most of the discussions that people have on education could be to do with help on homework and troublesome topics, classical problems that would otherwise get discussed in the college canteen perhaps.  It may not mean a new avenue for learning something new it is just a new medium to get problems shared and solved. That is not to say it is not a good thing, but it may not be much more than that.Nonconformistsâ‚ ¬Ã¢â‚¬ students who step outside of online safety and behavior rulesâ‚ ¬Ã¢â‚¬ are on the cutting edge of social networking, with online behaviors and skills that indicate leadership among their peers. The report offers some recommendations for school board members as well. Explore social networking sites.  This is an important recommendation because most often we tend to condemn something without really understanding it. Consider social networking for staff communication and professional development.  This could well help achieve the previous point as well. It will also serve to integrate students and staff in the networking space. Find ways of harnessing the educational value of social networking.  This is a seemingly motherhood statement, but it could be worthwhile for teachers to consciously think of projects and assignments to be executed through networking approaches. Ensure equitable access.  An obvious point, strengthen the access mechanisms for students to technology. Pay attention to nonconformists.  This has already been touched on earlier in this post. Re examine social networking policies.  Another obvious point, come at social networking as an integral component of the education process, not as a diversion. Facebook Impact on Student Grades Raises New Questions for Business BY Lawrence Walsh An Ohio State University study links Facebook use to lower grades. The study comes as businesses worry about the impact of social networking tools on worker productivity, integrity of their intellectual property and data security. Security vendors such as Websense, Fortinet and Trend Micro release new tools to combat embedded threats in social networks.As enterprises grapple with whether social networking creates security risks and productivity losses, a new study from the Ohio State University suggests there is a link between the use of Facebook and lower grades among college students.According to the survey of 219 students, those who said they use Facebook have grade point averages between 3.0 and 3.5 and study 1 to 5 hours per week. Conversely, non-Facebook users have GPAs between 3.5 and 4.0, and study 11 hours or more per week.The study found that 79 percent of Facebook users believe that it has no impact on their academic performance. Research methodology Research methodology Problem Definition In todays era, education is seriously getting hampered through these social networking sites. In the name of connectivity, students and teens are actually wasting a huge amount of time in facebooking and orkuting. The sufferer is none other than them, and the worst part is that they do not even realise it. 80% of the teens and students in India have atleast one active account in either facebook or orkut. So the need of the hour is to find out whether these social networking sites are useful or is it a mere waste of time. Hence, the research objective is to find the factors that motivates the students to open an account in the social networking sites and thus wasting time. Research Objectives 1)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  To find out whether Social networking sites are a threat or a helping hand for education 2)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  To find out the reasons that compel the students to join the networking chain   3) To find out ways by  which the social media can be used constructively in the field of education Research Methodology The research design that will be used would be exploratory research Impact of Social Networking Sites on Children Impact of Social Networking Sites on Children Social networking sites offer people new and varied ways to communicate via the internet,  whether through their PC or their mobile phone. Examples include MySpace, Facebook and  Bebo. They allow people to easily and simply create their own online page or profile and to  construct and display an online network of contacts, often called friends. Users of these  sites can communicate via their profile both with their friends and with people outside their list of contacts. The rapid growth of social networking sites in recent years indicates that they are now a mainstream communications technology for many people. Social networking sites are most popular with teenagers and young adults Research shows that just over one fifth (22%) of adult internet users aged 16+ and  almost half (49%) of children aged 8-17 who use the internet have set up their own profile on a social networking site.4 For adults, the likelihood of setting up a profile is highest among 16-24 year olds (54%) and decreases with age. Some under-13s are by-passing the age restrictions on social networking sites Despite the fact that the minimum age for most major social networking sites is usually 13  (14 on MySpace), 27% of 8-11 year olds who are aware of social networking sites say that  they have a profile on a site. While some of these younger users are on sites intended for  younger children, the presence of underage users on social networking sites intended for  those aged 13 or over was also confirmed by qualitative research . The average adult social networker has profiles on 1.6 sites, and most users check their profile at least every other day. Adult social networkers use a variety of sites, with the main ones being Bebo, Facebook and  MySpace. 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 have a social networking site profile), and the most popular site for adults is Facebook (62% of those who have a social networking profile). Two-thirds of parents claim to set rules on their childs use of social  networking sites, although only 53% of children said that their parents set  such rules For many children, the rules and restrictions that their parents set on social networking site  usage are an important influencing factor in the childs use of social networking sites. Two thirds of parents whose children have a social networking page say they set rules on their  childs use of these sites. Most commonly these concerned meeting new people online and  giving out personal details. However, significantly fewer children (53% of those with social  networking profiles) say that their parents set rules on their use of these sites. Attitudes and behaviours towards social networking sites Social networkers fall into distinct groups Social networkers differ in their attitudes to social networking sites and in their behaviour  while using them. 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 (a minority) people who used sites in intense short bursts to flirt,  meet new people, and be entertained. Attention Seekers (some) people who craved attention and comments from others,  often by posting photos and customising their profiles. Followers (many) people who joined sites to keep up with what their peers were  doing. Faithfuls (many) people who typically used social networking sites to rekindle old  friendships, often from school or university. Functionals (a minority) people who tended to be single-minded in using sites for a  particular purpose. Non-users of social networking sites also fall into distinct groups Non-users also appear to fall into distinct groups; these groups are based on their reasons  for not using social networking sites: 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. Introduction INDUSTRY OVERVIEW Social Networking sites- Overview A  social network service  focuses on building and reflecting of  social networks  or  social relations  among people, e.g., who share interests and/or activities. A social network service essentially consists of a representation of each user (often a profile), his/her social links, and a variety of additional services. Most social network services are  web based  and provide means for users to interact over the  internet, such as  e-mail  and  instant messaging. Although  online community  services are sometimes considered as a social network service in a broader sense, social network service usually means an individual-catered service whereas  online community  services are group-centred. Social networking sites allow users to share ideas, activities, events, and interests within their individual networks. The main types of social networking services are those which contain category places (such as former school-year or classmates), means to connect with friends (usually with self-description pages) and a recommendation system linked to trust. Popular methods now combine many of these, with  Facebook,  Bebo  and  Twitter  widely used worldwide;  MySpace  and  LinkedIn  being the most widely used in North America;[1]HYPERLINK http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NexopiaNexopia  (mostly in Canada);[2]  Bebo,[3]  Hi5,  Hyves  (mostly in The Netherlands),  StudiVZ  (mostly in Germany),  iWiW  (mostly in Hungary),Tuenti  (mostly in Spain),  Decayenne,  Tagged,  XING;[4],  BadooHYPERLINK #cite_note-4[5]  and  Skyrock  in parts of Europe;[6]  Orkut  and  Hi5  in  South America  andCentral America;[7]  and  Friendster,  Mixi,  Multiply,  Orkut,  Wretch,  renren  and  Cyworld  in Asia and the Pacific Islands and  Orku t  and  Facebookin India. There have been some attempts to standardize these services to avoid the need to duplicate entries of friends and interests (see the  FOAFstandard and the  Open Source Initiative ), but this has led to some concerns about privacy. Although some of the largest social networks were founded on the notion of digitizing real world connections, many other networks as seen in the  List of social networking websites  focus on categories from books and music to non-profit business to motherhood as ways to provide both services and community to individuals with shared interests. Typical structure In general, social networking services allow users to create a profile for themselves, and can be broken down into two broad categories: internal social networking (ISN) and external social networking (ESN) sites such  as  MySpace,  Facebook,  Twitter  and  Bebo. Both types can increase the feeling of community among people. An ISN is a closed/private community that consists of a group of people within a company, association, society, education provider and organization or even an invite only group created by a user in an ESN. An ESN is open/public and available to all web users to communicate and are designed to attract advertisers. ESNs can be smaller specialized communities (i.e. linked by a single common interest e.g. TheSocialGolfer, ACountryLife.Com, Great Cooks Community) or they can be large generic social networking sites (e.g. MySpace, Facebook etc). However, whether specialized or generic there is commonality across the general approach of social networking sites. Users can upload a picture of themselves, create their profile and can often be friends with other users. In most social networking services, both users must confirm that they are friends before they are linked. For example, if  Alice  lists Bob as a friend, then Bob would have to approve Alices friend request before they are listed as friends. Some social networking sites have a favorites feature that does not need approval from the other user. Social networks usually have privacy controls that allows the user to choose who can view their profile or contact them, etc. Social networking sites typically have a section dedicated to comments by friends. On Friendster, this section is called Testimonials. On Facebook, this section is called The Wall. In the beginning, this was a feature that encouraged people to write messages about the person in the profile. But over time, people started writing creative testimonials back, creating a form of conversation.[32] Some social networking sites are created for the benefits of others, such as parents social networking site Gurgle. This website is for parents to talk about pregnancy, birth and bringing up children. .com. This social network allows professionals to exchange information, opportunities, and ideas. Professionals are able to stay informed with new knowledge about their field  Some social networks have additional features, such as the ability to create  groups  that share common interests or affiliations, upload or stream live videos, and hold discussions in forums.  Geo social networking co-opts internet mapping services to organize user participation around geographic features and their attributes. There is also a trend for more  interoperability between social networks  led by technologies such as  OpenID  and  Open Social. Lately, mobile social networking has become popular. In most mobile communities, mobile phone users can now create their own profiles, make friends, participate in chat rooms, create chat rooms, hold private conversations, share photos and videos, and share blogs by using their mobile phone. Mobile phone users are basically open to every option that someone sitting on the computer has. Some companies provide wireless services which allow their customers to build their own mobile community and brand it, but one of the most popular wireless services for social networking in North America is Facebook Mobile. Other companies provide new innovative features which extend the social networking experience into the real world. Another social networking feature in a professional aspect is LinkedIn. Emerging trends in social networks As the increase in popularity of social networking is on a constant rise, new uses for the technology are constantly being observed. At the forefront of emerging trends in social networking sites is the concept of real time and location based. Real time allows users to contribute content, which is then broadcasted as it is being uploaded the concept is similar to live television broadcasts.   Twitter  set the trend for real time services, where users can broadcast to the world what they are doing, or what is on their minds within a 140 character limit.  Facebook  followed suit with their Live Feed where users activities are streamed as soon as it happens. While Twitter focuses on words,  Clixtr, another real time service, focuses on group photo sharing where users can update their photo streams with photos while at an event. Friends and nearby users can contribute their own photos and comments to that event stream, thus contributing to the real time aspect of broadcasting photos and comments as it is being uploaded. In the location based social networking space,  Foursquare  gained popularity as it allowed for users to check-in to places that they are frequenting at that moment.  Gowalla  is another such service which functions in much the same way that Foursquare does, leveraging the  GPS  in phones to create a location based user experience. Clixtr, though in the real time space, is also a location based social networking site since events created by users are automatically geotagged, and users can view events occurring nearby through the Clixtr  iPhone  app. Recently,Yelp  announced its entrance into the location based social networking space through check-ins with their mobile app; whether or not this becomes detrimental to Foursquare or Gowalla is yet to be seen as it is still considered a new space in the internet technology industry.[35] One popular use for this new technology is social networking between businesses. Companies have found that social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter are great ways to build their brand image. According to Jody Nimetz, author of Marketing Jive[36], there are five major uses for businesses and social media: to create brand awareness, as an online reputation management tool, for recruiting, to learn about new technologies and competitors, and as a lead gen tool to intercept potential prospects.[36]. These companies are able to drive traffic to their own online sites while encouraging their consumers and clients to have discussions on how to improve or change products or services. One other use that is being discussed is the use of Social Networks in the Science communities. Julia Porter Liebeskind et al. have published a study on how New Biotechnology Firms are using social networking sites to share exchanges in scientific knowledge.  They state in their study that by sharing information and knowledge with one another, they are able to increase both their learning and their flexibility in ways that would not be possible within a self-contained hierarchical organization. Social networking is allowing scientific groups to expand their knowledge base and share ideas, and without these new means of communicating their theories might become isolated and irrelevant. Social networks are also being used by teachers and students as a communication tool. Because many students are already using a wide-range of social networking sites, teachers have begun to familiarize themselves with this trend and are now using it to their advantage. Teachers and professors are doing everything from creating chat-room forums and groups to extend classroom discussion to posting assignments, tests and quizzes, to assisting with homework outside of the classroom setting. Social networks are also being used to foster teacher-parent communication. These sites make it possible and more convenient for parents to ask questions and voice concerns without having to meet face-to-face. Social networks are being used by activists as a means of low-cost grassroots organizing. Extensive use of an array of social networking sites enabled organizers of the 2009  National Equality March  to mobilize an estimated 200,000 participants to march on Washington with a cost savings of up to 85% per participant over previous methods.[38] The  use of online social networks by libraries  is also an increasingly prevelant and growing tool that is being used to communicate with more potential library users, as well as extending the services provided by individual libraries Issues Privacy On large social networking services, there have been growing concerns about users giving out too much personal information and the threat of  sexual predators. Users of these services also need to be aware of  data theft  or  viruses. However, large services, such as  MySpace  and  Netlog, often work with law enforcement to try to prevent such incidents.[citation needed] In addition, there is a perceived privacy threat in relation to placing too much personal information in the hands of large corporations or governmental bodies, allowing a profile to be produced on an individuals behaviour on which decisions, detrimental to an individual, may be taken. Furthermore, there is an issue over the control of dataâ‚ ¬Ã¢â‚¬ information that was altered or removed by the user may in fact be retained and/or passed to 3rd parties. This danger was highlighted when the controversial social networking site  Quechup  harvested e-mail addresses from users e-mail accounts for use in a  spamming  operation.[43] In medical and scientific research, asking subjects for information about their behaviors is normally strictly scrutinized by  institutional review boards, for example, to ensure that adolescents and their parents have  informed consent. It is not clear whether the same rules apply to researchers who collect data from social networking sites. These sites often contain a great deal of data that is hard to obtain via traditional means. Even though the data are public, republishing it in a research paper might be considered  invasion of privacy.[44] Privacy on Facebook is undermined by three principal factors: users disclose too much, Facebook does not take adequate steps to protect user privacy, and third parties are actively seeking out end-user information using Facebook. Every day teens go on social networking sites and reveal their most inner thoughts for the whole world to see. Information such as street address, phone number, Instant Messaging name are disclosed to an unknown population in cyberspace. Whats more, the creation of a Facebook, MySpace, Twitter etc. account is a fairly easy process to do and no identification is required, which can lead to identity theft or impersonation. For the Net generation, social networking sites have become the preferred forum for social interactions, from posturing and role playing to simply sounding off. However, because such forums are relatively easy to access, posted content can be reviewed by anyone with an interest in the users personal information. There has been a trend for social networking sites to send out only positive notifications to users. For example sites such as Bebo, Facebook, and Myspace will not send notifications to users when they are removed from a persons friends list. Similarly Bebo will send out a notification if a user is moved to the top of another users friends list but no notification is sent if they are moved down the list. This allows users to purge undesirables from their list extremely easily and often without confrontation since a user will rarely notice if one person disappears from their friends list. It also enforces the general positive atmosphere of the website without drawing attention to unpleasant happenings such as friends falling out, rejection and failed relationships. Many social networking services, such as Facebook, provide the user with a choice of who can view their profile. This prevents unauthorized user(s) from accessing their information.[49]Parents have become a big problem to teens who want to avoid their parents to access their MySpace or Facebook accounts. By choosing to make their profile private, teens are able to select who can see their page and this prevents unwanted parents from lurking. This will also mean that only people who are added as friends will be able to view the profile. Teens are constantly trying to create a structural barrier between their private life and their parent A common misuse of social networking sites such as Facebook is that it is occasionally used to emotionally abuse individuals. Such actions are often referred to as trolling. It is not rare for confrontations in the real world to be translated online. Online bullying (aka Cyber-bullying) is a relatively common occurrence and it can often result in emotional trauma for the victim. Depending on the networking outlet, up to 39% of users admit to being â‚ ¬Ã…“cyber-bulliedâ‚ ¬?.[54]  danah boyd, a researcher of social networks quotes a teenager in her article, Why Youth (Heart) Social Network Sites. The teenager expresses frustration towards networking sites like MySpace because it causes drama and too much emotional stress.[55]  There are not many limitations as to what individuals can post when online. Inherently individuals are given the power to post offensive remarks or pictures that could potentially cause a great amount of emotional pain for another individual. Interpersonal communication Interpersonal communication has been a growing issue as more and more people have turned to social networking as a means of communication.Benniger (1987) describes how mass media has gradually replaced interpersonal communication as a socializing force. Further, social networking sites have become popular sites for youth culture to explore themselves, relationships, and share cultural artefacts. Many teens and social networking users may be harming their interpersonal communication by using sites such as Facebook and MySpace. Stated by Baroness Greenfield, an Oxford University Neuroscientist, â‚ ¬Ã…“My fear is that these technologies are infantilizing the brain into the state of small children who are attracted by buzzing noises and bright lights, who have a small attention span and who live for the moment It is not unusual if you often hear your siblings or your friends talk about the people they have met and made friends with through the Internet as social networking is one of the phenomena that have taken the world of Internet by storm. Almost every Web surfer has an account in at least one of the  social networking sites, for these sites are the more enjoyable places to hang around in. Pros: Social networking sites  have paved the way for easier communication to your friends, family, or colleagues. One example is that instead of meeting in a certain place, you and your classmates could discuss a school activity by having a conference in a certain site that you are all members of, thus saving you time and effort. Virtual communities are also formed, which are composed of people connected together by common interests, purpose, and goal. People of different races also get to mingle with each other in just a few clicks. The idea of socializing with millions of people of different backgrounds excites the Web surfers. This is one thing that you can hardly do outside the virtual world. Communication with distant family and friends. Meet new people, be creative, and be yourself It entertains you when youre bored Social networking  websites  are a great way of keeping in touch with family and  friends. You can post blogs, share photos, use instant messaging (Myspace has its own instant messaging service), make comments and add people to your friends list. Social  networkingHYPERLINK http://www.blurtit.com/q430795.html  HYPERLINK http://www.blurtit.com/q430795.htmlsites  allow you to create a profile, where you can share your interests with other users and also, you can make new friends. These type of sites, Myspace in particular, are also used people such as bands or authors to build up friends in order to generate interest in their music and books Cons: Social networking sites require or give you the option to provide personal information such as your name, location, and email address. Unfortunately some people can take this as an opportunity for identity theft. They can copy your information and pretend to be you when engaging in illegal activities. Bad news! So be cautious with what you enter into an online networking site. You could fall into the trap of someone who pretends to be somebody else. For example, they might offer you a job or want to meet up with you just to get your money. This can lead to cyberstalking, where the stalker uses electronic media such as the Internet to pursue or harass you. there is also the chance of peoples profiles being hacked or identities being stolen   Another downside is that sites such as Myspace, which allow users to add their own background, are often very slow due to backgrounds taking up a lot of memory. This has led to users  computers  crashing every time they got onto a profile which uses up a lot of memory. Also, because these types of sites have millions of users, errors can often occur. It hampers the students the most. Students waste a lot of time on the social networking sites. This disturbs their education. It distracts you from your work that is needed to be done. Social Networking-Stats and figures The way we communicate online has gone through a sea-change over last few years. In fact, majority of net users spend most of their time on social Media / Networking sites. Even though  India Software companies are lagging behind  in adoption of social media, others are flocking them in large numbers. Twitter has been a rage over past 1 year, Facebook has become one of the most visited sites on the web, Professionals are flocking Linkedin and keep their profiles updated. Facebook  claims  that 50% of active users log into the site each day. This would mean  at least 175m users every 24 hours. Twitter  now has  75m user accounts, but only around 15m are active users on a regular basis. LinkedIn  has over  50m members worldwide.. Facebook currently has in excess of  350 million active users on global basis.Six months ago, this was 250mÃÆ' ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ã‚ ¦This means over 40% growth in less than 6 months. Flickr now hosts more than  4 billion images. More than 35m Facebook users update their status each day.   Wikipedia  currently  has in excess of  14m articles, meaning that itÃÆ' ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢s 85,000 contributors have written nearly a million new posts in six months. Photo uploads to Facebook have  increased by more than 100%.  Currently, there are around  2.5bn  uploads to the site each month. Back in 2009, the average user had 120 friends within Facebook. This is now around 130. Mobile is even bigger than before for Facebook, with  more than  65m users accessing the site through mobile-based devices.  In six months, this is over 100% increase. There are more than  3.5bn pieces of content  (web links, news stories, blog posts, etc.) shared each week on Facebook. There are now  11m LinkedIn users across Europe. Towards the  end of last year, the average number of tweets per day was over27.3 million. The average number of tweets per hour was around  1.3m. 15% of bloggers spend  10 or more  hours each week blogging, according to Technoratis new  State of the Blogosphere. At the current rate, Twitter will process almost  10 billion  tweets in a single year. About 70% of Facebook users are outside the USA. India is currently the fastest-growing country to use LinkedIn, with around 3m total users. More than 250 Facebook applications have over a  million  combined users each month. 70%  of bloggers are organically talking about brands on their blog. 38% of bloggers post brand or product reviews. More than  80,000  websites have implemented Facebook Connect since December 2008 and more than  60m  Facebook users engage with it across these external sites Top Social Networking sites in India 2010 Orkut.com Facebook.com Twitter Bharatstudent.com hi5.com ibibo.Com MySpace Sites LinkedIn.com PerfSpot.com BIGADDA.com Fropper.com friendster Literature Review Literature review Social Networking in Education BY Geetha Krishnana Overall, an astonishing 96 percent of students with online access report that they ever used any social networking technologies, such as chatting, text messaging, blogging and visiting online communitiesâ‚ ¬Ã‚ ¦Staggering as the 96 percent statistic is, it is intriguing to wonder what the other 4 percent is doing. Just e-mail and web surfing?Further, students report that one of the most common topics of conversation on the social networking scene is education. Almost 60 percent of students who use social networking talk about education topics online and, surprisingly, more than 50 percent talk specifically about schoolwork.Tempting as this statistic might sound to champions of the social-networking-for-education cause, it may be worth considering that most of the discussions that people have on education could be to do with help on homework and troublesome topics, classical problems that would otherwise get discussed in the college canteen perhaps.  It may not mean a new avenue for learning something new it is just a new medium to get problems shared and solved. That is not to say it is not a good thing, but it may not be much more than that.Nonconformistsâ‚ ¬Ã¢â‚¬ students who step outside of online safety and behavior rulesâ‚ ¬Ã¢â‚¬ are on the cutting edge of social networking, with online behaviors and skills that indicate leadership among their peers. The report offers some recommendations for school board members as well. Explore social networking sites.  This is an important recommendation because most often we tend to condemn something without really understanding it. Consider social networking for staff communication and professional development.  This could well help achieve the previous point as well. It will also serve to integrate students and staff in the networking space. Find ways of harnessing the educational value of social networking.  This is a seemingly motherhood statement, but it could be worthwhile for teachers to consciously think of projects and assignments to be executed through networking approaches. Ensure equitable access.  An obvious point, strengthen the access mechanisms for students to technology. Pay attention to nonconformists.  This has already been touched on earlier in this post. Re examine social networking policies.  Another obvious point, come at social networking as an integral component of the education process, not as a diversion. Facebook Impact on Student Grades Raises New Questions for Business BY Lawrence Walsh An Ohio State University study links Facebook use to lower grades. The study comes as businesses worry about the impact of social networking tools on worker productivity, integrity of their intellectual property and data security. Security vendors such as Websense, Fortinet and Trend Micro release new tools to combat embedded threats in social networks.As enterprises grapple with whether social networking creates security risks and productivity losses, a new study from the Ohio State University suggests there is a link between the use of Facebook and lower grades among college students.According to the survey of 219 students, those who said they use Facebook have grade point averages between 3.0 and 3.5 and study 1 to 5 hours per week. Conversely, non-Facebook users have GPAs between 3.5 and 4.0, and study 11 hours or more per week.The study found that 79 percent of Facebook users believe that it has no impact on their academic performance. Research methodology Research methodology Problem Definition In todays era, education is seriously getting hampered through these social networking sites. In the name of connectivity, students and teens are actually wasting a huge amount of time in facebooking and orkuting. The sufferer is none other than them, and the worst part is that they do not even realise it. 80% of the teens and students in India have atleast one active account in either facebook or orkut. So the need of the hour is to find out whether these social networking sites are useful or is it a mere waste of time. Hence, the research objective is to find the factors that motivates the students to open an account in the social networking sites and thus wasting time. Research Objectives 1)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  To find out whether Social networking sites are a threat or a helping hand for education 2)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  To find out the reasons that compel the students to join the networking chain   3) To find out ways by  which the social media can be used constructively in the field of education Research Methodology The research design that will be used would be exploratory research