CHAPTER – I

SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES – AN EXORDIUM

“Good content always has an objective; it’s created with intent.
It therefore carries triggers to action”

1.1 INTRODUCTION

A social networking site (also social networking service, SNS or social media) is
an online platform that is used by people to build social networks or social relations and
with other peoples. A social network is an online service, platform, or website focused
largely around uniting individuals, allowing them to communicate and interact. Facebook
is currently the world's largest and most popular social networking platform, having
supplanted previous champions like MySpace and Friendster. Social networking websites
provide rich information about the person and his network, which can be utilized for
various business purposes. Nowadays there are many websites dedicated to the Social
Networking, some popular websites are Facebook, Orkut, Twitter, Bebo, Myspace,
Friendster, hi5, Bharatstudent.com etc.,. Social network sites are called as `social
networking sites' to emphasize relationship initiation, often among strangers.

Social networking websites are sites that allow users to build a profile that will be made
public within an enclosed system. Social networking websites also allow users to display some
of the other users they communicate with and they allow them to view lists of other members
found within the system. The main purpose behind creation of a social networking website is to
enable persons to avail pre existing connections. Social networking websites have been created
for the purpose of initiating friendships between strangers.

The main types of social networking services are those that contain category,
means to connect with friends, and a recommendation system linked to trust. It has split
into three types: socializing social network services - primarily for socializing with
existing friends (e.g., Facebook); networking social network services - for non-social
interpersonal communication (e.g., LinkedIn, a career and employment-oriented site);
and helping users to find specific information or resources (e.g., Goodreads for books)

Social networking phenomenon has emerged over the past ten years. In that time,
social networking sites (SNS) have grown from a niche to a mass online activity, in

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which millions of internet users are engaged, both in their leisure time, and at work.
There are many features that attract the users towards the Social Networking Sites.

EVOLUTION OF SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES

Exhibit No.1.1.1. Evolution

Source : Casia 2014.

The first social networking websites was launched in the year 1997
Sixdegrees.com. This company was the first of its kind; it allowed user to list their
profiles, provide a list of friends and then contact them. However, the Company did not
do very well as it eventually closed three years later. The reason for this was that many
people using the internet at that time had not formed many social networks hence there
was little room for man oeuvre. It should be noted that there were other elements that
hinted at Social network websites. For instance, dating sites required users to give their
profiles but they could not share other people's websites. Additionally, there were some
websites that would link former school mates but the lists could not be shared with
others. After this there was the creation of Live Journal in the year 1999 and facilitate one
way exchanges of journals between friends. Another company in Korea called Cyworld
added some social networking features in the year 2001. Ryze.com was created for the
purpose of linking business men within San Francisco. The Company was under the
management of Friendster, LinkedIn, Tribe.net and Ryze. The latter company was the
least successful among all others. However, Tribe.net specialized in the business world
but Friendster initially did well; this did not last for long. (Cohen, 2003) The most significant
companies of social networking websites are Friendster, MySpace and Facebook.

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 Exhibit No.1.1.2. World Map of Social networks

Source : Alexa.com

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GRO
OWTH OF SOCIAL
S NE
ETWORK SITES IN INDIA

India now
w ranks as the
t seventh largest markket worldwidde for sociall networkingg,
after the U.S., China,
C Germaany, Russiann Federationn, Brazil andd the U.K. According to
t
ComS
Score, the to
otal Indian social
s networking audiennce grew 43 percent in the
t past yeaar,
more than tripling the rate off growth of the
t total Inteernet audiencce in India. More
M than 33
3
millioon Web useers in India aged 15 and above, vissited social networking sites in Jully
2010, up 43 percent over 2009. This group
g accounnted for 84 percent of the countryy's
overaall Internet audience.
a W Hodgmaan, executivve vice presiident of Asiia-Pacific foor
Will
ComS
Score, said in the repo
ort: "The soccial networkking phenom
menon contiinues to gaiin
steam
m worldwidee, and India represents
r onne of the fasstest growingg markets att the momen
nt.
‘Thouugh Faceboo
ok has tripleed its audience in the past
p year to pace the grrowth for th
he
categgory, severall other sociaal networkinng sites havve posted thheir own sizzeable gains."
The social
s netwo
orking juggeernaut last yeear had intennsified efforrts to expandd its presencce
in India, adding Hindi and five
f other Inndia dialectss to its langguage supporrt in a bid to
t
closee the gap agaainst Orkut, which
w had doominated thee local sociaal networkingg scene.

E
Exhibit No.1.1.3. Largesst Social Neetworks in th
he World

Soource: Globaal Web Index

x.

FACTORS TOW
WARDS SN
NS

Scrappin
ng

It is simillar to instantt messaging and the textt is availablee to public view.

v Thoug
gh
there are privacy
y options to
o show scrapps only to friends,
f its not
n a personnal means of
o

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comm
munication like
l e-mail or
o instant messaging.
m Liikeness for communitiees and friend
ds
netwoork states th
hat youth usee these sites to satisfy thheir socializaation needs to
t participatee/
join in
i communitties with likeeminded useers.

Profile seetting

Profile seetting is a means

m of exhhibiting the profile userr’s personaliity/identity as
a
how they
t want th
hemselves to
o be perceiveed by the proofile viewerss.

Photo sha
aring

User has options such

h as photo shharing only with
w friends and also specifically caan
choosse individuaals who can
n view the shared phootos while itt’s not visibble to otherrs
accesssing the pro
ofile. Social networking sites use succh stringent privacy setttings to avoiid
unsollicited breach of individu
ual’s personnal space.

Exhib
bit 1.1.4. – Popular
P Soccial Network
king Sites

oren Bartley,, Social Meddia Platformss, 2014

Source: Lo

Social nettworking is a tool used by people all

a around the world. Its purpose is to
t
prom
mote and aid communicaation. It is noot only channging the waay of commuunication, buut
to intteract with each
e other in
n daily life. The study mainly
m focussed on the popular Sociaal
Netw
working Sitess viz., Facebook, YouTuube, Pinterestt, Twitter, L
LinkedIn andd Instagram.

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FACEBOOK

Facebook began in February 2004 as a school-based social network at

Harvard University. One of the reasons credited for the rapid growth and
popularity of Facebook was its exclusivity. It is a popular free social
networking website that allows registered users to create profiles, upload photos and video,
send messages and keep in touch with friends, family and colleagues. Facebook is a social
networking website and service where users can post comments, share photographs and links
to news or other interesting content on the Web, play games, chat live, and even stream live
video. Shared content can be made publicly accessible, or it can be shared only among a
select group of friends or family, or with a single person. It offers a range of privacy options
to its members. A member can make all his/her communications visible to everyone, they
can block specific connections or they can keep all his communications private.

YOUTUBE

The Internet domain name www.youtube.com was activated on

Monday, February 14, 2005. The first YouTube video uploaded by its
co-founder Jawed Karim on April 23, 2005 titled “Me” at the zoo, at
San Diego Zoo. YouTube allows billions of people to discover, watch and share
originally-created videos. It provides a forum for people to connect, inform, and inspire
others across the globe and acts as a distribution platform for original content creators
and advertisers large and small. YouTube is a Google company and one of the most
popular sites on the Web, with visitors watching around 6 billion hours of video every
month. On an average, 100 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute, so
there's always something new to find all kinds of videos on YouTube adorable cats,
quirky cooking demos, funny science lessons, quick fashion tips, and a whole lot more.

PINTEREST

Pinterest was first conceptualized in December 2009 by its CEO Ben

Silbermann. It is a free photo sharing website that requires
registration to use. Users can upload, save, sort, and manage
images—known as pins—and other media content (e.g., videos)
through collections known as pinboards. Pinterest acts as a personalized media platform.

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Users can browse the content of others in their feed and save individual pins to one of
their own boards using the "Pin It" button, with Pinboards typically organized by a
central topic or theme.

Initially, there were several ways to register a new Pinterest account. Potential
users could either receive an invitation from a registered friend, or they could request an
invitation directly from the Pinterest website that could take some time to receive. An
account can be created and accessed by linking Pinterest to a Facebook or Twitter profile.
Pinterest allows businesses to create pages aimed at promoting their companies online.
Such pages can serve as a "virtual storefront". Like Facebook and Twitter, Pinterest now
let’s marketers access the data collected on its users. Globally, the site is most popular
with women. In 2012, a report found that 83% of the global users were women.

TWITTER

Twitter is a social network and real-time communication

services launched in 2006 and used by millions of people and
organizations to quickly share and discover information.
The word Twitter comes from the frequent chirping sound
made by birds, hence the bird used in the Twitter logo. Users
can access the site via the web and mobile devices to exchange frequent bite-size updates
of information called 'tweets' which are messages of up to 140 characters long that
anyone can send or read. These messages or tweets are public by default and visible to all
those who are following the tweeter. Twitter allows one to follow other users they are
interested and see their updates on their home page, which is an aggregate feed of all the
accounts they’re following.

Twitter is basically the best way to discover new content and keep up with
favourite topics of interest and people. Twitter lets one to exchange ideas and information
instantaneously bringing folks together from all across the globe unlike ever before. It is
an unbelievable resource for businesses to grow their audiences, increase traffic and
generate more leads. With over 400 million tweets a day and 200 million active users,
people tune into Twitter to bring them closer to the things they care about.

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LINKEDIN

LinkedIn is a business and employment-oriented social

networking service that operates via websites. Founded on
December 14, 2002 and launched on May 5, 2003, it is mainly
used for professional networking, including employers posting jobs and job seekers posting
their CVs. The goal of the site is to allow registered members to establish and document
networks of people they know and trust professionally. A LinkedIn member’s profile page
emphasizes skills, employment history and education, professional network news feeds and a
limited number of customizable modules. Basic membership for LinkedIn is free. Network
members are called “connections.” Unlike other free social networking sites like Facebook or
Twitter, LinkedIn requires connections to have a pre-existing relationship.

INSTAGRAM

Instagram is a social networking app made for sharing photos and

videos from a smartphone. Similar to Facebook or Twitter, everyone
who creates an account has a profile and news feed. The app was
purchased from its creators in 2012 by none other than the world’s
leading social media network, Facebook. Instagram was designed to capitalize on the
ever improving technology crossover between Smartphones and photography. Instagram
is the fastest growing social media platform in the world at present and it has over 400
million worldwide users (December 2015). It is the social media platform with the
highest rate of user engagement and the platform is estimated to receive over 100 million
new images uploads per day. Users engage via comments or likes and the platform
produces over 10,000 engagements every second. Instagram has huge penetration with
the tech savvy Millennial audience (18-30) who are the top online spending demographic.
Health, beauty and fashion are dominant categories within Instagram but travel and food
are also very popular.

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 Exhibit No.1.1.5. Most Effective Social Media Platforms

Source: FreemanXP and the Event Marketing Institute

Social networking is a phenomenon which has existed since society began.

Human beings have always sought to live in social environments. The proliferation of
social networking sites (SNS) and their pervasion in everyday practices is affecting how
modern Indian youth societies manage their social networks. To a significant extent, SNS
have shifted social networking to the Internet. There are various factors which have
prompted us to consider the implications of these technologies for policy-making. One of
these is the willingness of users to embrace SNS as a means of communication and social
networking in everyday life. The increasing dependence on technology for basic
communication highlights the importance of analyzing how SNS are affecting daily
processes. Sites like Face book, Friendster and LinkedIn are influencing the way users
establish, maintain and cultivate a range of social relationships, from close friendships to
casual acquaintances.

1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Recent technological developments in the smart phones, laptops and the Internet,
have lessened physical barriers to communication and make people communicate through
global network. Social network helps people to communicate easily and keep in contact
with old friends and colleagues. The growth and popularity of social networking sites
have generated concerns among users like students, business people, professional,
women society, communication experts and socio-psychological researchers. Due to
unprecedented growth of SNS in the past few years, many positive as well as negative
social and psychological issues have been associated with its use. Demographic variables

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like age and gender are influence the differential usage of these sites. Hence the study
focuses on examining the following factors associated with the usage of social
networking sites.

What are the various categories of social networking sites?

Which is the most popular social Networking site?

How the amounts of time spend by the users in various social networking sites?

Do the purposes of using social networking sites are due to obsession?

Whether the users enjoy the benefits of using social networking sites?

Do the users aware of dangers associated with social networking?

To what extent the strategies of ameliorating the dangers of social networking?

Social networking sites make the users to see one another as “objects” to be
accessed and only for the parts that the users find useful, comforting amusing. Hence,
there is a need to fashion out some means of selecting and using the right social
networking site responsibly. This study is concerned with the trend of use of the sites,
benefits derived from using the sites, the dangers associated with them and ways to avert
such dangers.

1.3 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

1. To elicit the source of awareness and usage pattern of social networking sites.

2. To explore the user (respondents) attitude towards using the social networking
sites.

3. To examine the influence of using social networking sites among the selected
personalities.

4. To identify the common benefits enjoyed by the respondents.

5. To find the risks involved while using the social networking sites.

6. To study the impact of using social networking sites in Tirupur city.

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1.4 SCOPE OF THE STUDY

Social networking sites have integrated into the daily routine of millions of users. An
important distinction between social networking sites and other communication technologies
is the articulated social network. Social networking sites have brought enormous changes in
interaction and social patterns. The identity information included in public profiles enables
interaction between people which is not possible otherwise. Individuals need to be in ‘face to
face’ situation for interaction which further depends on situational expectations. Hence, role
taking is important in every situation which involves communication. There are varied roles
to play and society is the stage where people enact these roles. The present study attempts to
examine the attitude, importance, risks and benefits of social networking sites. It also
concentrates on problems faced by users in using social networking sites.

1.5 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Methodology is the systematic analysis of the methods applied to the field of study,
or the theoretical analysis of the body of methods and principles associated with a branch of
knowledge. It deals with the definition of research problem, research design, methods of data
collection, sampling design, statistical tools employed and interpretation of survey data.

Area of Study

Tirupur is one of the fastest developing city in the Kongunadu region of the
Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is famous for cotton knitted garment wears. It is situated
near Coimbatore which is "The Manchester of South India". Tirupur is administered by
Municipal Corporation which was established in 2008 and the total area of the
corporation is 159.6 km2 divided into 60 wards. It is a part of the Tirupur constituency
that elects its member of parliament. Tirupur's hosiery factories are more profitable in
India's economy. It is one of the largest foreign exchange earning city in India. This city
accounts for 90 % of India's cotton knitwear exports to all over the world. Some of the
world's largest retailers including C&A, Nike, Walmart, Primark, Adidas, Switcher, Polo
Ralph Lauren, Diesel, Tommy Hilfiger, M&S, FILA, H&M, Reebok import textiles and
clothing from Tirupur. The total population of the city as per the 2011 census is 877778.
The textile industry provides employment to over six lakh people which contributed to
exports worth Rs.200 billion and also has a good educational infrastructure.

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Source of Data

To fulfil the objectives of the study both the primary and secondary data were
collected. The primary data have been collected from the personalities such as students,
homemakers, businesspersons, professionals and employees using social networking sites
in Tirupur city. The secondary data have been collected from books, Journals, Magazines
and from Internet sources.

Pilot Study

Before conducting the data collection, it is necessary to ascertain the applicability

of the research instruments to the study population. A structured questionnaire was framed
and pre-test of the questionnaire has executed with the research supervisor and colleagues.
Their suggestions and modifications were incorporated in the final questionnaire. In order to
ensure the reliability, pilot study was conducted with 30 samples from the study population
and its test results are adequate to perform the study. The purpose of the pilot study is to
estimate the expected response rate, calibrate the chosen statistical methods and to lend
credence to instrument validation. Based on the respondents of these groups, suitable
modifications were made to the statements included in the scales prepared.

Sampling Technique

The study adopted Stratified sampling technique. According to census 2011, the
total population of Tirupur city is 877778, which is considered as the population size of
the study. Many studies have insisted that young people were actively engaged in social
networking sites. An article shows that 11.6% of the Indian population were using the
social networking in 2015. Hence, the study population is estimated with this assumption
and the calculated population size is 101822. The sample size is determined by the
formula SS = (Z2 × (p) × (1-p)) / C2. Z value is 95% confidence level, p is percentage of
picking a choice (0.5), C is confidence interval (5) for the desired population (101822),
which determine the sample size as 383. The researcher would like to conduct the study
based on the occupational groups. In this study, five occupation groups were considered
and to make equal proportion of each occupation group 80 samples were estimated to
collect from each occupational group. Therefore, the final sample size for this study is 400.

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 The primary data that have been collected from the sample respondents of Tirupur
city have been properly stored, classified, edited, tabulated in a systematic manner and
analysed by applying appropriate statistical tools.

Exhibit No.1.5.1. Estimation of study population

Source: www.statista.com, share-of-Indian-population-using-social-networks

STATISTICAL TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES

The objectives framed for the present study formed the basis of the identification
of the relevant statistical techniques. The following statistical tools were used for analyze
the data:-

Percentage analysis

Chi-square analysis

Average score analysis

Average rank analysis

Analysis of variance (ANOVA)

Regression analysis

t - test

Correlation

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HYPOTHESIS

There is no significant difference between the selected demographic variables of

the respondents and influence on the source of awareness towards Social
Networking Sites.

There is no significant difference between the selected demographic variables of

the respondents and their attitude on Social Networking Sites.

There is no significant difference between the selected demographic variables of

the respondents and perceived risk towards Social Networking Sites.

There is no significant relationship between the benefits and problems associated

with Social Networking Sites.

There is no significant relationship on the impact level among the selected

personalities.

There is no significant difference among positive and negative impact of using

Social Networking Sites.

1.6 LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

The data for the present study were collected through questionnaire. As a result
generalization of the finding is not applicable to any similar situation.

The opinion towards social networking sites is limited to the specific timeframe.
The online-based social networking concept is continuously evolving from the
inception. Therefore, only limited factors have considered which may perceived
as continue in future and common ideas. The people mindset and their level of
bonding with social networking also may vary time-to-time.

The sample size of the study restricted to four hundred respondents due to paucity
of time and cost.

1.7 CONTOUR OF THE THESIS

The thesis has been divided into six chapters as given below, starting with the
Introduction and ending with the Summary and Conclusion.

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Chapter I : “Social Networking Sites - An Exordium” has outlined the
introduction, evolution and growth of Social Networking Sites, statement of
the problem, scope, objectives, research methodology, limitations and contour
of the thesis.

Chapter II : “Literature Abridgement – Flash from the Past” has brought

out certain uses and impact of Social Networking Sites on selected
personalities from the researchers done in the past.

Chapter III : “SNS – An Articulation of Informational Technology”

provides the theoretical background of Social networking Sites.

Chapter IV : “Conglomeration of Social Networking Sites: Percentage

Analysis” has enfolded the usage, awareness, attitude, importance, risk,
benefits, problems and impact of Social Networking Sites comparing
demographics of the respondents using percentage analysis.

Chapter V : “ Usage and Impact of using social Networking Sites” are

analysed using different statistical tools like Percentage analysis, Chi-square
analysis, Average score analysis, Average rank analysis, Analysis of variance
(ANOVA), Regression analysis, t – test and Correlation

Chapter VI : “Consummation – Wrap up” has covered the outcome and the
conclusion of the study. The scopes for further research were presented.

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