RESEARCH PAPER ETHICAL IMPACTS OF E-SOCIAL NETWORKS

ON

CULTURES LIKE INDIA: EXPLORING FACE

BOOK

Contents
Abstract ........................................................................................................................................... 3 Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 3 Related Work Theoretical grounding.............................................................................................. 4 Habermas: Structural transformation of the public sphere ............................................................. 4 Theoretical grounding ..................................................................................................................... 5 Gerbner: General model of communication ................................................................................ 5 Background of E-Social Networking .............................................................................................. 7 What is social Influence? .......................................................................................................... 10 Cultures in India ........................................................................................................................ 11 Research on Cross cultural differences in Social Networking Sites ......................................... 13 World in the eye of E-Social Networks .................................................................................... 14 Milgrams small-world study .................................................................................................... 15 Analyzing the Impact of E-Social Network .............................................................................. 16 How to overcome the Digital Divide?....................................................................................... 17 Rise of Social Media and its Implications: Social Media Segmentation .................................. 18 E-democracy.............................................................................................................................. 19 Transparency and Information .................................................................................................. 20 Conclusion and Discussion ....................................................................................................... 22 References ..................................................................................................................................... 23 May 11, 2011

Abstract

Introduction
In our country, the news media is a witness to, two noteworthy trends in this decade: People have already started to rely on online portals and news websites to view news events, when compared to traditional sources like newspapers and TV. This ratio is slated to increase further. 1. More than 1.4 million blog postings are uploaded each day, with a major chunk of these based on political topics or other issues. 2. The number of viewers reading these blogs on a daily basis is seeing an increasing trend over the years. 3. These trends indicate a radical shift from traditional ways of sourcing news and the manner in which people discuss current trends. We are looking into the implications of such trends on the news media and its effectiveness. To ensure more clarity, the term news media here refers to news and viewpoints regarding current topics telecast by television, newspapers, internet, radio and any news media is considered to be positively effective, if it is simple and easily understood by people, and provides them with detailed information and a space to have an unbiased viewpoint. The term participatory media refers to other media forms like online forums and blogs allowing people to take active part in news discussions. The question we seek to address is whether participatory media can improve the potentiality of media, and if t really does, then under what conditions? May 11, 2011

Related Work Theoretical grounding

What is the main reason for us to expect participatory media to improve medias capability? This is addressed by Habermass theory regarding the transformation of the public opinion, and his theory of communicative action.

Habermas: Structural transformation of the public sphere

In 1962, Habermas proposed a theory on the level of interaction between the private and public spheres in society. He recommends that traditionally the private circle of families and friends interact through salon room discussions, personal letters, and home get together that creates public opinion and promotes a human dimension in public services aided by the ruling dispensations in social welfare countries. However, the arrival of modern bourgeois society altered these equations when the bureaucratic press replaced the salons, and henceforth the manipulation of public opinion started. In an interesting way, the existing participatory media can be seen as resuscitating the traditional sphere of personal letters and encouraging salon discussions. For example, many blogs depict personal viewpoints of people that are set to reinforce the humanitarian perspective in public opinion. Similarly, websites like LiveJournal.Com allows people to write blogs freely and share them with their acquaintances. Few other blogs actively discuss and debate public policy comprising thousands of viewers, making them similar to large scale discussions, or comparable to Habermass theory of communicative action. The role of active participation that helps people to have a clarity regarding different topics is also supported by Habermas theory of communicative action, proposed in 1981. Habermas employs the twolevel Marxian model to show the difference between living world for social portrayal of culture and values, and the system that represents materialistic dimension of economic goods and services. (Beer.D, 2008) May 11, 2011 Communication in the life world, also called communicative action, strives to help people reach a consensus about some topic. Habermas claims that communicative action between agents can successfully help in reaching this consensus by adapting a framework of discourse guidelines for arguments put forth by the agents. For example, one of the rules state that agents can openly

dispute the statements made by others, and can justify the arguments that they have made. It is claimed that the rules framed result in a common understanding between agents. The argumentative aspect and the need for accountability in participatory media guidelines make them identical to communicative action, and therefore lead to more acceptances. Habermas also contends that the success of communicative actions is dependent on similarities in cultural aspects and linguistics, which foster easy discerning. The same factor also exists in participatory media where in blogs are usually exchanged among common friends, who are inclined to share the same cultural backgrounds, helping them to understand each other in a much better way. (Massa.P.et.al, 2004)

Theoretical grounding
Though Habermass theories explains why participatory media would enhance media effectiveness, they do not mention anything about the real framework through which people are exposed to diverse viewpoints or more understanding. They are very theoretical and more details are required to convert these theories into practical constructs. Gerbners general model of communication presents the initial point, which is later improvised using hypotheses about social networks. Gerbner: General model of communication Gerbner proposed a general model of communication in 1956, to address the shortcomings of previous models by Shannon, Lasswell, and Schramm. Here, communication is defined as an exchange of messages through words spoken by a person, or news articles written by a news agency, etc. According to this model, an observer makes an interpretation of message or an event according to his own experiences, presents them in another message, and transmits it to some other recipient. This recipient might further transmit it to another recipient, and then in a continuous manner. However, at each stage, the perceptions of the observer influence the May 11, 2011 message he/she creates, and affects the manner in which the original situation is looked at by the next recipient. Online social networking has seen massive growth in the number of participants. The number of unique visitors to Facebook, for example, increased to 270% i.e. 52 million in June 2007 from 14 million in June 2006 .During the same period, MySpace viewership increased by 72% from 66 million to 114 million users. In terms of time spent in January 2008, users spent

an average of 204 minutes during each visit on MySpace, which is on an average thirty minutes than Facebook. A survey among US college students revealed that Facebook was the second most sought-after activity (along with sex) after addiction to iPod [12]. The Government of China made an unsuccessful attempt to ban this and other active networks but ironically there are currently more than 100,000 Chinese users in China's English-version of Facebook. (Boyd. D.M) The benefits of online networking differ in many aspects. A study of users in UK found that 75% of respondents use web to be in touch with family and friends, 62% for visibility, 55% to articulate their out their opinions and views, and 49% of them to acquaint with people of similar interests. More than 70%, of these interactions occurs during the evening. In April 2007, a study was undertaken by Fox Interactive Media, Inc. on 3,000 individuals in US, which confirmed similar conclusions. Research specialists identified that 68% of respondents use social networking sites during evening time, 58% use such sites to keep in touch, while 44% to revive old contacts, 38% for entertainment, and 30% for locating people of same interests. Social networking is also synchronizing with online video gaming. KartRider and Kaneva are games that allow many people to interact, dance, buy virtual clothing, compare fashions, and pulverize monsters in a virtual setting. Facebook and MySpace are also involved in developing games. PicksPal, for instance, is a company that allows Facebook users to predict the champions in sporting events and rewards them with points for the right choice they make. The points can then be redeemed for prizes. The most recent form of social networking is the electronic business network. IBM has used such social networking interfaces internally since 2003 and now offers Lotus Connections software to its corporate customers for merging internal and external communications into a social computing format. LinkedIn, a rapidly growing social network, has 13,000 recruiters and 9 million users, out of senior executives constitute 1.2 million. Corporate subscribers include Deloitte & Touche, Microsoft, FedEx, eBay and Sony. Since mid 2007, Facebook also began offering the opportunities at a company level and software maker, internet service or anyone to build services for its members. The major corporate networks on Facebook May 11, 2011 include Microsoft, Accenture, Hewlett-Packard Ernst & Young and, Deloitte & Touche. The largest government-based networks include the Canadian Forces, U.K. National Health Service, U.S. military branches and other firms which use social networks for hiring purposes. According to a Ponemon Institute survey, 23% of hiring managers use these sites to do online background checks and 35% use Google to look for information about individuals. (Hoff. P. D.et.al)

A survey at the University of Dayton, Ohio, further validates the disconnect that exists between students and the adults who make such decisions. The researchers interviewed 2,000 students at colleges in Dayton and more than 300 employers. Results show that while 40% of employers opine that is ok to use Facebook for hiring process, only 19% of students agreed with it. Sixty percent of students argued that employers should not consider a Facebook entry. In addition, 32% of students believed that employers use of Facebook is illegal, while 42% of them viewed this to be an infringement of privacy. Only 25 % of employers considered it unwise while 21% of them agreed that it is indeed a violation of privacy. Another aspect of social networking relates to identity being compromised. Sophos conducted an ID probe to know the risks of information theft [18]. In the study, Sophos fabricated a Facebook profile, Freddi Staur (an anagram for ID fraudster) and sent out nearly 200 friendship requests. Forty one-percent of respondents consented to be friends and revealed their personal data. The investigation also found that 84% publicized their full date of birth, 78% revealed their current address or location, 26% gave out their instant messaging screen name, and 23% listed out their contact numbers. (Mislove.A, 2007) As e-socializing is gaining more acceptance and occupies importance in business, it is all the more important to fathom undergraduate e-social behavior. There are various research questions: Is student e-socializing prevalent? Does academic class play a role? Is there a correlation between e-socializing and identity theft, a negative outcome? As a result, this study was done to get valuable insight into student behavior and their perceptions.

May 11, 2011

Background of E-Social Networking

Prior research has examined several factors like civic involvement, social capital, geographical distribution and socialization through social networking. These studies evaluate the reach of social networking sites by individuals in general and students in particular. Fusilier et al, for example, examined college students frequency and the extent of internet use as well as self

reports of factors facilitating such usage. The study sample was drawn from four countries with varying levels of economic development. Findings indicate that internet access was a major factor that explains greater usage of it by western students, when compared to their counterparts in other non-western countries. The study concludes that non-western students had less exposure and access to the Internet. This suggests that the training and proximity that the universities in western countries provide facilitates social internet usage. Jones also examined online activities. In 2002, Jones found that 86% of college students were online. College students frequently checked email with 72% of them checking it at least once in a day, while 42% of students

indicated that they used web mainly for social communication. Seventy-two percent of their online communications was done with friends, ten percent for family reasons, seven percent with professors, six percent with romantic partners, and five percent with colleagues at work. According to 62% of the respondents, the most popular form of communication was email. Overall, nearly 85% of college students considered internet to be the most desirable choice for communicating with these groups. Moreover, results indicate that students view internet as a valuable tool in their education. The majority of respondents, 79%, said that Internet had a positive impact on their academic studies and 73% of them used the Internet more than their college library. Finally, the results also indicate that communication with academicians and peers was greatly enhanced by the Internet and email. (Richter. D.et.al, 2009) Searching, browsing and buying a product on E-commerce websites are often a time consuming and daunting task for consumers. More than 80% of online shoppers have at some point left Ecommerce websites unable to find what they needed. Highly developed E-commerce systems that connect companies to their customers could enhance customers ability to make decisions. E-commerce firms are trying to support part of their prospective customers decision making process through introduction of personalized web-based help systems like recommender systems. These systems help consumers in personalized recommendations depending on their purchase history, past ratings profile, or interests etc. These progressive filtering based systems have been May 11, 2011 applied to many E-commerce websites (e.g., music, restaurant and movie recommendation) and have performed really well in predicting a list of products which a consumer prefers. A typical collaborative filtering mechanism builds a customers neighborhood/group based on his or her preferences of shared products and compares the neighbors interests with a more or less similar taste to generate new references. (Dominguez.L.et.al)

Sinha and Swearingen [28], however, found that consumers usually believe in recommendations from people they know and trust, i.e., friends and family members, rather than from automated recommender systems in E-commerce web pages. In reality, a persons inclination to buy a product is usually influenced strongly by his or her friends, acquaintances and business partners, rather than strangers. Nevertheless, online communities on the web allow users to express their personal preferences and share their recommendations by rating others reviews and identifying trusted members. As per latest research done by Hitwise, social networking portals like MySpace and Facebook are the main sources for routing more traffic to retail sites and have emerged as the initial point for internet users looking for E-commerce. This traffic increase directed to online retailers from social networking portals indicates that the decision making by many costumers is directly impacted by the highly influential net users. E-commerce firms therefore make use of this social impact among consumers to enhance their CRM and thereby increase their sales. Approaches which include such social aspects into online marketing have gained more prominence.Lam proposed a kind of collaborating recommender mechanism that incorporates social networking information, called Social Network in Automated Collaborative-filtering of Knowledge (SNACK). The similarity parameter for users ratings underwent a modification based on network distance between two users, and the choice of closed. (Boyd. D.M) Few researchers have stressed on consumer networking formed by both direct and indirect interactions for activities like reading and rating of reviews between netizens to ensure a maximum impact of direct marketing strategy, by employing social influence. Several theories have been proposed for identifying a set of customers who can exert high influence to increase the effects of word of mouth locating prospective customers on the basis of preferences and successful influence by previous customers. Domingos et al. put forth a model to analyze the network value of and to narrow down to choose the type of customers to market to. Kempe et al. cracked the issue of optimizing and selection of more influencing customers and increase the influence by using a social networking platform. In these efforts, a measure of social influence May 11, 2011 such as the chain effect and network value being a vital issue. Hill et al. suggest network based marketing using current customers for identifying prospective customers who are more inclined to buy and can be influenced by customers who have already bought this service. This was observed in the field of telecommunications. Though new research is incorporating the social influence aspect into E-commerce, this has been confined to social interaction sources obtained

only through E-commerce interactions, representing only a part of the available information. This paper presents an overview of the social influence and its impact on the decision making process of E-commerce for providing insight to researchers and firms that specialize in Ecommerce. Specifically we look at different methods of capturing social influence through Ecommerce and even discuss the way in which such data gathered regarding social influence is used by E-commerce websites to assist in the choice a user makes. Survey has been conducted on the existing technology for analyzing social network that can be adopted and be modified for a thorough analysis of social interactions through E-commerce. We also discuss problems encountered in research for a measurement and leverage the imprint of social influence. Though we do not provide a specific framework in this paper, our perception of social influence in Ecommerce will be the basis for developing strategies and the practical methodologies for social interaction derived from E-commerce. (Silverman.B. G.et.al, 2001) What is social Influence? A social network is a graph showing the relationships and the various interactions among a group of individuals, which plays an important role as a means for spreading of ideas, thoughts, information and influence among themselves. A Web-based social platform provides different means like a chat room and discussion forum for members for an interaction, exchanging of opinions, and sharing their experiences. With regards to E-commerce, social networks have mushroomed as several websites assist in choosing the final purchasing decision of a consumer by actively sharing reviews put forth by previous users of that particular product and their evaluation by prospective buyers. Most online buyers observe for early adopters views before taking a decision to buy since it reduces the chances of risk while purchasing a new product. Bearden et al. observed the prevalence of two types of social influence in the acceptance of a new product: subjective norms/normative social influence and informational social influence. The former creates a kind of social pressure for customers to adopt a product or a service out of a thinking process that if they dont adopt that particular product they may be categorized as old May 11, 2011 fashioned irrespective of their actual preference for the product. The latter is learning methods where in people keenly observe early users experience in their social network and then make a decision for purchasing the new product. (Hoff. P. D.et.al)

Cultures in India The Arrival of "Information Age" and the concept of Networked Society is the subject, rather May 11, 2011 one of the actively discussed topic innumerous, articles, hundreds of books and conferences. Predictions vary from extreme optimism to marked pessimism and analysts range from a leftist, a neo-liberal, anthropological and various other perspectives; comprising both supporters and critics; with an elaborate analysis. But what is lacking is the required amount or depth, whether analyses are the dimensions of information technologies in terms of their cultural implications

which infers their relationship to the basic presuppositions, basic and unpublicized assumptions, linguistic presumptions, historical back grounds etc. uniting a society, referring to all of those linguistic, imaginary, conceptual, literary, aesthetic artistic, and intellectual dimensions that binds people together with a feeling of oneness."Culture" in such an anthropological context is therefore a vital part of our identities as human race, connected to our families, our native languages, basic assumptions regarding life and the surrounding world, links to our forefathers, and to the fundamental essence of our everyday life. (ODonovan.J.et.al, 2005) The way this new technology is related to culture is vivid and demanding in India. Out of modern countries, India has the most maintained and enhanced multiple cultures, multiple languages, literatures, traditions and a fascinating cultural diversity. The official recognition conferred to eighteen languages is just an outer manifestation of the deeply embedded heterogeneity, of the co-habitation of different cultures, each with its own history, cherished

traditions, historical monuments, arts and literature. The question we wish to understand is whether such rich cultural heritage of India survives the impact of Information age, and when using this term I basically refer to the advent of new technologies related to computers, digitization of everyday living, and other mediums like film, television, radio etc. (Sinha.R.et.al, 2001) Due to the widespread apprehension that cultural imperialism propagated through the new media, it is expected that there will be abundant thoughtful deliberations of this question. Yet when we pore over numerous books, conferences, and meetings regarding Information age, we dont find many details about this subject. The technological breakthroughs of the digital generation are so enthralling and intellectually demanding that they alone consume all the efforts of an individual, and the attention of most international focus groups. (Richter. D.et.al, 2009). The economic impact of a globalised world with instant communication networks, E-commerce and households with internet access doubling each year, coupled with emerging international May 11, 2011 economic scenarios and developing economies, are deemed to be intensively studied and scrutinized. There are legal problems associated with various elements of this information era on more than 100 countries and seeking to address what is right, wrong, and secretive and what can be accessed publicly and pornography, military secrets, right to privacy and presence of terrorist elements prompts a collective response to address all the concerns. These problems of the "new

electronic world order is attracting global attention. Were the German agencies correct when they arrested the German head of CompuServe for allowing the alleged import of banned materials? Is the U.S. right in preventing the export of encryption equipment? What can be done to frame international rules & regulations for dealing with cross-border terrorism, pornographic material, illicit drugs, censorship, national security objectives, and rights to property in this electronic era? One of the closest definitions was given by D. M. Boyd and N. B. Ellison (2008). Social Network Sites are web-based services permitting individuals for (1) Construction a public or semi-public profile under a controlled system. (2) Articulation of a database of users for sharing their network and (3) View and scrutinize their links and those of others within the set up. The scope of these links differ from location to location (Boyd & Ellison, 2008).D. Beer (2008) disputed this definition based on the context that it has a vast scope including various social networking sites and features. He also opined that such networking platforms sites are only for cultivating new relationships and since this article doesnt intend to formulate any ultimate definition, the one given by D. M. Boyd and N. B. Ellison (2008) is considered to be the most important one in the current paper, though the term social networking sites is used instead of social network sites (SNS). I concur with the view point of D. Beer (2008) that such networking cannot be limited to building only new relations. Research on Cross cultural differences in Social Networking Sites Most studies on cultural variations and their effect on the activities done online are based on G. Hofstedes (1980) cultural dimensions (individualistic and collectivity dimensions, masculine and feminine aspects, avoiding uncertain issues and, dynamics of Confucianism) as well as E. T. Halls (1976) dimensions (high and low contextual and monochromic and polychromic cultures). As per P. Y. K. Chau (2008), individualistic and collectivity aspects are pertinent May 11, 2011 dimensions in the study of Web 2.0, with SNSs included. Individualism refers to not so tightly linked social relations in which individuals are concerned only about self and the members in their personal sphere where as collectivism refers to those closely knit relationships, with individuals expected to care for their extended sphere as well (Hofstede, 1980). Early research identified four important distinctions between the above two aspects providing explanation based

on theory for examining the Web 2.0 adapting aspects: Firstly, an individuals personality orientation like idiocentricity and allocentricity, secondly, self-construal (independency and interdependency), third and fourth factors varying based upon E. T. Halls dimensions communication style (low contextual and high contextual) and time orientation i.e. monochromic and polychromic. Though he gave a reasonable explanation that the differences between what is meant by individualism and the concept of collectivism , P. Y. K. Chau (2008) couldnt give any details of how these dimensions and differences are linked to the different characteristics of Web 2.0, including social network sites. Hence there is no thorough research to support these aspects. World in the eye of E-Social Networks The main area that has continuously attracted more researchers is small world networks, which corresponds to a category of networks that consists of large links in clusters among its constituents, with every actor being connected to each other, while the quantity of intermediaries required for connecting any two given actors differs, and the average length of the path remains short. The novel mixing of large clusters and short path length within the network accompanied by a growing realization that the small world networks appear often in varied types of artificial ,biologically or ecologically originated and technology-based systems implies that small worlds offers a potential framework of organization to increase the effectivity in various scenarios. Previous reviews of this small-world networking dealt more in deriving methodologies used for analyzing rather than survey of practical discoveries (Newman, 2000). Other studies examined the combination of complex network usage as the required framework for interdisciplinary studies on different systems that are interconnected (Strogatz, 2001; Amaral and Ottino, 2004), or looked at the linkages between small-world, scale-free networking, structure of communities, and dynamic networks like the release of palgrave-journals.com and social contagion which have created novel network groups (Watts, 2004). The study today tries to survey the latest literature on this network, focused on management May 11, 2011 research and social science .There is a detailed explanation of the fundamental techniques of analyzing the small world, the practical observations on the correlation among this network and economic and social outcomes, and the unresolved aspects for research in the future. To attain connection and focused research on vast literature in this arena, we use empirical studies of actual world networks of choice to scholars and social researchers to complete the scope of our

review. We motivate researchers dealing with computation of small worlds, or those from nonsocial domains like metabolic pathways, and analysis of general network to the above mentioned papers and various reviews (Galaskiewicz, 1996; Borgatti and Foster, 2003; McGrath et al., 2003; Sporns et al., 2004; Guimera and Amaral, 2005; Cowan et al., 2006; Amaral and Uzzi, 2007). Milgrams small-world study The basic concept of the small world is chiefly attributed to the path breaking work of Stanley Milgram, whose theory was built through a set of field experiments, which depended on brash utility to make novel discoveries with an everlasting impact on complex network research. Milgrams idea of small-worlds attracted many researchers as it suggests that two features of networks acting against each other, path length and clustering are observed at the same time in social networking. Milgram concluding that the small-worlds had a shortened length of path in spite of clustering being high i.e. on an average actors even in a large small-world networks are only six degrees or six intermediary units apart provided fillip to a thinking that such networking leads to more benefits in terms of performance which is vital for interaction between humans right from creativity and collaboration followed by communication. This is due to the fact that several clusters that are separate allowed a diverse range of ideas to emerge ,with short paths resulting in breaking up of ideas from the rooms and get evolved into innovative processes (Uzzi and Spiro, 2005; Fleming and Marx, 2006). Milgram also discovered an aspect which has gained less prominence than the above separating aspect. He claimed that of all transmissions, roughly 60 % of them traversed through a same set of four individuals! This was a worthwhile discovery which suggests that in terms of connection not all of us are linked to everyone else, instead there are some individuals who are connected well, though not proportionately and these superconnectors are the ones through which everyone is linked to everyone else and they create the shortest possible path to allow ideas and thoughts to move from one cluster to another, making the otherwise long networking distances ineffective. These superconnectors also May 11, 2011 constitute a fragile network that can be easily broken by removing even a few of them. As the population of the Earth is exploding, and in the scenario of an over sized world and evolving technologies, Dodds et al. (2003) attempted to reapply the small-world study of Milgram. Are the insights of Milgram still valid? If the real originators and receivers of Milgram had e-mail access, would they establish links in one, two or three degrees of separation? With a focus on e-

mail as the mode of transmission, the investigators asked 61,168 participant members to send messages to nearly eighteen target destinations ranging from a student in Siberia to a veterinary doctor based in Norway. There were 324 letters delivered with success, while the length of the chains were not that different from that of Milgrams results as most of them underwent completion in 57 steps. Mathematicians, in the year 1998 put this small-world hypothesis to test by estimating the number of friends each person on the earth has, and then the number friends they in turn have, and so on to cover the entire Earths population (Blakeslee, 1998). They theorized that when any two individuals are chosen at random, they will indeed be separated by nearly six other persons on an average, in consonance with Milgrams conclusion of six degrees of separation.

Analyzing the Impact of E-Social Network Global information management (GIM) is another research area of information systems that has grown significantly in the 1990s (Palvia, 1998). A vast number of research works have been published which dealt with issues pertaining to the usage and management of information systems and their development, in the context of a globalised world. In general, majority of these May 11, 2011 research works were either key issues or a part of anecdotal studies that have given a detailed explanation of the specific development of an information system (Dutta & Doz, 1995; Shore, 1996; Neuman & Zviran, 1997). A survey of the literature in this subject shows that there is no systematic framework to guide GIM research. It also hints that the current research in GIM is led by temporary issues (hot) and not by a proper approach to gaining knowledge. In our view, it

speaks of a research which doesnt have many values and is redundant and doesnt go beyond the horizon of what we are already aware of. The major need is a general research framework of GIM that helps in identifying the part of research that was done already and should then focus on new areas that requires research. This framework will therefore be the template for further research and this manifesto can also be defined as a statement that depicts views or intentions (Websters, p. 699). In this specific scenario, the manifesto has been devised to help in guiding research and elicit researchers to look at Global information management field from a wider and clear perspective. How to overcome the Digital Divide? Katz and Rice have been working on the Digital Divide since the year 2002, who then conclusively argued that the Digital Divide is actually closing, but still remains (Katz and Rice 2002, 65).and this holds well even to this day. An ACTA survey in 2008 ,carried out at German Allensbach institute ,for instance, mentions a spurt in internet usage by older generation in Germany (Ssslin 2008, 3ff), which implies that they are trying to catch up, but not drawing even conclusively. Regional differences in Switzerland Why is the Italian part lagging? The Gap is closing, but remains. Provision of open and wide access to online implies laying the foundation for equality in a society at the forefront of digitization. Moreover, it is equally important even for state institutions to have this on their agenda. As Lisa J. Servon mentions in her book "Bridging The Digital Divide": "An access-focused policy works for the telephone, but is inadequate for the Internet" .The main thing that has to begin is enhancement of digital literacy, nothing but a right mix of technical skills, financial resources, and knowledge (Kling as cited in Zillien 2006, 96), allowing the user to browse through the Internet harmlessly. National and other regulatory May 11, 2011 authorities in the field of telecommunications and other institutions should take care of accessibility, while educational and government entities should acknowledge the need for their population to be educated in using both the hardware and software and in possession of required skills for navigation and evaluation of information sourced from the Web. As Zillien mentions

accurately, Digital Divide is not about the extent of a population with access to Internet, but it is all about the profit they gain from it (Zillien 2006, 85). Rise of Social Media and its Implications: Social Media Segmentation Regarding political and societal activity and participation online, the so-called Social Media can assume an important role. If the Web can viewed as hardware, then Social Media is the social software corresponding to it. They reshape the traditional ways of communication, participation, and networking, not just challenging them. Hence, governments and political domain, for example, must adapt/endear themselves to social media, and not the reverse of it. Online social media can be defined as a Web-based platform that allows users to develop profiles and enable interaction with each other through common tastes, or something that permits netizens to develop partnerships regarding projects. The content thus generated can vary from picture uploading to a photo sharing portal like Flickr, composing blogs on blogging software to updating their personal status on a portal like Facebook. Online social media is further categorized, in that it needs less cost, doesnt consume much time and a user with even a few technical skills can use them with ease and broadcast them to other users also. Conventionally, social status is usually imparted by societal institutions and values based on title, education, wealth, rank etc. Right from the beginning of mankind, status has been socially projected as a vertical value system like for instance, mostly a pyramid form. The small segment at the top is conferred a higher status than the bottom most majority. Status henceforth is an identity to show domination and thus intrinsically linked to power projection (Fraser and Dutta 2008, 114). Though the basic rules of attaining status are still the same, social media has brought about a key change to the social framework of status. In an online context, status is not connected to materialistic achievements where in a virtual settings enables level playing field, and material possessions like a modern car or expensive handbag are deemed unimportant (Fraser and Dutta May 11, 2011 2008, 22). Dematerialization of such acquired status and donning a new status in cyber space is mainly attained based on the skill to impart knowledge, share the expertise, content and spread them in various online formats. Sharing information is not new, but the distribution of any highquality expertise/recommendations through online is one of the most straight forward ways to acquire a social status (Rheingold 2002, 116). The more content is re-tweeted, the more popular

a video becomes, the higher the name of the concerned individual and their content shows up during a Google search entry and the higher is the status. In cyberspace, its not about what you own, but what you share and how pertinent is it. E-democracy E-democracy opens new vistas for governments to address the twin objectives of inclusion and responsiveness. This implies that the government and elected members of public should be a part of e-democratic initiatives. They should understand them, participate in it and respond appropriately (Coleman 2003, 154). Without any active engagement in interactive forums, citizens cannot endear themselves to the actual motive of sovereignty .E-democracy should create scope for all voices to be heard and also give the opportunity to all citizens who are usually not directly involved in the political process. There would be little relevance in utilizing new communication forums when the same vocal people seen in traditional consultation process are again making their voice heard (Coleman 2003, 157). Hence is not just about augmentation but more about an inclusive process comprising individuals who hasnt participated before. The Obama Administration of US has operationalized such principles with a degree of success in the domain of policy-making which takes online inputs. The basic tenet of interactive communication and integrating the various stakeholders into a political process for open and transparent governance has taken a leap further with the platform, my.barackobama.com. The concept of E-democracy should also be understood. According to Trechsel et al. (Trechsel 2004, 31) E-democracy is defined as the use of interactive communication to empower citizens to hold their politicians accountable for their behavior and actions and to facilitate a channel of communication between citizens and political representatives, thereby making the elected representatives more responsive to the needs of electorate. Depending on the specific issue for promotion of democracy, E-democracy can use various techniques for (a) Increase in the transparency of the political system (b) Improving the quality May 11, 2011 of opinion/policy formulation by opening new platforms for discussion, deliberation and strengthening of civic education (c) Enhancement of citizens direct involvement and participation.

Transparency and Information According to Lauth (2004, 87), informational transparency is a precondition for transparency on a larger scale. Information should be fathomable, fast and accessible, which is crucial to expand governmental transparency and upholding of democratic values (Breindl and Francq 2008, 17). Transparency provides a basis for citizens preferences (Lauth 2004, 335). Some authors say that more information regarding political issues results in political engagement by enhancement of political knowledge (Vissersand Quintelier 2009).This knowledge in turn allows citizens to better evaluate manifestos of political parties ,institutions and candidates (Delli Carpini & Keeter, 1996. Transparency leads to political engagement.Scheufele & Shanahan, 2005; Pasek et al. cited in Vissers and Quintelier 2009, 3). The information available shows the high expectations from media in their role as knowledge transmitters. Any projection of unidirectional information, without the participation of citizen in the political process, such information alone doesnt necessarily mean citizen participation (Breindl and Francq 2008, 17). Information dissemination is simplified on Internet. The motto of supplying accessible information, that too rapidly is satisfied theoretically, which shows the potential of Edemocracy. Citizens can find political content on various forums like party websites, platforms government platforms, discussion forums or news sites. Further, Internet permits information sharing from minority groups or citizens who otherwise dont have the opportunity to air their views in public. Citizens should also be proactive in gathering political information. For instance, internet-based instruments like Swiss voting advice application Smart vote helps citizens with awareness about the political landscape, thereby contributing to the increase of civic literacy. In modern societies, mass media occupies the most important position in the public sphere replacing direct meetings and traditional discussion platforms. Civil society activists depend on May 11, 2011 mass media to air their concerns and interests. Mass media can be exploited to influence the political process (Zimmermann 2006, 23). Media therefore provides the scope for discussions, deliberation and a platform for public to voice out their opinion and keeping tab on political dispensation (Graber 2003, 143). For new players, the entry barrier into the mainstream media is high, where in the Internet and its allied applications are considered to be the biggest advantage

for such actors. Breindl articulates that for optimists, the cyberspace is the new space for exchanges that transcend social, cultural and geographical barriers and the place for expression of thoughts and opinions (Breindl and Francq 2008). Various online discussion forums like The Huffington Post (www.huffingtonpost.com) allow debate on current political issues. There are a variety of other blogs and wikis that incorporate this two-directional way of communication by providing the required tools. Though there is inclusion of all groups for discussion on politically relevant issues and internet providing the required information, discussions often does not fit the ideal qualities expected out of a deliberative discourse. Political communication on Twitter is concerned mainly on national issues, but rarely international. Some projects concentrate on transnational European information like TweetElect09 (Bieber 2009, 12)., which collects Tweets about the European Parliament elections, politicians and statistics. The portals that discuss relevant issues are for example,Facebook and Twitter. While Facebook is an amazing social network site which is more about staying in touch with dear ones and acquaintances, Twitter permits an anonymous approach while sending out messages. Facebooks advantages are 1) Wide reach across the globe and different age groups and 2) The fact that most users use their original names and pictures, it adds a touch of genuineness, for any future use. The Facebook Connect application, with its login page is also used by social news and bookmarking website Digg or commercial blogs like TechCrunch, The Huffington Post or Gawker, while twitter is an easy application and a free media outlet to reach out to numerous Internet users in a short span of time, with a lot of potential.

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Conclusion and Discussion The number of people who create online profiles and then interact on many Social Networking sites is increasing by the day. The digital space created can also be termed as a "digital body, complementing the physical one and online status is conferred based on immaterialist attributes like expertise, influential online network etc. Such democratization of status is supported increasingly by new forms of privacy. Frequent netizens leave maximum personal information on the Web, revealing their private self completely. The entire public content can be located and is useful in drawing conclusions about an individual or organization. The more online media empowers social collaborations, civil and political participation between people who were not that vocal and complete strangers to each other, more is the reputation and trust gained and along with it, the increasing prominence of online platforms.

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