STUDY ON GROWING USAGE OF SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES

SUBMITTED BY: TANVI ARORA BATCH 2011-13

MASTER OF FASHION MANAGEMENT

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I am grateful to NIFT for providing me an opportunity to do research work on Study on growing Usage of Social Networking Sites. I express my whole hearted thanks to my guide Ms. A.Sasirekha, for her encouragement and moral support in organizing my work and giving me valuable tips for making it presentable.

NAME: ______________ ADDRESS: ______________________ Master of Fashion Management Date of submission:

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER NO.
1 2 3 4

NAME
INTRODUCTION LITERATURE REVIEW RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ANALYSIS BIBLIOGRAPHY ANNEXURES

PAGE NO.
1 9 15 16

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION

A social networking service is an online service, platform, or site that focuses on building and reflecting of social networks or social relations among people, who, for example, share interests and/or activities and people with similar or somewhat similar interests, backgrounds and/or activities make their own communities. A social network service 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.

HISTORY AND THE EARLIER YEARS

The first recognizable social network site launched in 1997. SixDegrees.com allowed users to create profiles, list their Friends and, beginning in 1998, surf the Friends lists. Each of these features existed in some form before SixDegrees, of course. Profiles existed on most major dating sites and many community sites. AIM and ICQ buddy lists supported lists of Friends, although those Friends were not visible to others. Classmates.com allowed people to affiliate with their high school or college and surf the network for others who were also affiliated, but users could not create profiles or list Friends until years later. SixDegrees was the first to combine these features. SixDegrees promoted itself as a tool to help people connect with and send messages to others. While SixDegrees attracted millions of users, it failed to become a sustainable business and, in 2000, the service closed. Looking back, its founder believes that SixDegrees was simply ahead of its time. While people were already flocking to the Internet, most did not have extended networks of friends who were online. Early adopters complained that there was little to do after accepting Friend requests, and most users were not interested in meeting strangers. From 1997 to 2001, a number of community tools began supporting various combinations of profiles and publicly articulated Friends. AsianAvenue, BlackPlanet, and MiGente allowed users to create personal, professional, and dating profilesusers could identify Friends on their personal profiles without seeking approval for those connections. Likewise, shortly after its launch in 1999, LiveJournal listed one-directional connections on user pages.
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LiveJournal's creator suspects that he fashioned these Friends after instant messaging buddy lists on LiveJournal, people mark others as Friends to follow their journals and manage privacy settings. The Korean virtual worlds site Cyworld was started in 1999 and added SNS features in 2001, independent of these other sites. Likewise, when the Swedish web community LunarStorm refashioned itself as an SNS in 2000, it contained Friends lists, guestbooks, and diary pages. The next wave of SNSs began when Ryze.com was launched in 2001 to help people leverage their business networks. Ryze's founder reports that he first introduced the site to his friendsprimarily members of the San Francisco business and technology community, including the entrepreneurs and investors behind many future SNSs. In particular, the people behind Ryze, Tribe.net, LinkedIn, and Friendster were tightly entwined personally and professionally. They believed that they could support each other without competing. In the end, Ryze never acquired mass popularity, Tribe.net grew to attract a passionate niche user base, LinkedIn became a powerful business service, and Friendster became the most significant, if only as "one of the biggest disappointments in Internet history".

EMERGING TRENDS
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 web" and "location-based." Real-time allows users to contribute content, which is then broadcast as it is being uploaded - the concept is analogous to live radio and television broadcasts. Twitter set the trend for "real-time" services, wherein 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 wherein users can update their photo streams with photos while at an event. Facebook, however, remains easily the largest photo sharing site - Facebook application and photo aggregator Pixable estimates that Facebook will have 100 billion photos by Summer 2011. Companies have begun to merge business technologies and solutions, such as cloud computing, with social networking concepts. Instead of connecting individuals based on social interest, companies are developing interactive communities that connect individuals based on shared business needs or experiences. Many provide specialized networking tools and applications that can be accessed via their websites, such as LinkedIn. Others companies, such as Monster.com, have been steadily developing a more "socialized" feel to their career center sites to harness some of the power of social networking sites. These more business related sites have their own nomenclature for the most part but the most common naming conventions are "Vocational Networking Sites" or "Vocational Media Networks", with the former more closely tied to individual networking relationships based on social networking principles.

KEY FEATURES

SOCIAL NETWORKS AND EDUCATION

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. The advent of social networking platforms may also be impacting the way(s) in which learners engage with technology in general. The use of online social networks by libraries is also an increasingly prevalent and growing tool that is being used to communicate with more potential library users, as well as extending the services provided by individual libraries.

SOCIAL NETWORKS AND EMPLOYMENT

A final rise in social network use is being driven by college students using the services to network with professionals for internship and job opportunities. Many schools have implemented online alumni directories which serve as makeshift social networks that current and former students can turn to for career advice. However, these alumni directories tend to suffer from an oversupply of advice-seekers and an undersupply of advice providers. One new social networking service, Ask-a-peer, aims to solve this problem by enabling advice seekers to offer modest compensation to advisers for their time.

BUSINESS MODEL
Few social networks currently charge money for membership. In part, this may be because social networking is a relatively new service, and the value of using them has not been firmly established in customers' minds.
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Companies such as MySpace and Facebook sell online advertising on their site. Their business model is based upon large membership count, and charging for membership would be counterproductive. Some believe that the deeper information that the sites have on each user will allow much better targeted advertising than any other site can currently provide. Social networks operate under an autonomous business model, in which a social network's members serve dual roles as both the suppliers and the consumers of content. This is in contrast to a traditional business model, where the suppliers and consumers are distinct agents. Revenue is typically gained in the autonomous business model via advertisements, but subscription-based revenue is possible when membership and content levels are sufficiently high.

SOCIAL INTERACTION
Put simply, social networking is a way for one person to meet up with other people on the Net. That's not all though. Some people use social networking sites for meeting new friends on the Net. Other's use it to find old friends. Then there are those who use it to find people who have the same problems or interests they have, this is called niche networking. Following this trend is the emerging trend of people meeting online to meet offline. More and more relationships and friendships are being formed online and then carried to an offline/in person setting. Experts in relationships, such as the German psychologist Erich H. Witte, say that relationships which start online are much more likely to succeed, and he goes on to say that in less than 10 years, online dating will be the most widely used way to get to know someone for a possible relationship. One such popular site accredits that's 2% of all marriages start off its site which is equal to 236 marriages a day. Other sites claim 1 in 5 relationships start online. Social networking sites play a vital role in this area as well, being able to meet someone as a "friend" and see what common interests you share and how they have built up their friend base and "likes" you can truly see a more whole picture of the person you are talking with and most sites are free instead of being pay based which allows younger people with stricter budgets to enjoy some of the same features. While not the intended or original use for these social sites a large area of their current function has stemmed from people wanting to meet other people in person and with so many of us so busy it is a fast reliable and easy way in which to do so that costs you little time and money.

ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES

LOW COSTS Definitely, it's cheaper to use online social networking for both personal and business use because most of it is usually free. While personal use is rather simple for anyone, the business functions are underestimated by many. In a social networking site, you can scout out potential customers and target markets with just a few clicks and keystrokes, adding a boost to your usual advertisements and promotional strategies. It lets you learn about their likes and dislikes, which is tremendous. If you want to fine tune your business, then this is the way to go, whether on a budget or not. BUILDS CREDIBILITY You definitely can gain the customers' confidence if you can connect to them on both a personal and professional level. Despite having to do a bit of work, it definitely pays off as you can be tapped for an offer if someone catches wind of your products or services. As long as you don't pursue them too aggressively, you will do well here. CONNECTIONS You are friends with people who have other friends, and so on. There is potential in such a common situation. By using a social networking site, you can do what you can and get connected with these people to form a web of connections that can give you leverage if you play your cards right. As long as you give as well as you recieve, then they will most likely stick with you. These connections are definitely valuable in the long run.

DISADVANTAGES LACK OF ANONYMITY

You are putting out information about your name, location, age, gender, and many other types of information that you may not want to let others know. Most people would say be careful, but no one can be certain at any given time. As long as people can know who you
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exactly are, then some can find ways to do you in.

SCAMS AND HARASSMENT

There is a potential for failure of security in both personal and business context. While many sites apply certain measures to keep any of these cases of harassment, cyber-stalking, online scams, and identity theft to an absolute minimum, you still may never know.

TIME CONSUMING
If this is not your kind of thing that it would just be a waste of time for you. The key to social networking is that it is supposed to be fun, whether you are just doing it for kicks or clicking around for business purposes. That should be reasonable enough for anyone, but there are those people who don't see the point. For them, it can be a disadvantage.

CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW

SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES AND SOCIETY AUTHOR: LISA HOOVER, COMPUTERWORLD

Remember back in the day when we worked from 9-5, nights and weekends were reserved for friends and family, and never the twain shall meet? Now that an estimated 23% of American workers telecommute, many use online social networks as a way to stay connected to co-workers and colleagues. Those who are chained to a company desk often use (or sneak onto) Twitter orFacebook to stay in touch with friends outside of work. DaniWeb's Ron Miller notes that the lines between work and home life are quickly becoming blurred and social networks had better be prepared to keep up. He makes a number of compelling points in his article, but this is what really stood out for me. It's possible that these social networking tools are just the beginning of something, that they could lead to ways of finding and interacting with one another we never imagined, but whatever happens, you can't dismiss these tools easily. They are taking us somewhere exciting, but we have to work out how we deal with the fading boundaries these tools have left in their wake and that means rewriting our social rules as we go along. Social networking services expand the pool of people we have the opportunity to meet to near limitless possibilities. We're no longer restricted to or rely on people in our neighbourhood, church, or workplace to provide the interaction we desire. Of course, getting to know others online is not a new concept, it dates back to the earliest days of Bulletin Board Services (BBS), IRC, and CompuServe. The main differences now are the real-time ways we communicate via instant messaging, Facebook walls, and Twitter replies. It more closely mimics face-to-face conversations than interactions via email, forums, or message boards, but it also means there are a lot more opportunities for social gaffes and missteps.
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Users have already clued into that fact, or screwed up themselves, and are beginning to establish new social conventions. Articles outlining the "proper use and etiquette of social networking" pop up around the Internet on a near-daily basis, and self-proclaimed experts regularly police sites like Twitter to call out users they believe are acting inappropriately. Social networking sites thrust people together in mind-boggling combinations of attributes -conservative/liberal, geeks/non-geeks, parents/child-free, religious/atheist/agnostic..

SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES STATISTICS 2011 SOURCE: GRAPHICS.MS

47% of online adults use social networking sites 73% of teens and young adults are a member of at least one social network

Facebook: More than 1.5 million local businesses have active Pages on Facebook The average user spends more than 55 minutes per day on Facebook Facebook has 400+ million active users, with over 1.5 million business pages.

Twitter: Twitter has 24+ million unique visitors per month, with 500 million tweets per day. 11 Percent (or 33.88m) of US Online Adults Use Twitter There are approximately 50 million Tweets sent per day, at about 600 tweets per second.

LinkedIn: LinkedIn has 60+ million professionals worldwide, including all Fortune 500 companies. The global average time spent per person on social networking sites is now nearly five and half hours per month The active US-Based social network audience grew roughly 29% from 115 million in February 2010 to 149 million in February 2011

Unique visitors per month, as of APRIL 2011 Facebook: 133,623,529

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MySpace: 50,615,444 Twitter: 23,573,178 Linkedin: 15,475,890

SOCIAL NETWORKING FACTS AND FIGURES

Facebook - 850M monthly active - 250M photos uploaded every day - 425M mobile users

Twitter - 465M accounts - 1M accounts are added to Twitter every day

LinkedIn - 2 new members join every second - USA leads membership at 57M, Europe has 34M members - $552M revenue in 2011

FARMERS USE SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES

SOURCE : ECONOMIC TIMES The turmeric farmers of Maharashtra's Sangli district found themselves in a desperate situation. Oversupply had resulted in prices crashing in the local turmeric market, Asia's biggest, threatening their livelihood. And with several thousands growing the commodity across Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, any meaningful strategy to halt the price crash meant involving a sizeable number of farmers. That's when local farmer Atul Salunkhe, 31, had a brainwave. How about using Facebook to

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contact other turmeric growers across the country? Salunkhe had opened a Facebook account three months back to trace his college friends. Now he decided to use it for more pressing reasons. "I knew some farmers in Andhra Pradesh with Facebook accounts. I immediately asked them what should be done about prices. They suggested that we should reduce supply for a few days. I conveyed this view to everyone in the village," says Salunkhe, who uses his Smartphone to access Facebook. Farmers depend on market sales for regular income and don't find it easy to give it up even temporarily. His neighbours in Atpadi village sought time and thought it over for a day. Eliminating Middlemen On January 13, farmers of Atpadi village asked Salunkhe to send out a message that no one should participate in the local auctions. In a matter of minutes, Salunkhe conveyed this to 35 farmers on social media from Sangli district alone. The news went viral after that, says Salunkhe. Every village of Sangli district, which has 25,000 turmeric farmers, heard of the boycott call. "For the next few days, each afternoon we chatted online to finalise details of the boycott," he says. On the morning of January 22, the Sangli auction yard stood empty. Thousands of farmers had stayed away. A protest that would have earlier taken months to organise now occurred within 10 days. When the farmers resumed selling their produce at the auction, the prices doubled from Rs 4 per kg to Rs 8 per kg. The boycott had served its purpose. "Facebook farmers played a crucial role in stopping the auction and solving the problem," says Raghunath Ramachandra Patil, president, Shetkari Sangathana, a political party with farmer members. The small protest at Sangli may not be a patch on the social media-led 'Arab Spring', but it does point to the growing importance of social networking websites in the Indian countryside. From sharing critical information in real time to eliminating middlemen to opening up marketing opportunities for companies looking to tap rural consumers, social media is
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becoming a powerful tool of communication across India's 600,000 villages. Technology experts say the community has always been central to rural India and therefore its acceptance of social media tools is not surprising. "Community concept has always been prevalent in villages," says Asheesh Raina, analyst at technology research firm Gartner India. "Earlier, a village sarpanch would sit under a tree and discuss certain issues with villagers before taking a final call. Facebook and Twitter are an extension of this concept." Farmer bodies are quick to point out the advantages of social media. "Earlier, we used to grow two-three crops together. Agricultural inputs were different for each crop and often farmers would find it difficult," says Yogesh Kumar Dahiya, chairman of Farmers' Forum in Saharanpur, UP. And it's catching on. Small tea growers in West Bengal will launch a website this month and link it with Facebook and Twitter so that growers can interact with international buyers directly, says BG Chakroborty, Confederation of Indian Small Tea Growers Association. Farmers involved in dairy, horticulture and floriculture are increasingly using social networking sites, adds K Prabhakar Reddy of the Consortium of Indian Farmers Association.

ADDICTION OF SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES SOURCE: HOW STUFF WORKS. AUTHOR: DEBRA RONCA
Today's kids spend a lot of time in front of digital screens. A 2007 study from the University of Southern California's Annenberg School Center for the Digital Future showed that almost half of all parents surveyed believed their kids spent too much time watching television, and 20.7 percent felt their kids spent too much time online. A 20 percent concern about online engagement is relatively low. But that doesn't mean there aren't problems. For example, in 2005, a young South Korean man actually collapsed and died after playing online for 50 hours with few breaks. Concerned authorities even founded
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"Internet Rescue Schools" to get children away from their computers and into fresh air, physical activity and socializing with other kids. Children aren't the only ones who can get hooked on the Internet. In 2008, the American Journal of Psychiatry published an editorial in support of naming "Internet addiction" as a bona fide mental condition. The majority of the medical community disagreed, though, and currently Internet addiction is not a formal disorder. However, excessive use of the Internet can certainly cause problems. Even though it's not formally classified, many treatment and rehab centers worldwide now offer services for Internet addiction. This includes treatment for cyberporn, online gambling, online affairs and eBay addiction. Of course, these are all behaviors with serious consequences. The hallmark of an addiction is determining whether your actions are affecting yourself or others in a negative way. However, if you're spending abnormally large amounts of time online, you could be damaging your relationships and even your health. Experts claim that a lack of face-to-face contact can affect you both socially and physically. Depending upon a computer screen for human interaction might undermine the ability to follow social cues or understand body language. In addition, some researchers believe that we're genetically predisposed to physically benefit from being face-to-face with another human. There's even an online test you can take to see if the time you spend online might be a problem (unless you're addicted to online tests, of course).

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CHAPTER 3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY AND OBJECTIVE

OBJECTIVES
To highlight the services provided by the sites. To know the popularity of different social networking sites. To find out whether these sites are used for marketing tools or other carrier objectives other than socialising. To know the dependence of its users on these sites.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
The study would be based on Primary research: This is a conclusive research conducted on the sample size of 109 respondents through an online survey. Secondary research: Articles collected online Journals

DATA ANALYSIS TOOLS

Data is analysed using SPSS where in frequency tables and cross tabulation is being considered.

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CHAPTER 4 ANALYSIS

ARE YOU A MEMBER OF MULTIPLE SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES?

CHART NO.1

HOW OFTEN DO YOU USE THESE SITES?

CHART NO.2

Always Sometimes Never

TABLE NO.1 16

53 53 3

48% 48% 3%

WHICH SITES DO YOU USE?

CHART NO. 3

Facebook Twitter Flickr Biggada Orkut Myspace Linkedln Hi5

TABLE NO. 2

108 59 3 1 40 13 40 11

99% 54% 3% 1% 37% 12% 37% 10%

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HOW LONG DO YOU USE THESE SITES?

CHART NO.4

Less than an hour 1-2 hours 2-3 hours More than 3 hours
TABLE NO.3

35 37 17 20

32% 34% 15% 18%

WHAT DO YOU DO ON THESE SITES?

CHART NO.5 18

Make new friends Gaming Chatting Business dealings Scanning people's profile Searching for job prospects Publicizing yourself While away time Any other
TABLE NO.4

55 32 68 18 23 19 18 43 16

50% 29% 62% 17% 21% 17% 17% 39% 15%

HAVE YOU EVER USED THESE SITES AS A PROMOTIONAL TOOL FOR COLLEGE EVENTS OR BUSINESS PURPOSES?

CHART NO.6

19

19

11

63

16

CHART NO.7

Frequency Valid 1-10 11-20 21-30 more than 30 Total 63 16 11 19 109

Percent 57.8 14.7 10.1 17.4 100.0

Valid Percent 57.8 14.7 10.1 17.4 100.0

Cumulative Percent 57.8 72.5 82.6 100.0

TABLE NO.5 20

HOW MANY TIMES IN A DAY DO YOU CHECK YOUR PAGE?

CHART NO.8

Once Twice Thrice More than thrice

TABLE NO.6

33 35 10 31

30% 32% 9% 28%

ARE YOU A MEMBER OF ANY GROUP OF YOUR INTEREST ON THESE SITES?

CHART NO.9

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CHART NO. 10

HOW LONG DO YOU USE THESE SITES? * PROFESSION CROSSTABULATION Count Profession student How long do you use these sites? less than an hour 1-2hrs 2-3hrs more than 3hrs Total
TABLE NO.7 22

service business employed 8 5 3 0 16 2 4 3 2 11 7 6 3 5 21

Total 35 37 17 20 109

18 22 8 13 61

CHART NO.11

HOW MANY TIMES IN A DAY DO YOU CHECK YOUR PAGE? * PROFESSION CROSSTABULATION Count Profession student How many times in a once day do you check your twice page? thrice more than thrice Total 17 18 6 19 60 TABLE NO.8 service 8 6 2 0 16 business Employed 2 6 0 3 11 4 6 2 9 21 Total 31 36 10 31 108

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HOW OFTEN DO YOU USE THESE SITES WHILE DOING OTHER WORK ON YOUR COMPUTER? * PROFESSION CROSSTABULATION Count Profession student How often do you use these sites while doing other work on your computer? Total Always sometimes Never 32 28 1 61 service 5 10 1 16 business 5 5 1 11 employed 12 9 0 21 Total 54 52 3 109

TABLE NO.9

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KEY FINDINGS
50 respondents are male and other are female. 81% of respondents are member of more than one site. Facebook is used by 99% of respondents whereas Biggada is just used by 1%. Chatting has the preference over all other activities and is done by 68% of respondents followed by Making of new friends. 32 students always open their profile when they are on computer, while only 5respondents who are running their business, and 12 respondents who are employed use these sites always. Respondents falling in the age bracket of Less than 21 are using these sites only to make new friends, gaming or chatting.

CONCLUSION
Facebook and linkedin are the most popular sites among all. People can improve their communication skills through these sites and can keep themselves updated through various groups. Students and internee are using these sites to post their resumes or give details about their career on sites like Linkedin. The sites have helped old friends unite again. The sites are widely used among all age groups, because they serve everyones purpose be it gaming or chatting for a teenager or news updates for 47years old. These sites are real time process where you can send or receive data within seconds that helps in saving costs.

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ANNEXURES

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Sciencedaily.com Computer.howstuffworks.com Graphicsms.com Pcworld.com Articles.economictimes.com