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Resources of pictures:

1.2.3.4.5.6.8.14.15.16: from www.google.com

12.13: from http://www.nipic.com/

7.9.10.11: from http://www.123rf.com/

Editor: Chen Linye

Writer: Chen Linye

Social media is expanding at an amazing speed, which is quite out of

our imagination. When the number of user group keeps extending, the

majority of users are still the youth, though. Along with the increasing

influence of social media, some problems emerge. One major reason is

that there have not been any strict laws or regulations regarding the

content spread over the Internet. Another important reason is that the

users lack the essential knowledge of netiquette. Luckily, a more

friendly and harmonious environment on social media can be expected

through the efforts of some influential figures, such as undergraduates.

Undergraduates, who are perceived as the representatives of

knowledge and as the leading role in the creative field, are

supposed to have a good mastery of using social media as a

platform for expressing themselves. Adding the fact that the

undergraduates are the majority user group of social media, they

have the power in both guiding the development of social media

and creating a good atmosphere among users. Thus, it is expected

that undergraduates take their responsibility to solidly manage

social media and help to improve the current situation of social

media. This magazine is aimed at elaborating what is the

undergraduates’ responsibility in using social media. The focus is

how the undergraduates voice their opinion properly on social

media. You will read about the possible effects of irresponsible

online behaviors, followed by the comparison between traditional

media and social media, which can be called as new media. Some

basic information on social media and tips about protecting the

online accounts will also be introduced.

(265 words, Expository)

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Social media are virtual platforms where people

can display themselves and interact with others.

Based on Kaplan and Haenlein’s(2010) category,

three types of social media that are most often

used among undergraduates are social networking

sites, blogs and content communities, classified

according to the degree of self-disclosure.

Social networking sites have the utmost

self-disclosure degree because the users create a

profile containing abundant private information,

just like vitae. The information may not always be

true as the users tend to stress part of their

characteristics. But generally speaking, the ‘vitae’

can ‘speak’ for the users. In other words, creating

the vitae is one way in which users present

themselves. The other way is through posting, the

content of which can be almost everything. More

often than not, these posts convey more vital

information as the users are more likely to get into

trouble due to their inappropriate posting.

In terms of presenting private information, the second

type, blogs, are more tentative since they do not require

the users to edit the ‘vitae’. However, blogs are still

powerful in expressing ideas as the published content can

be seen by everyone who knows the links. If anything

serious happens, simply logging off will not work since

everything the user has published is recorded.

It is the same with the situation of the content

communities, another popular social media, referring to

the platforms where users can share things like videos

and music. Though these content communities seem to

have nothing to do with self-disclosure, sometimes the

content shared is directly related with the users. It may

convey some of the publisher’s beliefs, and in such a

condition the users should be careful to keep off sensitive

topics. To conclude, no matter what the extent of

self-disclosure is, users, including undergraduates, should

always watch out for their behavior.

(300 words, definition-classification)

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Social media is such a huge web covering everyone around the world that a subtle action of

one individual user may trigger incredible incidents. Some people claim that social media is to

blame for the frequently-happening online affairs, like online harassment and aggressive speech.

In fact, irresponsible users are the ones who should face censure. Asked about their motives of

such behavior, we find it surprising that most of them just do not realize that they may do such

huge harm to society and themselves. In terms of social influence, their reckless actions not only

set bad examples to other users, but also contaminate some innocent youths. They may further

encourage like-minded people to follow them. Even if the content is deleted, the influence has

been made and cannot be simply removed. The situation becomes worse when these users

represent one certain community, college or country. Their self-centered behavior may further

damage the reputation of the group they come from. Apart from the possible harm to society,

they themselves are also the victims because usually authorities will take action to deal with the

condition and the punishments are inevitable. Even though there have not been perfect laws for

online affair, the penalty can be given according to the degree of damage.

One typical example is the law student of National

University of Singapore (NUS), who uploaded a

pornographic video on his blog. It is said that he has

admitted his fault and apologies will be made soon, but the

incident definitely will be remembered as a teaching

material by negative example. Hence, it is obvious that

improper self-presentation will hurt both the society and the

users themselves, which alerts the undergraduates to voice

their opinion properly.

(294 words, cause-effect)

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New Media VS Traditional Media

When we define TV, radio and newspaper as traditional

media, social media should be accordingly called the ‘new

media’. This paragraph discusses about the comparison and

contrast between traditional media and social media in terms

of their roles in spreading information. Firstly, one distinct

difference is that young adults are the major users while

users of traditional media are more discrete, which is also

one of the features. According to recent statistics published

by U.S. demographics, the largest group of users of social

media is from 25 to 34 years old (as cited in

http://royal.pingdom.com/2012/08/21/report-social-network-

demographics-in-2012/, 2012). Another difference is the

technological restriction. Conventional media is accessible to

anyone while the least requirement for using social media is

that people should know how to use computer, which

actually limits the range of its user group. Apart from this,

social media has a faster speed in spreading information

because it is updated all day around while traditional media

has fixed timetable. Additionally, correction of false

information on traditional media may take a long time or it

never takes place, while it is just a piece of cake on social

media. Finally, the reliability of information also differs.

Social media is controlled by the users. They spread

information, share interests and give critical comments. The

information is mainly provided by the users and spread

through the network of the users so it is usually subjective,

making the materials not so reliable. On the contrary,

traditional media has relatively valid resources and goes

through inspection by authorities. To conclude, the

conventional media and new media both have their own

strengths and weaknesses. Thus we users should select the

more efficient one of them to express ourselves.

(294 words, compare-contrast)

In order to voice in your own opinion, you have to make sure

that your account is totally managed by yourself so that no one

else can take your advantage to do evil. It is essential that you be

responsible for your accounts so you should know how to protect

your online identification.

Firstly, when applying for an account, you should set a robust

password which is not related with birthday or telephone number.

A combination of number and character should be better. You can

also add some capital characters. Next, if possible, set some

difficult questions to remind you of the password because you

may forget it sometimes. Make sure that the answers to your

questions are only known to yourself in case that someone wants

to find your password through these questions. Then, the

password should be checked and changed regularly. So are the

related questions.

Finally, remember to log off any account when using a public

computer. There should be a block to tick whether “remember your

password”. Additionally, do not leak out much personal

information through conversation.

You had better not bind your social media account with your

telephone number or any other important and personal account as

such accounts may be at risk when your online account is stolen.

Different websites have different steps of changing password but

these approaches are applicable to all the online accounts. In one

word, take care of your online account as if it is your

identification card. Protecting your account is also protecting

your rights and your online safety.

(263 words, process)

References:

Kaplan,A.M. &Haenlein,M.(2010) Users of the world, unite! The

challenges and opportunities of Social Media, Business

Horizons, 53, 59-68

Report: Social network demographics in 2012(2012), retrieved

from

http://royal.pingdom.com/2012/08/21/report-social-network-demogra

phics-in-2012/

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How to Protect Your Online Accounts

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