Social Networking Software Distribution

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Insert name 1 Social networking software Social software refers to software that maintains, expands or derives significance from human social behavior. Some of the common social behaviors include music taste sharing, social networking, message boards and instant messaging. A developer making or seeking to improve any social software must ensure that satisfies the criteria for media software. The first criterion of social software requires the software to be able to allow communication, collaboration and support online communities. Secondly, it has to facilitate syndication share and reuse. Lastly, the software interface and features must enhance learning, where users can learn from other users (Farkas 6). Social networking applications enable people to connect through applicationdefined terms. The social networking terminologies include friend invitation, profile access and sharing. Users are able to create personal websites within the site where the fill in personal information, called the profile page. By using software search features, a user can invites friend and other people known to him or her to have privileged access to the user’s personal profile. The social has taken online communication by storm in the recent past as more users join social networking sites (Gurstein 22). New technology like the read/write web has led to increased innovation in social networking. Social sites are always improving user’s experience on their sites by adding additional features and applications to lock in users. The meteoric rise of social networking software has not been without challenges. Even existing social sites need improving in order for them to be able to cope with the increasing number of threats directed towards the sites (Gurstein 22).

Insert name 2 The first challenge in expansion is for the software to maintain user privacy. Globalization has meant increased security threats. Cybercriminals are on the prowl, trying to gain privileged user information for malicious reasons. Cases of account hacking or security breach are common in social networking sites. Face book instance, is vulnerable to malware and viruses as it has due to the use of third party applications, which are approximately 50,000 in number. Software developers want to make personal information available to prospective friends and colleagues, but maintain the user’s personal information free from tampering by other parties (Kaplan & Haenlein 62). Secondly, social networks build their databases on the premise of accurate data information. Unfortunately, this is not the case. Users provide false information and in other cases create multiple accounts. In actual sense, the user creates false personas in the database, which alters actual database statistics. The duplication is a form of system redundancy; it is the developers’ role to eliminate such without interfering with user privileges (Owyang 4). Thirdly, social sites have found it a challenge to develop income streams. The questions that goes begging is, are social networking applications able to generate income? The nature of social interactions is largely informal and social networking sites find it difficult to convince marketers to advertise with the sites. Except for large networks, most social software remains open source, without the ability to generate cash streams. Developers desire to get remuneration for their effort in creation of software, but current set up only depends on adverts, which are rare for small networks (Farkas 8). Social software desires to achieve portability. Social site users desire portability in using the site. Desktops and desktop applications are no longer viable options for users,

Insert name 3 as they desire portable. Developers have to come up with applications that are compatible with portable devices like mobile phones and tablets so that users can continue with their socialization always from the desk (Farkas 9). Another challenge of social networking developers is in establishing a balance between social experiences and resource usage. Since the arrival of “white label” social networking sites 10 years ago, internet traffic has quadrupled. Social sites incorporate all forms of social software, which take up a lot of internet resource. Refreshing a page may require little resource, but the incorporation of video and photo sharing features consumes large amounts of resource. Developers struggle to determine which features they need to add to improve the user experience without significantly using up all internet data resources (Owyang 6). Another challenge that exists is in approval of third party applications on networking sites. Developers of third party applications gain access to end users and increase system’s vulnerability. Developers of these kinds of applications must gain experience and accreditation before superior platforms can adopt them. Finally, scaling has become an issue for developers. Social networking sites experience problems with read and writes with result in downtimes. During this period, users cannot access the application, as the site remains unavailable. Downtime stems from having readability issue from a large database. Therefore, increased number of users poses a serious threat to a social application. It is a challenge for developers to develop solutions to database errors as well as eliminate downtime (Vaughan-Hichols 4-7). Developers have taken up the challenge by developing systems to solve social software challenges because of globalization. The first solution developers have

Insert name 4 made to reduce portability issues is to use RSS aggregator on the application platform. This feature ensures that users stay connected to their online groups or follow news feeds through portable such as PDAs or mobile phones. Social software overcomes distances and time barriers by use of instant messaging and VoIP throughout on real time. Social networks ride on the benefits of Web 2.0 where most information is user generated, under the UGC (User Generated Content) technological foundation (Kaplan & Haenlein 64). On the commercial front, developers are working on developing private information and idea share priority; features that lead to division between publically available information and sold information. In case a user desires to utilize such a feature, he or she pays for the information. Other features such as advertisement proceeds also apply, as social software makers try to lock in new clients. Social software developers continue to invest in social servers to reduce downtimes and scaling as well as increase dependability. Moreover, seek to reduce database server overload by adopting advanced equipment. Developers further analyze operating system levels in an effort to curb network traffic, and if need be, switch between networks to achieve efficiency and network flow (Vaughan-Hichols 8-9).

Works cited Kaplan, Andreas, M. and Haenlein, Michael. Users of the world, unite! The challenges and opportunities of Social Media. Business Horizons, 53 (1), 59-68. 2010. Print.

Insert name 5 Farkas, Meredith G. Social Software in Libraries: Building Collaboration, Communication, and Community Online. Medford, N.J: Information Today, 2007. Print. Gurstein, Michael. What Is Community Informatics (and Why Does It Matter) ?Monza, Italy: Polimetrica, 2007. Print. Vaughan-Hichols, Steven. How Social Networking Works. 2010. Web. Retrieved from http://www.itworld.com/software/91803/how-social-networking-works Owyang, Jeremiah. The Many Challenges of Social Network Sites.2008. Web. Retrieved from http://www.web-strategist.com/blog/2008/02/11/the-many-challenges-ofsocial-networks/

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