DGTL 12002 Assignment Task 2

13 July 2012

Trustworthiness and Moderation within the bounds of Facebook

Week 2 question
Choose 2 terms of reference to make further comments about the site you have reviewing and the services it offers.

Facebook is a popular site. Is it trustworthy? Why do people freely hand over their personal information and what moderation is in place for Facebook members? These are the questions I will be addressing in my blog.

I believe there are weaknesses in the trustworthiness of Facebook, however there are some strengths.

Trustworthiness

Does it have the ABILITY (supplies what is promised), BENEVOLENCE (intention/faith in what the customer wants) and INTEGRITY (predictability) to it's customers?

The site has a good reputation, evident from the millions of users that have joined in good faith. When discussing trustworthiness within the world of Facebook, considerations should be made such things think about the questions that first pop into my head when signing up.

Do I trust this website?
Is my information safe?

This popularity seems to show that many people are trusting Facebook and are happy handing over their information. The visual and functionality of the interface are both just as important to me.

According to Peppers, 'Is Facebook Trustworthy' (viewed 15 July 2012) "Every couple of weeks it seems, Facebook re-defines the privacy rules that govern its member-shared information. This can be quite confusing and cause a lack of faith".

The Negative Effects of Trustworthiness

Egger states (Egger, 2000) "Consumers should be informed about the vendors privacy policy and the way confidential information is handled". I believe this to be true. It is often not talked about, proving to be a 'risk' for all users. I found that privacy rights were confusing and not easy to understand. In some areas I needed to go deeper into the system to find what I was looking for. After searching for extra information about what security settings to use, I had found the information on 'account security' was outdated, relating to a different interface and also linked to an older looking account. This frustrated me.

There are several trustworthiness issues about Facebook. One in particular is the users profile. I have personally discussed issues with friends about removing their identity. This is a cause for concern. It seems your profile can not be deleted and will always exist in cyberspace. Another concerning issue is the risk of predators stalking you. 'Childnet International (Young People and Social Networking Services, Barriers and Risks, viewed 15 July 2012) point out how recent media coverage of social networking services have focused on issues such as young people being groomed by predators, and illegal and inappropriate behaviour has caused problems by giving young people the tools to manage and negotiate risks.

Interface Properties

I have lost some faith in Facebook's ever-changing face lifts and interface design. My first impression was a good one. The interface showed familiarity and trust (Egger, 2000). It did not change for a long time, but when it did I lost that trust and familiarity. I felt at risk which made me feel like I was not in control. As a consumer, I was not ready for the changes they made. My Facebook friends and I were not happy. This update happened several times to now be the time-line Facebook as we see today.

The Positive Effects of Trustworthiness through the Interface

The digizen team explain how Facebook can be a pleasant social experience where friends can be made, groups can be formed, events and activities can be shared and opinions can be voiced. They also point out that Facebook users are able to develop personal skills and feel a sense of trust within a community, 'Young People and Social Networking Services, Benefits for Learners' (viewed 15 July 2012).

The Visual Interface
The colours chosen for the site have a trusting first impression conveyed by the use of safe colour and a lot of square fixed shapes.The various shades of blue and grey were calming, the white space made it look clean and the use of squares and rectangles was comfortable. The usability was flexible and consistent.

Below is an example of how the page looked when I first signed up on Facebook and a fantastic page of screen shots from Facebook's earlier interface.

Figure 1: Example of the Interface in 2007, Facebook
(viewed 14 July 2012)

My Personal Experience
When I joined up around five years ago. I didn't know much about social networking sites. I didn't even create an account with MySpace because I didn't know much about it. I had a small handful of friends who were members, so I felt safe that my information was not going to go too far. The basic interface was easy to navigate around there were limited choices. The experience was enjoyable.

Moderation

Moderation in the Facebook site refers to the 'Centre Management' within the social networking site. The centre management is somewhere you can go to when something is needs to be sorted out. Through using this feature the user will feel more in control of what is posted on their wall.

Below are some examples:

Figure 2: Example of a moderation block list

Figure 3: Example of a profanity block list

Figure 4: Example of typing out a moderation block list

Facebook allows a keyword moderation block list that enables a profanity block list control. This is good because it will filter wall posts and comments for your wall. As long as you're an administrator, you will be allowed to control this from the management permissions tab in the admin area.

Administrators will be able to control the profanity filter by choosing strong, medium or none. There are no lists of bad words to choose from for your filter. It is something the user will need to add individually if they wish.

Spam- The spam settings inside Facebook are improving and their functionality seems to be consistent. There seems to be much moderation available within the site free of charge.

References

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Childnet International 'Young People and Social Networking Services', Barriers and Risks (viewed 15 July 2012)
http://www.digizen.org/socialnetworking/risks.aspx

Egger,F., 2000, "Trust me, I'm an online vendor: Towards a Molel of Trust for E-commerce System Design", Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems CHI '00 extended abstracts on Human factors in computing systems, ACI Press.

Example of the Interface in 2007 (viewed 14 July 2012)

http://www.programmerfish.com/facebook-user-interface-changes-over-time/

Facebook (viewed 19 July 2012)
https://www.facebook.com/

Facebook Adds Keyword Moderation and Profanity Block lists to Pages (viewed 19 July 2012)

http://www.insidefacebook.com/2011/02/10/keyword-moderation-profanity-blocklist/accessed 19/07/2012

Is Facebook Trustworthy (viewed 15 July 2012)

http://www.peppersandrogersgroup.com/blog/2010/05/is-facebook- trustworthy-i- thin.html

Young People and Social Networking Services, Benefits for Learners (viewed 15 July 2012).

http://www.digizen.org/socialnetworking/benefits.aspx