A Network of Friends

1. A Network of Friends Level 1 Geography 1.6 3 credits To go with Geostuff resources

2. Social Networking • What is ‘Social Networking’? Think-Pair- Share

3. Introduction Whether it be Facebook, Bebo, MySpace, Twitter…people are being connected all over the world with friends, businesses, organisations, events…the list is endless. Given the rising popularity of social networks, it’s of little surprise that there have been several high-profile breaches of security on sites such as MySpace and Facebook. With over 2.3 million users in New Zealand, all it takes is one person to cause major damage. Imagine you are a researcher investigating the privacy and security issues in social networking – how does it affect people and the cultural environment, and what are the different viewpoints towards this issue. To complete your research, your last task will be to evaluate some courses of action and recommend the one that you think will help the privacy and security issues in social networking within New Zealand.

4. Social Networking in plain English http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6a_KF7TYKVc • Privacy and Social Networking http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7gWEgHeXcA • Social Media Revolution http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFZ0z5Fm-Ng • Social Networking: An evolution in communication media http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cma3MABaHsw

5. The nature of the contemporary geographic issue is described by: Read through the resource material • Outlining the issue • Describing its location and stating why location is important • Describing how the issue affects the cultural environment

6. Group work • You will now divide into 3 groups • Using the resource material you will brainstorm ideas on one selected objective. • You will have 10 minutes to write your ideas onto the A3 paper. • Each group will move onto the next objective, and eventually cover all 3. • When you get back to your original objective you will collate the information and come up with a summary. This will be presented to the class.

7. Viewpoints • This task requires you to describe the different viewpoints that groups and/or individuals have on this issue of social networking. You also need to outline why the viewpoint is held. • What is your opinion on social networking sites such as Facebook? Why do you hold this opinion?- create a class continuum.

8. TV3 news – Facebook fake fronts up – May 2011 • http://www.3news.co.nz/Facebook-fake-fronts-up/tabid/423/articleID/211248/Default.aspx • TV3 news – Burger King tries to fire worker over face book post – February 2011 • http://www.3news.co.nz/BK-tries-to-fire-worker-over-Facebook-post/tabid/421/articleID/197168/Default.aspx

9. Viewpoints The class will divide into 5 groups. Each will be allocated a group or individual who has an opinion on social networking. Using the bullet points below, come up with a summary on the OHT that can be presented to the class. Describe different viewpoints by: • Naming the individual/group • Describing their viewpoint • Providing reasons for their viewpoint

10. What courses of action could we take? • Do nothing and continue to use social networking sites at your own risk. • Introduce an age restriction that can only be verified using your passport number or driver’s licence. • Provide compulsory education for all users of social networking sites.

11. Brainstorm Task • Using the brainstorm worksheets come up with strengths and weaknesses of each action. • Discuss as a class.

12. Recommendation Make a fully justified recommendation • Individually choose one of the courses of action and explain in detail why you consider this course of action to be the best option, and give detailed reasons why it is better than the other courses of action. • To do this, discuss the strengths of your chosen action and compare this to the weaknesses of the other actions. • Discuss as a class