A Journal opinion article Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

A Journal opinion article - Essay Example e report is erroneous although there is no reason to harp on this issue since the myth about the flourishing economic situation of America has disappeared since the days of the sub prime crisis. The other question that requires analysis is whether the foundation of this data is indisputable or not. This is because the way in which such data is calculated in the countries of European Union is different. The countries of the western European region have been moving through shaky financial situation for a long time when other problems such as unemployment are added to it. According to an estimate, the poverty situation in the US would have been higher if the method of calculation would have been on the lines of the European nations. However, that would not change the problem of poverty of a country that has always remained the hub of financial excesses. The economists have expressed extreme annoyance on this report that has been released by the President. The statistics of poverty situation might not be promising in the US particularly from the time of recession that gripped the nation with its ugly claws and gradually captured the entire world. However, as the economists have expressed that the data that has been taken into account for calculation is not correct as it has left out some of the most important aspects such as tax credits. When compared with the developing nations such as India or a part of South Eastern Asia, the poverty in the US might not be as bleak as it has been presented in the report. Poverty is necessarily a curse of every economy although it goes alongside irrespective of the situation. As a matter of fact, it is difficult to predict the way in which financiers would react to this report; overall the situation would not have much promises for them although the people who are thought to be under the grip of poverty or classified as belonging to the category below the line of poverty. In short, investments in the real estate or stock trading

Benefits And Drawbacks Of Social Media Marketing Essay

Benefits And Drawbacks Of Social Media Marketing Essay This case introduces Web 2.0 social media in virtual worlds, networking sites, and video sharing sites, and entices students to explore the opportunities and risks they are confronted for brands. The case allows students to fight with the strategic and tactical decisions that accompany marketing communications strategy and to merge information on consumer behaviour with an understanding of brand objectives, in order to assess and evaluate new social media options. Foley, brand manager, is facing a more and more complex media environment in which her conventional media plan which is focused on television, print, and radio advertising, has become less popular due largely to declining audiences and a surge in advertising clutter, plus consumers tuning out. She is exploring emerging Web 2.0 social media options to determine if they can better achieve her branding and advertising objectives. Her challenge is to curtail the entire buzz surrounding Web 2.0 and to analyze the social medias p ossible for her brand by delving into the consumer dire needs and behaviours support Web 2.0 technologies Case issue: I think UnMe Jeans is a suitable brand for social media and the Web 2.0. Their target market is women between 12-24 years old, and this segment is consuming less traditional media, and increasing their consumption in the Web 2.0. With new technologies and platforms they can regulate the ads or somehow avoid them and still enjoy their favourite TV shows or any type of entertainment. I think its evident Web 2.0 is the right path for UnMe Jeans, the question is how to do it. The benefits social media offer to UnME Jeans are: The social media attracts more people than traditional media so they can reach more possible users as customers. They can target their audience with more accuracy and in a more efficient way. The idea is to make the costumers part of the social media community, to get them involved and get a deeper engagement with the brand. The drawbacks social media offer to UnME Jeans are: Lack of control of the content: Foley, Brand Manager of UnME Jeans, is faced with a challenge as she reconsiders her advertising media plan due to the increase of social media options on the emerging Web 2.0. These options become even more intriguing with the steady price increases of television advertising despite the growth of several unfavourable conditions. Working with her advertising agency, Foley must effectively use her brand management skills to choose which social media channel, if any that she should incorporate into her current advertising media plan. The advertising agency suggested three viable options, Zwinktopia, Facebook, and YouTube. Zwinktopia is a virtual world targeted to girls ages 13 to 24 with a focus on fashion and music, Facebook is a social networking, profile page site, and YouTube is a user-generated video-sharing website. I suggest that Foley pursue the Zwinktopia social media channel as a starting point to take advantage of the emerging Web 2.0 and also make a minor investment in the other options to develop their web 2.0 presence. Key issue of unme jeans: Looking ahead Foley the brand manager of unme jeans realise that the trends were driving the radical change in media market that had potential to reduce the effectiveness of her current media plan. The consumer media habit were rapidly changing because the peoples are more attracted towards the internet Driven by the proliferation of new technology like the personal computer dvd players and ipods these all new electronic devices are main reasons of changing consumer behaviour Foley the brand manager of unme jeans was confuse in between advertise in television and advertise in internet which is better for marketing. Foley advertising agency had provided her with a plan to bring her plan to three social media outlet. Zwinktopia, facebook , youtube. She knew that she wanted to do less talking at and more talking with her consumer and she wanted to use media outlet where consumer is more receptive offer brand story and which would foster the most constrictive dialogue about her brand She also wanted to use programme that would seamlessly integrate with and support her exiting media plan. But most of all she wanted to social media programme to make on impact on her sell. Swot analysis: Strength: Unme jeans was one of the most successful junior denim brand available in market The unme brand story revolved around celebrating the individuality of teenage girls and encouraging teens to speak out against peer pressure and conformity Unme jeans are available in upscale department store and especially retailer across the united state and sold at a slight premium to comparable the brand Weakness: The changing of consumer media habit and proliferation of new technology like a personal computer dvd player and ipods consumer were tuning out traditional media like television magazines news paper and radio and tuning into new media options Opportunity: The opportunity for the unme jeans is web 2.0 applications are those that make the most intrinsic advantage of that platform Delivering software essay continually update service that get better and more people use it. The web 2.0 is also called consumer co-creation because that gave consumers the ability to direct contribute to the online conversation and contain that was available on the web. Three web 2.0 advertise opportunity mainly are Zwinktopia facebook and you tube Threats: Remember that new things always get better and to advertise brand web 2.0 the company need to invest more on advertising which is not possible for every company. Analysis of the case: Just like any business problem, Foley is faced with several issues in making her decision to change her advertising media plan. With a full knowledge of the issues, Foley can better analyze her options in the process of making a justified decision. Rapidly changing consumer trends There is a clear indication that consumers media habits have evolved due to the proliferation of new technology. There are more outlets available that resulted in the change of how their market consumes media. Much of these changes were geared towards online outlets, especially among the younger audience. In order to remain successful, the company must ensure they can quickly respond to the rapidly changing. Formulation and evaluation of alternative: Benefits and Drawbacks of social media: Youtube: Benefits: Promotes high involvement and participation Large demographic availability, it allows marketers to target the audience appropriate for their product Some forms of experiments have shown optimistic results have given marketers an option to choose layout and position of their ads. For eg: participatory video ads, in-video advertising . Proven successful when used as the right channel and not only an alternative for Television ads. Drawbacks: High cost of marketing and additional cost on developing competently made videos. Lack of control over the content Still in research and test stage and it may back fire if not blended well. For eg: pre-roll ads. Language and location restriction Zwinktopia: Benefits: Promotes the ideals UnME stands for i.e celebrate individuality, non-confirming attitude. A new way of expression. Have the right demographics for UnME i.e teenage girls, the website are focused on fashion and music. Marketers can promote relevant ads in the virtual world. Can be linked to other social media like facebook  and Myspace. Drawbacks: May not influence real world sales for the company. There are over 200,000 virtual products which increase competition and fight for market share that may not give return for the company. Facebook: Benefits: Highest demographic segment among the target audience. Also has the highest average time spent on the website and highest frequent return of the user to the page. Easy access to information on the users, hence the target market can be served with relevant ads based on their profile page. Acts like a discussion forum where users interact with the brand and discuss their interests. Videos can be promoted on the website as well. Drawbacks: Since users may view over 500 pages of content the recall value may drop significantly. Lack of measurement tools to measure success. High cluttering on the network may make the users indifferent to the ads. May lead to over advertising and hijack  the very purpose Recommendation: Besides the fact that there are more people today than any other website that visit Facebook, On Facebook it is all about the interactions and discussions that occur between its users. So seeing the attractiveness of the platform as mentioned above Facebook can be used for advertisements to reach a more targeted audience in fewer costs. Another great feature of Facebook is the fan page. This feature allows a company or a brand or a product to create a Facebook page solely dedicated to it. There, users are enabled and encouraged to share opinions, information, criticism, or whatever else. When these kinds of conversations happen, it creates an atmosphere for free discussion and a buzz about that fan page. All these aforementioned features are just some of the countless great tools available on Facebook for marketers such as Foley to promote their brand. Social media provide sales professionals with the opportunity to listen and influence through their participation. Not using Facebook would simply result in a significantly missed opportunity for Foley. In addition to that, her brand will look inferior to the other brands that seize the opportunity of social media. Overall, using Facebook provides more impacts in terms of reach, frequency, receptivity and presence. In addition, page views, unique visitors and the time spent on the site in Facebook is larger than others. Therefore I recommend Facebook rather than Zwinktopia and YouTube. Of course, if the budget allows, the company uses other media platforms and have to make synergy effect based on Web 2.0 concept. It requires additional efforts, but it must be a good approach. As mentioned before, I recommend that Facebook is the best choice among three suggested plans. One of the reasons is the openness of Facebook. With the development of the information technologies, Facebook has evolved. Currently Facebook is not only a simple social website, but a big platform. The company uploads and maintains various types of contents, people can access Facebook via many different ways, and the contents of Facebook can flow through the Web. Therefore, if the company has an appropriate plan, it is possible to make big synergy effects. Implementation Plan Implementation Component: Managing Change X Instructional Practices Curricula An Assessment System X Professional Learning Communications ResourcesPurpose: To create a brand valuegh of unme jeans and advertise using facebook as a social media. Action Steps What Will Be Done? Responsibilities Who Will Do It? Timeline By When? (Day/Month) Resources Resources Available Resources Needed (financial, human, political other) Potential Barriers What individuals or entities might resist? How do we address this resistance? Communications Plan Who is involved? What methods? How often? Step 1: To use facebook to create ads related to the product. Advertising Agency May 2013 A. Facebook B. Human resource Time Deploy more people to create and upload the ads Everyone Step 2: To create fan page on facebook because of that users are enabled and encouraged to share opinions, information, criticism, or whatever else. Advertising Agency June 2013 A. Page maker in facebook B. Human resourse- creative team The tool of making pages might be difficult to use. Training and developing creative team Everyone Step 3: Social should be use and not neglected Advertising Agency N.A A. Facebook B. You Tube C. Zwinktopia A. lack of tech savvy people. B. create awareness about social media platform. Everyone Step 4: Advertising Agency Begin in August and continue throughout 2012-2013 A. Current Textbooks B. Internet C. Parents D. Time E. Manipulatives F. Training A. Time All teachers Step 5: Implement ELA Shifts 2, 3, and 5 All Teachers Begin August 2013 A. Document Cameras for Smartboards B. 6-Trait Rubrics C. Training A.Time B. All Teachers Evidence Of Success (How will you know that you are making progress? What are your benchmarks?) Evaluation Process (How will you determine that your goal has been reached? What are your measures?)

Government, Media, Censorship and Terrorism †Perhaps We Can’t Handle t

Government, Media, Censorship and Terrorism – Perhaps We Can’t Handle the Truth Government and media influencing each other is a tender ethical situation. Initially, it seems simply appalling that any government would either censor or use its media as a tool, but considering the possible benefits of such acts makes the issue more complex. What if censorship saves lives? What if manipulating the media brings a resolution to a conflict? Wartime especially brings these questions to the forefront. When peoples lives are at stake, often standard rules of morality must either be reconsidered or suspended. Wartime is also the only situation in which the government could get the support of such practices from a constituency with a free press. Practiced responsibly, censorship and manipulation can be quite effective. Although, there is always the legitimate fear of the slippery slope. First, I would like to examine media manipulation. In the United States, in accordance to our press tradition, this is seen as an absolute travesty. No self-respecting journalist w...

Retail Merchandising And In Store Operations Fashion Essay

IntroductionMany companies have acknowledged that bettering their shop layout ; they will be able to increase their figure of gross revenues per square pes. Even the architecture of a shop can take to an addition in gross revenues. Within the shop layout selling scheme, there are a figure of different facets to take into consideration such as – architecture, shop atmosphere and location, ocular selling and most significantly the shop layout. Ocular selling can be anything from the shop window show to hive away atmosphere, all of these artifacts are put into action when companies wish to increase their gross revenues per square pes. There are both positive and negative ways in which a alteration to a shop layout can increase the gross revenues per square pes for a company, as because of this legion actions must be considered before a company drastically changes their layout.Executive SummaryThe intent of this study was to research how shop layouts and betterments to a shop can increase the gross revenues per square pes. â€Å"Store layout and ocular selling are two of import factors that add to the peculiarity of a shop. The interior design of the shop plays a more critical role† as show on Indian MBA ( 2008 ) . Besides mentioned on Indian MBA ( 2008 ) â€Å"Space is ever an highly expensive and scarce resource. Retailers try to maximise the return on gross revenues per square foot.† This is the best manner to depict why retail merchants see the inside of their shop as the best manner in which they can increase these gross revenues per square pes. There are assorted types of shop layouts which retail merchants would see to increase their gross revenues per square pes. This study will analyze and research how retail design, shop layout and ocular selling can assist increase gross revenues per square pes, by the usage of research into trade publications every bit good as newspapers and other beginnings. Besides in this study, illustrations of shops that have successfully managed to increase their gross revenues per square pes will be mentioned.FindingssRetail architecture is a critical mechanism in the map of market intermediation. Retail architecture is defined as those market spaces that affect the relationship between supply and demand. Architecture can straight exemplify some shops societal meanings of retail relationships ; its ferociousness every bit good as its heat, and its societal category. For illustration Harrods has a high degree of retail architecture, as it is non merely a tourer attractive force due to its external historical architecture but it besides denotes people ‘s societal category as people who are of a higher societal position or societal category would be most likely to shop at Harrods. Liberty the British section shop has a high degree of grasp for its edifices history, as Creative Director Tamara Salman of vesture trade name Liberty of London adds to her aggregation the shops extraordinary 130 twelvemonth heritage. Liberty shop is able to construct upon their heritage to guarantee that they increase their gross revenues per square pes figure. With being such a strong and historical shop it is difficult for many new and approaching companies to be able to hold such a strong autumn back for increasing gross revenues. However, retail shop layouts are of import determiners of client behavior. UK manner retail merchants are able to garner critical information sing their mark consumers which in bend enable them to make insides which successful attract these groups. In the context of the shop layout, time-poor and extremely nomadic consumers require different infinites than shoppers who at leisure shop at price reductions, and selectively during gross revenues periods at assorted phases in the concern rhythm. Besides, gender differences in shopping can warrant rather specific alterations to manner shop formats and infinite allotment. Shop layouts and the ware offered are matched to the targeted consumers to the extent that clients ‘buy into ‘ branding statements. It is of import that the retail merchant additions a positive reaction to the new layout of its ware within the shop as a negative reaction would so do gross revenues to diminish. To guarantee that a company is utilizing the right type of shop layout, the retail merchant would look into their ain shop layout analysis. Within a shop layout analysis, careful consideration is given to the merchandises being sold and their location ; this can besides be seen as basic psychological science used to lure clients to pass more money normally through impulse purchasing. Retailers can besides increase their fight by closely aiming and carry throughing their clients ‘ demands. Tauber ( 1972 ) hypothesised three grounds for shopping ; personal motivations, societal motivations and impulse purchasing. Making consumer satisfaction involves presenting quality merchandises that meet their demands and is core in extremely competitory environments. The allotment of infinite within any shop can be on the footing of many factors such as historical gross revenues, day-to-day mean gross revenues, net incomes, borders, industry norms and strategic grounds. A shop layout must besides include infinite for indispensable maps such as stock list, client service desks and altering suites. For any retail merchant to hold success in increasing their gross revenues per square pes, the must look at a figure of facets such as their fixtures and adjustments, colorss of the shop inside, lighting, and window shows. Shop insides are designed in a manner which influences consumer behavior which is referred to as Ocular Merchandising. Company ocular merchants control the usage of equipment, shows, colorss, lights, music, atmosphere and floor direction within a shop.Musics:Music can be used to increase gross revenues per square pess, as music sets the tone of the environment within the shop and as peoples tempers change throughout the class of the twenty-four hours it is indispensable to besides hold music which reflects the temper of the clients. Music which is played during the forenoon should be high energy based as clients have tonss of energy and this would intend that a company would hold more people coming in and buying points during the forenoon hours. Music during the afternoon should be more laid-back as peoples energy degrees are diminishing and they are more loath to shop through the shop looking for their wanted points compared to those in the forenoon. Similarly to the forenoon during early eventide hours, clients respond better to somewhat more up-tempo vocals. Retailers should besides take into consideration their mark consumers when make up one's minding on what type of music they should hold playing in their shops.Coloring material:Colour is another factor that can lure clients into shopping at a specific shop, coloring material is immediate, emotional and memorable. Colours conveying out emotions and feelings automatically to clients, therefore it is indispensable to retail merchants to acquire the right coloring material balance for their shop. The coloring material blue is seen as a natural component, but it is besides connected with trust and stableness, hence retail merchant who use blue within their interior design in informing clients that they are trusty and apprehensible every bit good as confident. The coloring material viridity is found to be a successful coloring material when linked to hygiene and beauty, which is the chief coloring material for the company Body Shop. All Body Shop foreparts are green and have some signifier of a green coloring material within their inside. The Body Shop besides consists of natural colorss and forests doing clients experience a sense of freshness, good health, juvenility and the coloring material viridity can besides be linked to money. Colorss within the Purple class can be linked to the emotion or sense of royalty, luxury and religious. Again the shop Liberty nexus purple into their company in the usage of their web site, correspondence every bit good as their company gift bags, this enables their clients to go forth the shop with a sense of luxury which besides makes them more likely to come and buy from Liberty once more.Fixtures and Adjustments:Within any retail shop, the fixtures and adjustments are another cardinal component to increasing gross revenues per square pes. For shelves, oculus degree and somewhat above is the best place to sell garments from, as coloring material of the garment can catch clients eyes doing them halt to look at the point. Displaies should be kept simple, and have a subject to them. It is besides effectual to include the merchandises in usage or as a aggregation which can be paired up e.g. in Primark or Marks and Spencers, many points of dressing a paired together such as shirts are sectioned with pants, skirts and sport jackets as this enables the consumer to see what the point will look like paired with something else, this besides shows that they do non hold far to travel to obtain a matching jacket for a work skirt. Besides in Primark, places are normally opposite the formal or concern wear but situated closely to accoutrements such as pocketbooks and bags ; once more this is done so that the consumer does n't hold really far to go in order to finish the outfit they required. It is besides of import to hold impulse points which are normally located near to the boulder claies so that clients are more likely to buy these along with their inital shopping, this could be anything from socks to lip rubrics.Window show:Bright and colorful window shows can do the company shop window stand out from other rivals, nevertheless the usage of excessively many colorss can do the shop expression inexpensive and put clients off traveling into the shop. The lighting used within a shop forepart should be bright as this makes it more attractive and appealing to go throughing clients. A shop window is an ideal manner of pulling new and bing clients as you can utilize a shop window to construct the company image, showcase new reachings every bit good as merchandises that are in high demand. Window shows should be changed often to maintain mark clients and new clients interested in the company, and to do them halt and buy something. The section shop Selfridges is the most competent shop for their window shows as each window can state a different narrative based on whatever theme possibly inspirational at the clip. As Selfridges window show tells a shop more and more clients are intrigued to cognize what it is approximately and where they can happen the points shown in the window, this is how Selfridges additions an addition in their gross revenues per square pes.Lighting:Proper illuming can increase gross revenues by up to 20 % , hence all retail merchants will profit from utilizing the best bulbs possible when updating their shop layout. In 2010, John Lewis changed their shop lighting as the dim illuming which was antecedently in shop caused consumers to be less likely to pass money as dim lighting can do clients to experience tired. Retailers should do usage of topographic point visible radiations, as these can be used to foreground cardinal countries or even cardinal merchandises which may be committee based, therefore the more sold, the more money the company makes.Decision:As mentioned throughout this study, companies need to selectively make up one's mind which options will be best for them to be able to increase the gross revenues per square pess as the initial reaction of the clients to a new shop layout is the make up one's minding factor as to whether the company will aim more clients or lose clients as a consequence. Companies should pay close attending to the information they already poses about their clients and utilize this to their advantage, they should besides be cognizant of their rivals so that they are able to ever be one measure in front, hiking gross revenues as they go.

Privacy and Social Networks Essay

â€Å"Privacy seems to encompass everything, and therefore it appears to be nothing in itself† (Solove, 2008, p. 7). It is an oversimplification to define privacy as all what an individual owns. With the evolution of new technologies nowadays, it is very hard to define privacy because it varies from one person to another and from one culture to another (Solove, 2008). With the rise of social networks during the last decade, new views about privacy started to emerge due to its special mechanism in sharing information. Social networks enable users to instantly share information, thoughts, photos, products and videos with the many users in the network at once. Unlike other means of communication, the information in social networks can spread to hundreds of users in seconds. Then, the users who received the information may share it among their network, and then further to other networks, which will end up in spreading the information to millions of people in no time, just like a chain reaction. This new mechanism of sharing, which is becoming faster every day, raised new concerns about privacy among individuals and organizations. In spite of all these concerns about the personal privacy on the social networks, social networks websites are the most visited websites in the internet. For example, Facebook has reached 901 million monthly active users in April, 2012 (Hachman, 2012). Although social networks enables an easy sharing of private information about individuals or low profile information about organizations, individuals and organization should not be afraid of using social networks due to privacy concerns, and instead they should be more public and utilize the social network. Being public and open to the world is better than being private and closed because it enables people to learn from others personal experience. Naturally, any individual or organization benefits from communicating with others. Nevertheless, communication with others, regardless of the mean of communication, usually involves giving away some private information to the other. However, social networks empowered the world a new mean of communication that benefits all the users in the network by sharing private information. For example, an individual can share some previous experiences such as overcoming an illness, eating habit, or making a project. Being afraid of sharing experience, because of privacy, would only deprive others from benefit of these experiences. According to Tapscott (2012): Fully 20 percent of all patients with the fatal disease ALS share intimate information about their treatment and condition on the network PatientsLikeMe. com. And tens of thousands of others with rare diseases who use that website report that sharing has helped them better manage their illness. Because the social network enabled them to share information about their medical conditions, which is very private information, they supported each others with valuable information about their disease and inspired each others with their experience. Social networks enhanced collaboration, which in return brings benefits to all individuals, at the cost of personal information. Some may argue that because of posting private information on social networks, some employee may suffer from being fired from or being denied for a job. In other words, social networks negatively affect employment because they allow the employers or managers to access an employee’s or a job applicant’s private data. For example, Andrews (2012) states in her book that a high school teacher, called Ashly Payne, was asked to resign because she uploaded a photo of her on Facebook drinking an alcoholic drink even though it is legal to drink in her country. She also claims that employers â€Å"will not hire someone whose Facebook page includes photo of that person drinking or in provocative dress† (p. 122). However, the information on social networks could not be used against an employee or a job applicant because it is considered unethical and illegal. First, it is unethical to judge a worker from the personal aspects rather than working skills. Besides, Jarvis (2011) defines privacy as â€Å"the ethics of knowing† and publicness as â€Å"the ethics of sharing† (p. 110). Therefore, it depends how the individual interpret others information. On the other hand, employers can also look into a job applicant’s profile in a social network to see his/her previous experience in work. Second, it is illegal to make ecision on an employee or a job applicant based on social networks personal information. Furthermore, this act is considered discrimination and the company can be sued for this action (Waring & Buchanan, 2010). Therefore, employees and job applicants should not be afraid of posting information in social networks. Social network is a safe place to share private information with others. The main issue is that private data on the social network is accessible anytime and anywhere. Without a doubt, the privacy of individual’s profile data in the social network should be protected to make the network a safer place for sharing. Therefore, many social networks provide powerful tools to control the access on private information. First, social networks do not grant access to other users profile data anonymously. In order to access any data even if it is public, the individual needs gain the social networks trust by registering an account in the social network. This enables the social network administration control over the social network. Second, the user can choose who is able to view his/her profile private information and what information others can see. For instance, the user can block accounts, specify groups and set privileges. Third, social networks also provide a help center to report abuse of the services such as spamming, bullying or hateful speeches. The social network administration can stop any account permanently or even take legal action if an individual is reported abusing others privacy. Finally, most social networks provide a parental control to help parents control how their children use the social network. Since social networks rely on the trust between the users, these tools does not only make a social network a safer place, but also trustworthy. Richters and Peixoto (2011) performed a research to show the transitivity of trust in social networks. They found out that people decide who to trust based on other peers who trust. To emphasize this to the topic, users trust only specific users over their private information and thus they trust the social network. Conversely, trusting the social network increases the trust among the users. In addition, trustworthiness implies a social network safety, which in return means users being more comfortable sharing their information using the social network. For example, one of the reasons that made Facebook the most successful social network is the trustworthy of the users. According to Jesdanun (2006, as cited in Fogel & Nehmad, 2009), because Facebook was only restricted for students, the users felt safer to share data through the social network. Nowadays, Facebook is open to the public, but they are very strict in term of network safety. In fact, Fogel’s and Nehmad’s (2009) research statistics showed that â€Å"those who had social networking profiles had significantly greater mean scores†¦ indicating that they believed Facebook is a more trustworthy social network† (p. 175). For any social network to be successful, the social network has to maintain the trust of their users through the safety of the social network. Therefore, social networks are trustworthy over the users’ private in the social network. Despite of these control tools, some may argue that social networks still a potential threat to the users’ privacy. For instance, many believe that social networks made a fertile ground for identity theft and stalking. People usually fear the technology; because social networks are also considered one of them, every possible problem falls under the umbrella of privacy concerns on social networks. Privacy, however, is not only controlling the data access, but also controlling how it is used or interpreted (Boyd, 2010). Let us discuss these problems one by one. First, identity theft occurs when someone steals someone’s secret information and pretending to be that person. According to Jarvis, â€Å"[the identity theft issue] is less an issue of privacy than larceny† (2011, p. 96). Assuming it is an issue of privacy, suppose someone hacked someone else’s account or page on a social network, thus accessing or using the victim’s information. Should this be considered the social network fault? The user, the victim, probably did not take security precautions to protect what he/she considered a private data. Additionally, the social network provides tools to retrieve, to report or to suspend a stolen account. Second, stalking is obsessively observing an individual’s behavior or information. Unfortunately, stalking can mostly be from those who have access to the profile information such as friends and coworkers. However, it still depends on how they interpret the information. For example, if someone knew that his friend is getting divorced, he decides whether to support him, help him, or stand against him. Social networks’ databases do not only contain data about their users, but also how the users interactions with the social networks and other users. Therefore, the data in social networks are very valuable as some refers to it as â€Å"the new oil†. Social networks use these data, through data mining, to improve its services and to gain revenue. Most social networks gain revenue from targeted advertising. For example, if a user often reads about cars, or writes posts related cars, the data mining system is going to assume this user is interested in cars. Therefore, the social network shows that user advertisements related to cars within the user’s living area. Social networks created a new marketing option that helps the companies to expand their production and services (Andresen, 2011). On the other hand, data mining and targeted advertisement raises new privacy concern in social networks. For example, some users may feel uncomfortable when these advertisements are based on some information that were marked as private, a personal chat with a friend for instance. However, data mining and targeted advertising does not violate privacy laws or ethics. According to Seltzer research in data mining ethics (2005) â€Å"like most statistical methodologies data mining by itself is ethically neutral† (p. 1441). This is mainly because the data mining process is carried on by computer programs, which will not interact with these data the way a human would. They will not develop any judgment or feelings about the user no matter how sensitive the data is. Moreover, social networks provide advertisers with anonymous statistical data. In other word, advertisers do not know the identities of users in the statistics provided by the social network. In conclusion, social networks are new powerful tool for communication with the others. The data on the social networks are can easily be accessed anywhere and anytime, and therefore this created a controversial debate between privacy and the social networks. However, being afraid of using social networks would have only deprived the benefits of using these tools. Besides, employees and job applicants should not be afraid of using social networks because their information in social networks could not be used against them as it is considered illegal and unethical to be used against them. Nevertheless, social networks provide powerful tools to control over the user’s private information, thus implying that the social networks are trustworthy over private information. In sprit of all privileges control tools, many people believe that the social networks can cause problems such as identity theft and stalking. However, these problems are not necessarily due to social networks, but instead it is due to how people interpret the information in the social networks. As a result the, the user should be more careful when posting a sensitive data and think before sharing any information. Finally, because social networks databases contains tremendous amount of data, social networks created a new form of business using these data while protecting the identity of the data. Therefore, individuals and organization should not concern privacy when using social networks and utilize its benefits.