Social Media's Impact on Society

This assignment requires students to critically evaluate the negative impacts of social media on society. The focus is on exploring how social media platforms contribute to issues such as moral decline within families, the spread of hate speech and violence, cyberbullying leading to mental health problems, and the coordination of cybercrime. Students must analyze these concerns and discuss the potential solutions for mitigating the harmful effects of social media.

COIT 20246 ASSIGNMENT SUBMISSION
Due date: Thursday Week 11 (2PM AEST)
Part: Written Assessment
Weighting: 30% of total assessment.
Submission: Electronic (see course website for details)
Instructions
It will be necessary to use literature/online resources to complete this
assignment, please ensure you cite and reference any such materials using
the Harvard format.
DO NOT copy content directly from either the text or Internet resources: this
assignment is to be in your own words. You will lose marks if you do not
use your own words!
Please complete your assignment using this submission template file,
inserting your responses where indicated.
DO NOT delete the marking criteria page – changes are permitted to the
formatting of other pages including the headers and footers.
Please fill in the following details:
Student Name
Student Number

Tasks
There are ten (10) tasks, one for each week: the tasks are detailed below. There is a
table to complete for each task. Please fill in the information required.
Note: Each resource summary should be around 200-300 words.
Week 1
The text discusses the elements of modern computing architecture however is largely silent
on the individuals who played a role in its development. Find and summarise a resource that
describes ONE such individual. The individual should have had a significant influence on the
development of computers and/or components of modern computing architecture.
Title and Reference:
Copeland BJ, (Ed.), 2005, Alan Turing's Automatic Computing Engine, OUP, pp.
369-454.
(https://global.oup.com/academic/product/alan-turings-automatic-computing-engine-
9780198565932?cc=us&lang=en&)
Hennessy, JL & Patterson D, 2006, Computer Architecture: A Quantitative Approach
(Fourth ed.). Morgan Kaufmann.
Summary:
Computer architecture is a complex system that enables the computer to work in an organized manner.
Modern computer architecture can be traced to some individuals that contributed to the development of
computer architecture. One such individual as presented in Alan Turing's Automatic Computing Engine
was Charles Babbage (Copeland 2005, pp. 369-454). History of modern computer architecture is
derived from this individual. Charles Babbage played an important role in the development of
computer being a mathematician from his background. Charles Babbage was a professor of
mathematics at the Cambridge University who invented the first mechanical computer. Charles
Babbage together with Ada Lovelace invented an analytical engine that forms the basis of developing
another computer system that alters evolved to become the modern computer system. In addition, his
work consisted of a simple computer system with memory and data separated with the operation being
instruction-based, the control unit was able to make conditional jumps, and the computer had a separate
I/O unit. The machine marked the transition from arithmetic to computation that is characteristic of the
modern computer. This computer machine had simple architecture as compared to the modern

computer system that currently has very advanced architecture. Moreover, the analytical machine as a
computer was programmed using punched cards compared to the current modern computer that has a
different computer program. Charles Babbage work is also considered to be the foundation of the
development of nanotechnology due to its mechanical nature and continuous refining show that some
elements are contained in his Babbage's Last Laugh paper. Nevertheless, modern computer architecture
is purely derived from the early work of Charles Babbage a gives the whole picture used in the current
computer development (Hennessy & Patterson 2006).
Week 2
The text discusses the components and activities of operating systems however is largely
silent on the individuals who played a role in their development. Find and summarise a
resource that describes ONEsuch individual. The individual should have had a significant
influence on the writing or development of operating systems.
Title and Reference:
Allan, R A, 2001, A History of the Personal Computer. Allan Publishing.
https://archive.org/details/A_History_of_the_Personal_Computer
Kroenke, D, 2015, MIS Essentials (Fourth ed.). Boston: Pearson. p. 10
Summary:
Operating system computer software refers to a program that coordinates or manages
computer resources and hardware giving tools that applications use to operate. This
implies that computer applications are run by an operating system of a computer. The
only part that remained unexplored is the developers of the operating system. One
individual who contributed to the operating system development is Bill Gates who
greatly contributed to the development of the first operating system (Allan 2001). Bill
Gates is a co-founder of Microsoft Corporation has played an important role in the
modern computer operating system though initially developed by Tim Paterson;
Microsoft purchased QDOS for $50,000 in 1980. This gave the owner of Microsoft
right to ownership of the initial operating system thereby developing it to a new level.

Bill Gates remains chief software architect within the Microsoft Corporation after
becoming a part-time participant at the company. Works of Bill Gates date back 1975
when he was working interpreter platform winning the interest of Micro
Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems (MITS) which was the inventor of
microcomputers. Paul Allen started working with MITShaveand this made Bill Gates
form a partnership with Allen a partnership called Micro-soft hence conception of
Microsoft. Microsoft started developing software for different systems since 1976 as
it becomes independent from MITS. Gates become the manager of the business and
wrote computer codes for software (Kroenke 2015, p. 10).

Week 3
The Internet didn’t just appear – it was an evolution from earlier networks. Find and
summarise a resource that describes ONEof the networks that led to the development of the
modern Internet.
Title and Reference:
Hennessy, JL & Patterson D, 2006, Computer Architecture: A Quantitative Approach
(Fourth ed.). Morgan Kaufmann.
https://users.dimi.uniud.it/~antonio.dangelo/OpSys/materials/
Computer_Architecture.pdf
Comer, D, 2006, The Internet book, Prentice Hall. p. 64.
Summary:
Internet refers to interconnection of networks of computers that are linked up
forming various networks. Internet arises from various networks such as NPL
network, Tymnet, ARPANET, the Telenet, Merit Network, and CYCLADES. Of
these networks, one notable network was ARPANET that play a critical role in the
development of modern internet. Advanced Research Projects Agency Network
(ARPANET) was one of the earliest networks that functioned using the internet
protocol TCP/IP. Initial founders of the ARPANET network worked in hand with
many other computer network scientist to link this network with other networks to
form an internetwork of many computers that forms the modern internet by 1981
ARPANET has expanded due to funding from institutions such as National Science
Foundation (NSF) (Hennessy & Patterson 2006). This also saw the establishment of
many other computer centers in many universities and linking them to form a network
by 1986. This network was accessed from the supercomputer in many organizations

and through the original ARPANET was decommissioned in 1990, the network
created to lead to the formation of the network of supercomputers that has evolved
with the help of other networks forming the modern internet. ARPANET employed
packet switching technology that also was the technology used in connecting different
networks to form the internet. Moreover, ARPANET through assistance from funding
agencies conducted research that greatly contributed to internet protocol that is also
used currently for the internet and is evidenced by the adoption of IP in 1981 as the
communication protocol within the network (Comer 2006, p. 64).
Week 4
Ethernet is an example of a Layer Two (L2) data link protocol that is discussed in the text.
Find and summarise a resource that describes the features and uses of ONE other L2
protocol that is not discussed in the text (i.e. NOT Ethernet).
Title and Reference:
Flew, T, 2008, New Media: An Introduction (3rd ed.). Melbourne: Oxford University
Press. p. 19.
Greene, T, Larry JL, & Strawn, G, 2003, A Brief History of NSF and the Internet.
National Science Foundation.
https://www.nsf.gov/about/history/nsf50/nsf8816.jsp
Mueller, ML, 2010, Networks, and States: The Global Politics of Internet
Governance. MIT Press, p. 61
Tanenbaum, AS, 2003, Computer Networks, Pearson Education International, New
Jersey.
Summary:
Layer 2 or data link layer refers to are network protocol that forms part of internet
protocol suite. This implies that layer two networks are important and as can be

presented in A Brief History of NSF and the Internet, a virtual LAN (VLAN) is also an
important layer 2 protocol. VLAN can be described as virtual as domain partitioned
and isolated within a computer networks (Greene, Larry & Strawn 2003). In this
sense VLAN allow the computer network administrator to categorize different
networks that form other unused networks for ease of network design and usage.
Moreover, VLAN uses software hence is easy to manage as compared to other forms
of data links. VLAN also free the labor that is required to either group network hosts
or rewrites data links. This shows the importance of this virtual network technology.
VLAN make it easy for those networks that are not related to being grouped
together without any physical contact with other networks (Mueller 2010, p. 61). In
network design, VLAN plays an important role in computer networking as
configuration done through software simplify the overall computer architecture
(Tanenbaum 2003). Another role of the VLAN is computer network traffic
management in business with many network users. Application of VLAN is often in
internet hosting service companies that has several users as the software allow
grouping of different customers together into separate networks. Grouping of
customers into different units allows the location of each customer within the
datacenter. Virtual LAN when using physical equipment can be used to separate
networks based on the physical ports that are used in the computer equipment
(Flew 2008, p. 19).
Week 5
The text mentions the role of hackers in attacks on networked infrastructure. Find and
summarise a resource that describes ONE famous or well-known hacker.
Title and Reference:
Himanen, P, Torvalds, L, & Manuel C, 2001, The Hacker Ethic: Secker & Warburg.
Raymond, E, 2000, The Early Hackers: A Brief History of Hackerdom. Thyrsus
Enterprises. Retrieved 6 December 2008. Accessible at:
http://www.catb.org/~esr/writings/cathedral-bazaar/hacker-history/ar01s02.html
Summary:
Hacking is the act of unauthorized accessing data using computers and hacker
is the person that is accessing data of another person or organization using computers.
With the coming of computers and internet, computers are being used to access data
or personal information by hackers. One resource that identifies a well knows a

hacker is "The History of Hacking" and a one such hacker is Kevin Mitnick.
According to the book, the hacking culture can be traced back to 1961. Though
Raymond is a computer programmer, he is considered one of the early hackers due to
his contribution to the modern day hacking knowledge. Kevin Mitnick early
contribution hacking is evident by the development or writing of the Jargon File that
highlighted various slangs used in computer programming. Jargon File was
commonly known as hacker’s dictionary a word that evolved to become the hacking
technique of today. Currently, hacking has been attributed to the act of gaining
unauthorized access to computer systems yet Jargon File laid the foundation for the
adoption of hacking technique. Kevin Mitnick is therefore recognized through his
works as the earliest known hacker. Early hackers such as Kevin Mitnick have
identified the weakness of the operating system and were creating manipulative holes
in the computer system for their own use. Kevin Mitnick was arrested and tried in the
court. Since his discovery, hackers have utilized the various security lapses in the
computer system exploitatively making it one of the threats to computer development
since time in history (Himanen, Torvalds & Manuel 2001).

Week 6
Society is increasingly reliant on networks and network technologies but they are evolving at
a rapid pace. Find and summarise a resource that describes ONE example of a future
networking technology or trend that will impact society.
Title and Reference:
Mueller, ML, 2010, Networks, and States: The Global Politics of Internet
Governance. MIT Press, p. 61
Tanenbaum, AS, 2003, Computer Networks, Pearson Education International, New
Jersey.
Summary:
Computer networking is becoming complex and advances posing threat
especially with the emerging insecurities across the internet. The future networking,
therefore, becomes an important topic that needs reconsideration. One resource The
Future of Networking by Nick Applegarth describes an example of future networking
technology that is based on cloud computing and virtual reality. The article tries to
address the need for cloud-based applications as this solve the security of the data that
was a problem with the traditional networking. This is based on the fact that cloud-
based applications reduce the disruptive changes in the current or future business
(Kim 2005, pp. 51–55). The paper seeks to explore the dangers created by continuous
changes in business and physical moving of offices that may compromise the integrity
of data. This, therefore, necessitate for the development of a cloud-based application
that allows hosting of data away from the office. Moreover, the data for the business
in future will be accessible from any point not necessarily form the business office
only. This implies that the advanced wireless network technologies, individuals will
be doing their business from any point in the work once all data are stored in the

cloud away from the premise. Future networking will enable faster access to personal
data with all the flexibility reducing the overall business transaction time and
geographical limitations. The only challenge that remains paramount is the integrity
of the data as data centers may decide to use personal or business information for their
own benefits. This is also due to the increasing number of hackers that attack business
and interfere with information or data store in servers.
Week 7
The text mentions social business and the impact of the use of social networking platforms.
Find and summarise a resource that describes the history of the development of ONE such
social media platform.
Title and Reference:
Carlson, N, 2010, At Last — The Full Story Of How Facebook Was Founded. Business
Insider (online, March 5).
http://www.businessinsider.com/how-facebook-was-founded-2010-3?IR=T
Helft, M, & Hempel, J, 2012, Inside Facebook. Fortune, vol.165, no.4, pp 122.
Lacy, S, 2006, Facebook: Opening the Doors Wider. BusinessWeek. New York.
Retrieved March 9, 2008.
Summary:
Social network remains current marketing and communication platform for
most business globally with more users than any other platform. The social network
has contributed to business growth and opportunity leading to more returns for the
business. The social network is in four main forms and these are user-generated
content, web application, social interaction application and social networks. One
example of social media is Facebook that was founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg
from Harvard College as presented in Carlson (2010). At the development, Facebook
was limited to Harvard student though later the media was open for higher education

students and staff. Facebook was developed under Facebook Markup Language that
gave the platform is a feature though currently, the platform has evolved to include
many other features enabling users to share gifts, videos, marketplace and post
adverts. One such feature that has been introduced into the platform is the event
feature that enables notification of friends on upcoming events in the social media.
Facebook has grown to a larger scale with many different mobiles and computer
application that enable users to access the platform from any device (Helft & Hempel
2012, pp 122). In addition, the social media has been designed to match many mobile
operating systems that enable installing the media in many devices for easy access.
Facebook also as social media also has been expanded to allow formation of pages
and profiles for organizations as opposed to initial profile only usage. This makes
Facebook reach organizations and offers marketing or advertisement services for
those organizations. Another area that Facebook has also advanced is to allow linkage
with other social media and websites (Lacy 2006).
Week 8
With the advent of mass data collection and storage has come data mining. Find and
summarise a resource that describes ONE example where data mining has been used
successfully by a business. You should not use any examples covered in the textbook.
Title and Reference:
Chid A, 2011, The Role of Data Mining in Business Optimization. IBM Research,
New York: USA, IBM Corporation. Pp.1-34.
Laplante, PA, 2001, Dictionary of Computer Science, Engineering, and Technology.
CRC Press, pp. 94–95.
Summary:
Data mining is increasingly gaining momentum in the business environment

especially information service management. Data mining is a tool that is used by
many large organizations to determine or establish customer behavior. One resource
that shows the used successfully in business is The Role of Data Mining in Business
Optimization by Chid Apte. The paper highlights the various uses of data mining
technology in business giving important uses such as business optimization.
According to Chid (2011), IBM has used the data mining tool to optimize the business
in interaction data, attitudinal data, descriptive analysis, and behavioral data hence
competitive advantage. Firstly, data mining has enabled the IBM to analyze
interaction data such as emails, chats and call notes that shows various interactions
between various employee and clients that assist the organization in decision-making
that pertains to data usage. Secondly, the organization is able to use attitudinal data to
analyze its customer's opinions, preferences, and needs that determine purchasing
power. Thirdly, the company has also maximized the use of behavioral data that
shows customer’s orders, transactions and payment history to determine individual
customer’s purchase power. Finally, the data mining technology has also enabled the
company to use descriptive data such as demographic data, personal information and
attributes to explore customer’s preference.
The data on customers is used by the organization for various research
purposes such as tax collection optimization, social network analysis, timely business
intelligence analysis, and marketing. Firstly, the company uses the data mining
technology to conduct tax collection research for various organizations that shows
customers taxation history (Laplante, 2001, pp. 94–95). One organization that IBM
has assisted to collect data on taxation is State of New York Dept of Taxation and
Finance. Secondly, IBM has successfully utilizes data mining tool to offer social

network analysis for research companies such as Telco Churn Prediction. Thirdly,
data mining is also important for business intelligence analysis for telecommunication
companies that analyze call data from clients. This data is important for establishing
the customer behaviors and hence reporting.

Week 9
One of the greatest success stories in application development in recent times has been the
popularity of mobile apps. Find and summarise a resource that describes the story of ONE
successful mobile app developer.
Title and Reference:
Laplante, PA, 2001, Dictionary of Computer Science, Engineering, and Technology.
CRC Press, pp. 94–95.
Alabaster, J, 2013, Android founder: We aimed to make a camera OS. PC World.
International Data Group. Retrieved May 9, 2017.
Ziegler, C, 2012, This was the original 'Google Phone' presented in 2006. The Verge.
Vox Media. Retrieved March 12, 2017.
Hevner; M, & Park, R, 2004, Design Science in Information Systems Research. MIS
Quarterly, Vol.28, no.1, pp 75–105.
Summary:
Information communication technology has become one of the most successful
platforms with the development of mobile applications that fit in different mobile
devices. Many mobile applications are designed based on the operating system that
is found in such devices and this also helps in looking for applications that match the
operating system. Google is one of the greatest successful mobile application
developer and one of the greatest success mobile application developers is Android
application developers from Google (Ionescu 2012). Android operating system was
originally designed for touchscreen mobile devices with direct manipulation ability
(Alabaster 2013). The operating system was developed from Linux kernel and
currently has applications in all devices including television, cars, and watches. The
Android operating system was developed by Google the application developer and
the company that was initially internet service company with several varieties of
internet services. Android mobile operating system has evolved to allow individual
mobile application development making it one of the best and most widespread
mobile applications platforms. In order to get or download android applications, the
developer came up with the marketplace where there is both purchased and free
mobile application (Ziegler 2012). The application marketplace that is commonly
called Google Play, Play Store or Android Market. This has resulted in the widespread

application of mobile applications within everyday activities owing to the ready
availability of the Android mobile systems (Hevner & Park 2004, pp 75–105).
Week 10
While information systems and technology deliver many benefits to society, they can also
result in (sometimes inadvertent) negative effects and outcomes. Find and summarise a
resource that describes ONE example of where the use of an information system or
technology has led to negative consequences for humans.
Title and Reference:
Shellaberger, RA, 2016, Impact of Social Media On Society: Stop Staring at the
Screen The Whole Day, Odyssey, Ball State University.
Gehring, V, 2004, The Internet In Public Life. Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield
Publishers. pp. 43–56.
Summary:
Information system technology has been known for its positive contribution to
the society with the minimal negative discussion. There are some negative impacts of
the information system technology to the society. These include language proficiency,
mental health problems, privacy and safety at risk, and social life problems. One
important negative effect of information system as presented in Impact of Social
Media on Society: Stop Staring at the Screen the Whole Day is the impact of social
media on society (Shellaberger 2016). Social life problems are currently witnessed in
the society since most are tied to specific information system element. Social media
has been in the forefront when studying several social problems seen in society today.
For instance, several families are separating due to influence from social media. High
commitment to social media activities such as chatting and texting reduces personal
commitment to family issues leading to domestic violence. Secondly, the nature of the
information that is shared over information system platforms is a contributing factor
to moral decay that is slowly taking shape in families. Moreover, social media is also

used to spread hate speech that has potential cause of violence in the society. Thirdly,
cyberbullying is another problem that is also common among online users leading to
mental problems. Cybercrime has also be coordinated over the social network leading
to abuses and often theft. Other negative materials also are spread within the social
network leading to misuse of resources especially illegal materials. Social media or
network has therefore been tainted as one of the perpetrators of social problems and to
some extent social health problems that are taking shape in the current society. The
negativity of the information system especially on the social problems leaves no
doubt that proper use of social networks can still prove the positive contribution of the
social network in the society (Gehring 2004, pp. 43–56).

MARKING SHEET - DO NOT DELETE
Criteria
0 No Response
<=1 Poor resource selection; resource is too broad or lacks relevance to the
task; summary fails to explain what the resource was about; the relevance
and/or usefulness of the resource has not been explained.
<=2 Good resource selection; resource is relevant to the task; summary is
adequate but may require either more detail or is too long; the relevance
and/or usefulness of the resource has been explained to some extent, but
needs additional information.
<=3 Excellent resource selection; resource is highly relevant to the task (the
resource is probably highly specialised); summary is detailed yet concise;
the relevance and usefulness of the resource selection has been clearly
explained.
Key
Deductions
-3
-2
-1
Reference/URL provided does not link to resource (and resource cannot
be located or determined from details provided) OR
Reference/URL provided does not relate to the summary (i.e. summary is
not of resource content / contains content not contained in the resource)
Resource is generic AND/OR covers multiple technologies/examples
rather than focuses on a single technology/example
Resource not referenced correctly/not in Harvard format
Week Marks Awarded
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
TOTAL
Comments: