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The aim of the qualitative study was to explore the phenomenon of social networking and the possible influences it could have on adolescents‟ way of interacting socially. The study was conducted from a gestalt perspective and also incorporated aspects of developmental theory. Learners (12-18 years old) from a high school in the northern suburbs of Cape Town participated in semi-structured interviews voluntarily. Parents and teachers also participated in the study by forming part of focus groups. The study indicated that although social networking is a beneficial social tool for adolescents, it could become an obstacle during social interaction which is not mediated through an electronic or mobile network. From the study it can be concluded that social networking is a positive social tool, which could become dangerous for adolescents‟ social interaction abilities when used inappropriately. / Social Work / M. Diac. (Play Therapy)

The aim of the qualitative study was to explore the phenomenon of social networking and the possible influences it could have on adolescents‟ way of interacting socially. The study was conducted from a gestalt perspective and also incorporated aspects of developmental theory. Learners (12-18 years old) from a high school in the northern suburbs of Cape Town participated in semi-structured interviews voluntarily. Parents and teachers also participated in the study by forming part of focus groups. The study indicated that although social networking is a beneficial social tool for adolescents, it could become an obstacle during social interaction which is not mediated through an electronic or mobile network. From the study it can be concluded that social networking is a positive social tool, which could become dangerous for adolescents‟ social interaction abilities when used inappropriately. / Social Work / M. Diac. (Play Therapy)

Online adolescent friendships and social networking among adolescents are current phenomena that have emerged, and exploded, as part of the digital age and the vast development of communication technologies. The primary aim of this study was to gain knowledge and understanding regarding the nature and quality of online friendships and social networking among adolescents. A sequential explanatory mixed method design, was put to use for the purpose of this study. The quantitative data was collected first in the form of a short survey, by utilising a self-developed questionnaire to obtain a general overview of the social network practices and the forming and maintaining of online friendships among adolescents. Twenty five participants took part in the survey. This study was followed by a qualitative study in the form of interviews, to clarify, elaborate and explain the quantitative findings. Five information rich participants were interviewed. The findings of the empirical investigation revealed that adolescents, being part of the Net Generation, base their concept of socialising with friends on digital and communication technology, especially cell phones. They are connected to their friends 24 hours a day. The sense of safety and support they experience through this constant connectedness strengthens their self-esteem, self-confidence and self-worth and contributes to their identity formation. It is therefore recommended that parents and educators should accept that adolescents live in a virtual world and their new way of socialising, needs to be acknowledged. Parents and educators should adjust accordingly, by getting educated in this field themselves. The Net Generation is a generation who focuses on relationships and collaboration through technology and this should be exploited by anybody who has contact or interacts with the adolescent of today. / Psychology of Education / M. Ed. (Guidance and Counselling)

The purpose of this study is to analyze the events that occurred throughout the Egyptian Revolution from January 2010 to February 2010 through pragmatic humanism. Tweets will be looked at from the book Tweets from Tahrir to show how the process unfolded. Building on the previous research, the tweets will be looked at through the lens of pragmatic humanism. The study will show how individuals can better the world they live in by experimenting with different methods and adapting to any failures they may encounter. The study will also show how the reach of the individual has become faster and further than previously possible. The elements of pragmatic humanism will be broken down into five main tenets. The study will take a thematic approach in analyzing the tweets through the perspective of the particular tenet. The study will also show the power of individual desires when they are able to combine with the social context of the time. The advent of Twitter has allowed individuals to test and experiment with hypotheses much quicker than before and allows them to make monumental changes to their reality in a much shorter period of time. / Graduation date: 2013

The social web has emerged concurrent with a decline in Americans' community involvement and number of close friendships. Hundreds of millions of people connect online, but they appear to have fewer confidants and trust each other less. However, contrasting research finds that web users have better social integration and stronger relationships than their offline counterparts. This thesis resolves these contradictory views through a detailed examination of social network site (SNS) use and changes in relationships and individual well-being. The research is conducted at multiple levels looking at how different types of SNS use—direct interaction with others and more “passive consumption” of social news—influence the number and quality of individuals’ social ties and their aggregate social capital and well-being, including perceived social support, happiness, and physical health. The studies combine objective measures of SNS use (communication activity from the server logs of a popular social networking site) with self-reports of tie strength and well-being to accurately differentiate types of use with different partners. Longitudinal methods reveal how well-being changes over time with SNS use and are moderated by personal characteristics such as social communication skill and recent job loss.

The research area of this work is online threat awareness within an information security context. The research was carried out on secondary school learners at boarding schools in Grahamstown. The participating learners were in Grades 8 to 12. The goals of the research included determining the actual levels of awareness, the difference between these and self-perceived levels of the participants, the assessment of risk in terms of online behaviour, and the determination of any gender differences in the answers provided by the respondents. A review of relevant literature and similar studies was carried out, and data was collected from the participating schools via an online questionnaire. This data was analysed and discussed within the frameworks of awareness of threats, online privacy social media, sexting, cyberbullying and password habits. The concepts of information security and online privacy are present throughout these discussion chapters, providing the themes for linking the discussion points together. The results of this research show that the respondents have a high level of risk. This is due to the gaps identified in actual awareness and perception, as well as the exhibition of online behaviour patterns that are considered high risk. A strong need for the construction and adoption of threat awareness programmes by these and other schools is identified, as are areas of particular need for inclusion in such programmes. Some gender differences are present, but not to the extent that, there is as significant difference between male and female respondents in terms of overall awareness, knowledge and behaviour.

Recent innovations and advances in information and communication technologies (ICTs) have resulted into radical changes in the way information resources are provided, and have also brought about several options to handle a wide-range of information services effortlessly. Web 2.0 or social media is one of these innovations which expands the option in information services provision. Against this backdrop, this study intended to investigate the use of Web 2.0 technologies in the public libraries in the Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality in South Africa. The study was guided by mixed-methods of quantitative and qualitative approaches, because the approach enables the researcher to cover a wide variety of issues. The study adopted a sample survey research design to guide selection of subjects. Two data collection tools namely: a self-administered questionnaire were used for collecting data from 248 library users, while unstructured interview schedules were used to collect qualitative data from 16 library officials. The response rate for the survey of library users was 69%, a good rate for an unsolicited survey. The findings revealed that Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality libraries have ICT equipment with access to Web 2.0 technologies and that these technologies are also highly utilised. However, lack of training, low bandwidth, and short time allowed to access WIFI makes it difficult for the library users and staff to fully benefit from the web-based services offered by these libraries. Other factors include poor staff attitudes, technical problems, and challenges in marketing of online public access and catalogue, restrictions of social networking sites, non-linkage of the library OPAC to social media, geographical distances, and load shedding. The study concluded by recommending allocation of sufficient funds to cater for ICT trainings, free WIFI, uninterrupted power supply, increased bandwidth, amongst others which will enhance the quick and effective service that will meet the information needs of their users. / Information Science / M.A. (Information Science)

In South Africa, many young children from poor social and economic backgrounds are cared for at home by parents or guardians who are themselves illiterate. This leads to poor educational outcomes later in life. Yet there are many privileged teenagers with access to mobile technologies who spend a greater portion of their spare time interacting on ubiquitous social media platforms. This presents an opportunity whereby the poor educational outcomes referred to previously could be addressed by applying a technology solution providing social media-based homework support by privileged teenagers to underprivileged younger children. However, most applications designed for use by children are designed by adults, with little understanding of the user requirements of the target end users. This research explores the following question: How can a cross-age tutoring system be designed for implementation on a social networking platform to support numeracy and literacy skill acquisition? The main contribution of this research was the definition of the Cooperative design by Children for Children (CD2C) Design Framework, a blueprint of how a cross-age tutoring system could be co-designed by children of different age groups and life circumstances. The CD2C Design Framework was derived as an abstraction of the second contribution of this research, the TitanTutor, an artifact designed using co-operative inquiry method and the Design Science Research approach. The third novelty of this research was contribution to Design Science Research theory, with the addition of new theory that states that cooperative design by children from different age groups and life circumstances is tempered by socio-environmental context and power relations between the co-design partners. This work provided important contributions to researchers in the areas of Cooperative Inquiry (CI), Human Computer Interaction (HCI), and Design Science Research (DSR). Future researchers could extend the CD2C Design Framework to make it even more abstract, thereby making it universally applicable to any co-design scenario. / Computing / Ph. D. (Information Systems)

The study investigates the influence of online and social media in HIV prevention, with a focus on young women and HIV risk perception related to age-disparate relationships. The study was conducted using an existing online prevention HIV prevention platform by means of a self-administered online questionnaire. Convenience sampling was used to recruit between 250 and 500 users between the ages of 18 to 24 years. The results revealed poor HIV risk perception in 46% of respondents, which seemed influenced by their perception (38%) that older men are safer sexual partners than younger men. In addition, this poor risk perception is seemingly influenced by the fact that many young women (77%) involved in these relationships, viewed these as primarily based on love and affection and as being “safe”, challenging the commonly held perception that these are primarily transactional in nature. Further respondents reported at rates of between 38% and 44% that the platform had improved their HIV risk perception related to these relationships. In summary, the research resulted in several recommendations to improve the platform, including improving ways of getting more and on-going feedback from users on their HIV risk perceptions and designing content and engagement strategies to address these. / Sociology / M. A. (Social Behaviour Studies in (HIV/AIDS)