Since social networks (SNs) have become a global phenomenon in almost every industry, including airlines and banking, their security has been a major concern to most stakeholders. Several security techniques have been invented towards this but information security awareness (hereafter “awareness”) remains the most essential amongst all. This is because users, an important component of awareness, are a big problem on the SNs regardless of the technical security implemented. For SNs to improve on their awareness techniques or even determine the effectiveness of these security techniques, many measurement and evaluation techniques are in place to ascertain that controls are working as intended. While some of these awareness measurement techniques are inexpensive, effective and efficient to some extent, they are all incident-driven as they are based on the occurrence of (an) incident(s). In addition, these awareness measurement techniques may not present a true reflection of awareness, since many cyber incidents are often not reported. Hence, they are generally adjudged to be post mortem and risk-permissive. These limitations are major and unacceptable in some industries such as insurance, airlines and banking, where the risk tolerance level is at its lowest. This study therefore aims to employ a technical method to develop a non-incident statistics approach of measuring awareness efforts. Rather than evaluating the effectiveness of awareness efforts by the success of attacks or occurrence of an event, password cracking is presented and implemented to proactively measure the impacts of awareness techniques in SNs. The research encompasses the development and implementation of an SN – sOcialistOnline, the literature review of the past related works, indirect observation (available information), survey (as a questionnaire in a quiz template), and statistical analysis. Consequently, measurement of awareness efforts is shifted from detective and corrective paradigms to preventive and anticipatory paradigms, which are the preferred information security approaches going by their proactive nature. / Engineering, Science and Technology / D. Phil (Computer Science)

Previous research has been conducted to try to explain the relationship between stress and focus for the use of different platforms for work communication. On the other hand, during a pandemic there is a lot that separates everyday life from how it was before the pandemic began and working from home was not as obvious as it is today. Applications whose number of daily users has skyrocketed can also account for a perceived stress for a user - how does this affect individuals’ ability to focus on the application? A survey was created and published for two weeks using previous research that examined the links be- tween stress and focus on social media. The study was conducted by collecting data from various forums related to relevant applications, where it is discovered that stress has a weak but significant effect on distractions outside applications and on distractions within applications. The results show that a perceived distraction outside the application can for 22% be explained by stress and within the application can for 16.6% be explained by stress. Results and the similarities between social media and platforms for work commu- nication are compared and discussed based on the presented theory and related research. / Tidigare forskning har utförts för att försöka förklara sambandet mellan stress och fokus för användandet av olika plattformar för arbetskommunikation. Däremot är det under en pandemi mycket som skiljer vardagen åt från hur det var innan pandemin började och hemmaarbete inte var en sådan självklarhet som det är i dagens läge. Applikationer som vars antal dagliga användare skjutit i höjden kan också stå för en upplevd stress för en användare- hur påverkar detta en individs förmåga att fokusera på applikationen? En enkät utformas och publicerades under två veckor med hjälp av tidigare forskning som undersökt kopplingen mellan stress och fokus för sociala medier. Undersökningen bedrivs genom att data samlas in från varierande forum tillhörande olika relevanta applikationer, där det kommer fram att stress har en svag, men signifikant påverkan på distraktioner utanför applikationen och på distraktioner inom applikationen. Resultaten visar att en upplevd distraktion utanför applikationen kan 22% förklaras av stress och inom applikationen kan 16.6% förklaras av stress. Resultaten och likheterna mellan sociala medier och plattformar för arbetskommunikation jämförs och diskuteras utifrån den presenterade teorin och relaterad forskning.

Abstract The rapid technological developments have changed how companies market themselves and how consumers search for information. Furthermore, the internet provides companies with a variety of channels to share information and products. For a long time, “word of mouth” which consumers recommend via mouth-to-mouth, has been one of the most effective marketing techniques. According to studies, the effect of positive and negative electronic Word of Mouth on consumers differs, with negative electronic Word of Mouth having a greater impact on consumers. Positive electronic word-of-mouth can be beneficial for companies whereas negative can be detrimental. This thesis investigates what companies should do to continue spreading positive eWOM and reduce the negative eWOM. Further, this thesis aims to investigate how the positive and negative eWOM affects a company and what their current strategy is so that a recommended strategy can be built for the companies.  Thus, a qualitative study of six SME companies was designed to understand how eWOM affects companies and how they can reduce the effect of negative eWOM. The data was gathered through online semi-structured interviews, and the findings indicate that companies are affected differently by eWOM due to whether it is a product-based or service-based company. According to the study, two components that all companies lacked were resources and time. Companies should be more visible, have weekly marketing meetings, and a platform for reviews, according to the new strategy. Keywords: electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM), Social networks sites (SNS), Valence, Online reviews, impact, and consequences of eWOM

Diploma thesis Role integračních procesů v ruské politice vůči postsovětskému prostoru v letech 2000 - 2010 deals with phenomenon of interstate integration in the Post-soviet with focus on Russian position. It's main goal is to reveal and define function of Post-soviet integrative processes within Russian foreign policy aimed to the region, which is in long-term period designated as primary area of Russian interests. Diploma thesis uses combination of descriptive and analytical method to achieve its purpose. Thus the first chapters are aimed at presentation of theoretical aspects of integration (Chapter 1), evolution of Russian approach to the region and basic trends of post-soviet integration in the 90's (Chapter 2), the same topic and its changes after 2000 (Chapter 3) and particular examples of the Post-soviet integrative projects (Chapter 4). This empirical data are then analyzed in the last chapter and answer to the question, what is the role of Post-soviet integrative processes in Russian policy in the region.

This thesis deals with Russian and Ukrainian foreign policy. The challenge is to analyse the attitude of Russia and Ukraine towards NATO and CIS and the role of both States in the shaping of other groupings in the post-Soviet space. Russia was claiming to get back its super power status and NATO enlargement considered as threat. On the other hand Ukraine was seeking security guaranties and partners to counterbalance the imperial ambitions of Russia. CIS and some other groupings in the region posed for Russia instruments of economic and political domination of post-Soviet space. On the other hand, Ukrainian attitude in relation to CIS integration under the Moscow's leadership was very restrained and vigilant. Kiev initiated other groupings independently from Moscow. In this work were preferred descriptive and empirical analytical techniques. There was used method of comparison more precisely double case study. Geopolitics was chosen as theoretical framework. The results of comparison help us to make a conclusion about the impact of Russian and Ukrainian policy in relation to NATO and CIS towards each other and post-Soviet space. There were found fundamental differences between Russian and Ukrainian attitude towards NATO and CIS or rather post-Soviet space. In these cases the differences resulted...

Decentralization of web is, also known as Web 3.0 or Semantic Web, is catching on quickly. Deployment of a decentralized network or system for learning purposes in an educational institution could involve the use of new cutting-edge technologies and tools behind blockchain systems and Social Networking Sites (SNS). These technologies can be applied in the education sector to reap numerous benefits. The benefits could be in the areas of longdistance learning, real-time availability of learning content and assignments, improved collaboration between instructors and students, better evaluation of student performance, secure and transparent payment systems for courses, and easy and structured access to student records. Yet other benefits could be achieved by the implementing educational institution in the form of automation (using artificial intelligence and machine learning tools), cost reduction, improved efficiency, system reliability, and data security and privacy. However, like everything else, the decentralization of web or other such networks comes with its own set of challenges. This research study focuses on the challenges associated with implementing a decentralized learning model for learning systems of an educational institution. The study involved both primary and secondary research. First, a thorough review was conducted of the existing literature on the implementation of decentralization technologies in the education sector. Then, a survey was conducted among 25 students to collect information on their views of what these challenges are and to validate the findings from literature revie. The study concludes that, to fully realize the benefits of deploying these technologies to DWeb learning models, several challenges need to be overcome quickly. The survey that was conducted corroborated the findings from the literature review to a large extent. Though many respondents showed their satisfaction with the decentralized e-learning practices where they have been deployed, there still seem to be large gaps in understanding, awareness, deployment, and fine-tuning of such learning systems. The survey results revealed a strong resistance to the use of new technologies among educators; a lack of accessibility to resources and technical support; and a lack of competency and confidence due, perhaps, to a lack of operational training. Overcoming these challenges would require better awareness and understanding of the current trends and developments among both students and instructors. Education system should be well-prepared to train and update both students and instructors on how to best utilize these technologies to reap their benefits. Collaboration through digital means, as opposed to iii one-on-one classroom interactions, would also require a change in the mindset of the users of these learning models. / <p>Master Thesis </p>

Social networking sites are channels that allow companies to appeal to their target audience through personalized advertising which has become an increasingly common way for companies to reach their target customers. Personalization is possible through the use of customer data which allows designing an advertisement based on individual consumers' preferences benefiting the consumers with more personally appealing advertisements. However, the collection of the data has led to consumers’ experiencing costs from the personalization involving concerns for the safety of personal information. Because of the tension between benefits and costs of personalization, consumers' behavior has become paradoxical. The consumers’ behaviour does not always correspond to their concerns by which the consumers trade off their privacy to receive benefits from the personalization in return. With that said, this study aims to explore how the personalization privacy paradox appears in the consumers’ response to personalized advertisements on social networking sites by assessing their perception of the benefits and costs of personalized advertisements. Semi-structured interviews of eight participants lead to the main findings of this research identifying four factors that have an impact on consumers’ interaction with the advertisement; (1) simplified purchase decisions, (2) personal interest, (3) personal gain, and (4) trustworthiness. In addition, the research revealed additional findings indicating that consumers' concern for data collection could be changing from privacy risks regarding themselves to concerns about the consequence of data collection on a societal level. Furthermore, the findings show an indication for an emerging dilemma of personalized advertising for companies to overcome. Finally, this research provides implications for both academia as well as practitioners.

Social media platforms create rich social structures, expand users' boundaries of social networks and revolutionize traditional forms of communications, social interactions and social relationships. These platforms not only facilitate the creation and sharing of news and information, but they also drive various kinds of businesses models, processes and operations, knowledge sharing, marketing strategies for brand management and socio-political discourses essential for healthy and democratic functions. As such, social media has greater implications on organizations and society brought about by individuals' social media usage patterns, and therefore, calls for further investigations. The main objective of this dissertation is to explore and offer insights into such social media usage and information sharing behaviors via data driven examination of various theories. This dissertation involves three studies that focus on factors that explain individuals' three different social media usage behaviors. Essay 1 investigates individuals' perceived importance of online affiliation, self-esteem, self-regulation and risk-benefit structure as antecedents of users' geo-tagging behavior on social media. Essay 2 examines the role of online news quality, source credibility, individuals' perception towards online civic engagement, attitude towards news sharing and social influences to understand users' news sharing behavior on social media platforms. Essay 3 seeks to examine the individuals' information verification behavior on social media through the lens of individuals' fake news awareness, perceived cost of information verification, trust in social media and truth-seeking.

Challenges in the South African education system arise from inter alia inadequate training, social and environmental problems, parental inefficiency, insufficient professionalism among teachers, as well as negative attitudes of learners. An urgent need exists to establish “a moral underground, an army of volunteers” (Jansen, 2012) who would be willing to provide another chance to “abandoned children” in poorer schools to develop their full potential for a brighter future. To assist learners to achieve a better future, this study focused on teacher-students and to enhance their learning experiences and consequently their teaching performance. By motivating the teacher-students to develop their potential in order to achieve better, they could, in turn, break the barriers of mediocrity in the learners they taught. The aim of this study was to uncover how a social network service (SNS) like Facebook could be used as an academic tool to support and enhance the affective learning experience of open distance teacher-students in the rural Eastern Cape. The main research question which guided this study was: How can the affective learning of open distance learning teacher-students in the rural Eastern Cape be supported through academic Facebook? The research intervention which elicited data, comprised coaching and scaffolding of the learning content relating to research methodology, as well as guiding the participants to engage with an SNS as a learning technology in an academic environment. The researcher created a support group on Facebook where participants could, at any time, interact with peers and the facilitator. Non-probability purposive sampling selected the participants according to the following criteria: isiXhosa home language speaking teacher-students from the rural areas around Queenstown in the Eastern Cape, enrolled with NWU for a BEd Honours degree, and who owned cellular phones which could connect to the Internet. While 74 teacher-students were invited to participate in the research, only 34 attended some of the coaching and scaffolding sessions, and 22 joined the FaceFunda group page. This qualitative bounded case study was conducted from a postmodern pragmatic view. Data were collected through individual interviews, a focus group interview, text from the FaceFunda group page and the researcher’s reflective diary. The data were analysed with Atlas. ti™. Three patterns emerged which described participants’ affective experiences: (i) emotions while learning with technology, (ii) experiences with technology, and (iii) need for support. In each case, the patterns related to emotions of competence (codes that captured positive and enabling experiences), and emotions of incompetence (codes that captured negative and incapacitating experiences). A secondary analysis of the findings uncovered the guidelines for the academic use of Facebook for rural distance teacher-students. Four themes emerged as guidelines: i) coaching and scaffolding support, (ii) technological support, (iii) peer support, and (iv) communication with the higher education institution. The guidelines highlighted that the affective learning of open distance learning of rural teacher-students in the Eastern Cape can be supported through the academic use of Facebook. ODL teacher-students require support coaching and scaffolding in order to adopt the use of SNSs for academic purposes. Adult learners should be supported to overcome technophobia to enable engagement with learning content. With adequate supportive measures, SNSs can contribute towards positive learning experiences of rural students. / MEd (Learner support), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

Challenges in the South African education system arise from inter alia inadequate training, social and environmental problems, parental inefficiency, insufficient professionalism among teachers, as well as negative attitudes of learners. An urgent need exists to establish “a moral underground, an army of volunteers” (Jansen, 2012) who would be willing to provide another chance to “abandoned children” in poorer schools to develop their full potential for a brighter future. To assist learners to achieve a better future, this study focused on teacher-students and to enhance their learning experiences and consequently their teaching performance. By motivating the teacher-students to develop their potential in order to achieve better, they could, in turn, break the barriers of mediocrity in the learners they taught. The aim of this study was to uncover how a social network service (SNS) like Facebook could be used as an academic tool to support and enhance the affective learning experience of open distance teacher-students in the rural Eastern Cape. The main research question which guided this study was: How can the affective learning of open distance learning teacher-students in the rural Eastern Cape be supported through academic Facebook? The research intervention which elicited data, comprised coaching and scaffolding of the learning content relating to research methodology, as well as guiding the participants to engage with an SNS as a learning technology in an academic environment. The researcher created a support group on Facebook where participants could, at any time, interact with peers and the facilitator. Non-probability purposive sampling selected the participants according to the following criteria: isiXhosa home language speaking teacher-students from the rural areas around Queenstown in the Eastern Cape, enrolled with NWU for a BEd Honours degree, and who owned cellular phones which could connect to the Internet. While 74 teacher-students were invited to participate in the research, only 34 attended some of the coaching and scaffolding sessions, and 22 joined the FaceFunda group page. This qualitative bounded case study was conducted from a postmodern pragmatic view. Data were collected through individual interviews, a focus group interview, text from the FaceFunda group page and the researcher’s reflective diary. The data were analysed with Atlas. ti™. Three patterns emerged which described participants’ affective experiences: (i) emotions while learning with technology, (ii) experiences with technology, and (iii) need for support. In each case, the patterns related to emotions of competence (codes that captured positive and enabling experiences), and emotions of incompetence (codes that captured negative and incapacitating experiences). A secondary analysis of the findings uncovered the guidelines for the academic use of Facebook for rural distance teacher-students. Four themes emerged as guidelines: i) coaching and scaffolding support, (ii) technological support, (iii) peer support, and (iv) communication with the higher education institution. The guidelines highlighted that the affective learning of open distance learning of rural teacher-students in the Eastern Cape can be supported through the academic use of Facebook. ODL teacher-students require support coaching and scaffolding in order to adopt the use of SNSs for academic purposes. Adult learners should be supported to overcome technophobia to enable engagement with learning content. With adequate supportive measures, SNSs can contribute towards positive learning experiences of rural students. / MEd (Learner support), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014