This study aimed to provide insights into the manner in which the representation of social media usage in relation to cyber-related crimes within selected South African newspapers can potentially shape the ideas and perceptions that society may have towards social networking channels. Drawing on the literature from fields such as developmental studies, new media studies, identity formation and cyber-criminality, an analysis of the Price Water House Coopers Global Economic Survey (2011) was used to provide some insight into the issue of cyber-crime within South Africa. The survey which was conducted by Price Water House Coopers revealed that South Africa is ranked second in the world with the highest rate of reported fraud cases. According to them this rate is comparatively higher than the escalating percentage of cases reported in the United States and other nations. In order to correlate and illustrate some of the findings of the survey and that which was found through primary research, an in-depth content analysis applying limited designations analysis and detailed assertions analysis techniques (Du Plooy, 2007) has been performed on selected content from local print and online publications such as The Herald, Algoa Sun, The Weekend Post, The Sunday Times and News24, from the time period of January 2009 until January 2012. Herewith, a total of 125 articles were analysed in order to determine the tone and thematic nature of the communication within the respective platforms. Furthermore, the mass media has been argued as being the main platform of communication within society. Whereby, different communication techniques are used to communicate with different target audiences. On a theoretical level, the study explored whether or not social media perpetuates the prejudices of the modernisation theory or serves to challenge such prejudices. Furthermore, the study explored whether social media may potentially have an impact on the reported cyber-related crimes. Associated theory such as the representation theory, globalization, the privacy trust model, social contract theory, media richness theory, participatory theory, convergence, the digital divide, media-centricity, dependency and identity formation has been explored. It was found that social networking sites Facebook and Mxit have been represented as the most common platforms of cyber-related crime and women and teenagers are the most popular victims. The likelihood of individuals being exposed to cyber-crime within social networks is high due to the fact in order to develop online relationships, personal information needs to be shared. The Privacy Trust model was identified as being an important factor which shaped the findings of this study. This is due to the fact that a certain level of trust is held by social network subscribers to the Internet hosts who they entered into a social contract with and with their friends.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:nmmu/vital:21073 |
| Date | January 2013 |
| Creators | Hewana, Sandiswa |
| Publisher | Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, Faculty of Arts |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis, Masters, MA |
| Format | vii, 130 leaves, pdf |
| Rights | Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University |
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