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Saturday, December 28, 2019

Analysis Of The Film Trainspotting, Directed By Danny Boyle

In 1980’s Scotland, socioeconomic conditions and morale suffered due to the implementation of Thatcher policies, placing the lower class in a deplorable state of hopelessness. The film Trainspotting, directed by Danny Boyle, depicts the plights of young heroin junkies during the Thatcher Era in Edinburgh. The film’s focus is not heroin addiction, but rather, uses the silver screen as a platform to portray the depressing impact Thatcherism had on Scottish socioeconomic conditions as conveyed through the protagonist, heroin-addicted Mark Renton. Trainspotting illustrates that the social struggles of the Scottish lower class during the Thatcher Era are significant contributing factors to cause Renton to become a heroin user in order to escape the depressing and monotonous existence to which he is subjected. The Thatcher Era negatively influenced the socioeconomic conditions of Scotland for eleven years, during which time Trainspotting is set, which illuminates the impact of Thatcherism on the morale and pride of the Scottish people. During her tenure as Prime Minister, from 1979 to 1990, Margret Thatcher hoped to restore a sense of British pride following the Winter of Discontent, but in doing so, she implemented taxes and limited the creations and power of labor unions. These changes were not received well and profoundly influenced the conditions of the Scottish social system and diminished both their British and national pride (Stewart 13). Although Thatcherism was intended

Thursday, December 19, 2019

What Are The Five Main Mechanisms Of Sustainability

All too often human society tends to view itself as outside of, disconnected from, nature. This way it’s easier to justify our endless feast upon nature’s bounties, that are, in fact, not a buffet. This notion is utterly wrong as we literally are just as much of a piece of the environment as the wind and soil themselves. On a grand timeline, only recently did we begin to understand and practice the principle of sustainability. Today, untenable production methods, over consumption and an ever increasing population test our use of finite materials like never before. That’s all sustainability is really, reaching a reasonable balance between what makes us prosper as a society and our depletion of earths limited assets. One can fall on either†¦show more content†¦In this endeavor the relationship between the economy and the environment is not a healthy one. Most recently, in Oklahoma a 5.6 magnitude earthquake demonstrates to us how sour this relationship rea lly is. In our economically driven society oil and natural gas are pivotally important, so we go through all sorts of trouble to get the stuff. We’ve drilled, dug, scavenged and now we frack. Say what you will about fracking but I take a very strong opinion on the subject, it’s daft. As a result of our economical need for fuel we created an earthquake and that’s a fact. Although surface damage was minimal (assessments are still being done), fracking in itself is awful for the environment. It loads thousands of harmful chemicals into our waters and natural habitats, some near-site residents can even set their tap water a blaze. Now, after a â€Å"nudging† from the economy our relationship with the environment is one of damage control, from a sustainability standpoint. However, there is always hope, because sustainability is much more than economics. The environmental aspect of sustainability is all about preservation and reconstruction. It’s being c areful how much we take and when we take it. After the effects of the Industrial Revolution were fully realized humans seemed to grasp that we are, in fact, not the masters of the natural world. We noticed things like global warming, habitat

Wednesday, December 11, 2019

Research Report- Industry Analysis

Question: Write a research report on industry analysis. Answer: Introduction Telstra Corporation is one of the leading telecomm companies in the field of mobile telecommunication. The company is offering mobile nod network services to all of the customers throughout the Australian market segments. Now the company is going to enter the market segments of mobile manufacturing. The company was founded on 12th June 1975 and has its headquarters in Melbourne, Australia (Telstra, 2016). The company is planning to enter into the business of making mobile phones and will launch different types of the mobile phones as to capture the entire market segments. The company has created its brand name on the telecommunication industry and will transform it into the industry of manufacturing the mobile phones. This research paper will reveals gather desired different facts associated with the analysis of the telecommunication industries. The launching of the new mobile devices will help the firm to enter into the new market segments. Size of the industry The section of the concerned industry helps in reflecting the desired size revenue as well as it respective competitors within the concerned market segments. The Telstra Corporation of Australia is engaged in offering the best mobile telecommunication services to all its customers within the concerned market segments. The telecommunication industry is one of the booming industries throughout the world and it has increased the employment as well as the growth opportunities to all of the people concerned. The company is offering finest network services to all of the consumers concerned. There are some of the combo offers from the company with the different mobile companies, such as it offers free data packs with some of the latest mobile phones from the different mobile companies. Thus, the company is planning to enter the world of mobile telecommunication in order to establish its pillars in the worlds of mobile manufacturers (Anderson, 2015). The company is providing 16.9 million of the mobile services including 7.2 million of the total fixed services and 3.3 million of the retail and the broadband services to all of the consumers concerned. In order to assist the clients with the finest services, the company is offering the choice of the digital connection having the digital content as well. The company's revenue was near $25.5 billion until the year 2013 and it is one of the leading telecommunication companies throughout the complete Australian market segments. In the year 2011, Telstra Corporation of Australia was in a planning for expansion of the new 100 retail within a framework of three years. The company has more than 360 of the retail stores until May 2016 throughout the Australian market segments. The launching of the new mobile devices along with the mobile telecommunication services such as the voice services internet services and many others will help in capturing the entire market segments and will increase the complete profitability of the firm. This will create the expansion of the business market segments of the concerned market segments and it is very crucial for the firm to understand the desired needs and the demands of the customers within the concerned market segments (Bachmutsky, 2013). The expansion of the desired market segments for the firm will increase the productivity along with the profitability of the firm. Figure: Market share Value factors in a B2B The value factors are considered to be the most crucial for any of the particular firms as this helps in evaluating the effectiveness of the business procedure of the firm. There are different types of the value factors which generates an enormous impact on the execution of the business procedure of the concerned firm. These factors include risk management, logistics, innovation, low-value and the high-value acquisitions, high-value and the low-value risk acquisitions and e-commerce. There is a crucial need to understand the desired targeted market segments as this will help in working as per the requirements and the needs of the customers (Balmer, Illia and Gonza lez del Valle Brena, 2013). The company needs to work as per the desired industry standards. PESTLE analysis The use of the porters five forces along with the PESTEL analysis is considered to be of great importance as it will provide the desired information regarding the needs of the customers within the market segments. Political factors There is pressure from the concerned government of that particular company where the company is going to launch products. Australian government has provide the desired platform for the telecommunication as well as the mobile industry to execute their business process throughout the country. Economic factors The inflation rate as well as the rise in the service taxes increases the potential barriers for the mobile communication industries to enhance the growth rate of the concerned business. Social factors The brand imaged of the company will help in launching the new Smartphones and entering into the world of mobile manufacturing as to capture the entire market segments. Technological factors Use of the innovative tools as well as the innovative techniques will help in providing the desired competitive advantage to the firm. Legal factors It is important to understand the legal concerns before into the new market segments. Execution of the business as per the norms of the firm will help in evaluating the growth of the organization. Environmental factors The company needs to understand the desired impact of the macro as well as the micro environmental factors. These factors are crucial for the profitability of the firm as these generate a large amount of the impact on execution of the business methods of the firm. There is another important factor which helps in enhancing the performance of the concerned industry as well as the company which is establishing the desired relationship between the customers as well as the firm as it will evaluate the satisfaction of the concerned clients of the firm. The establishment of the customer support department is considered to be of great importance throughout the mobile telecommunication industry as it assists the customers with the required sense of satisfaction of the clients (Blakemore, 2013). The primary motive of the B2B companies is to work as per the desired satisfaction of the customers and to assist them with reliable services. The use of the E-Commerce has changed significantly and it has enhanced the reliability of the customers by offering reliable services to the consumers concerned. There is a crucial impact from the political as well as the economic factors of the targeted market segments in which the product is going to be launched. There fore, the firm needs to identify these factors and formulate effective strategies as to enhance the overall profitability and the productivity of the entire association. Key players The competitors are considered to be the key players as it executes the most crucial role in evaluating the significant growth of the concerned firm. There are several competitors throughout the Australian market segments who have captured the large market segments in the field of manufacturing mobile devices. These are Samsung, Apple, Optus, virgin Mobile Australia and many others. It is very crucial to understand the desired requirements of the concerned market segments as it will reflector the preferred needs and the wishes of the concerned customers within the market segments. In order to enter market segments in the field of mobile industry understanding the desired offerings and the market share of the concerned competitors is crucial (Carroll, 2013). The market share of Australia has significantly increased from 29.3 % in august 2014 to 37.8 % till august 2015. The complete market of the smartphones has increased by a total share of thirty-five percent and this has provided th e desired opportunity to the other companies in the field of mobile manufacturing to enhance its business process. Apple Company is engaged in providing the finest quality of the mobiles devices in order to enhance the reliability and the smoothness of the customers present within the market segments. Innovation is considered to be one of the most crucial tools that help in providing the desired advantage to the concerned competitors within the market segments. Establishing the trust with the different clients is considered to be the vital factors as these increases the overall selling of the concerned products launched by the company within the market segments. as per a survey report, recognizing the increasing demands of the Smartphone's the future predictions says that there will be an increase of up to 67.2 percent for the smartphones users by the end of 2018 throughout the Australian market segments (Impact of latest NICE guidelines on CRT and ICD implant rates, 2015). The late st android phones have created a large impact on the minds of the concerned clients and there is a scope for Telstra Corporation to enter this field by launching exceptional and attractive mobile devices. The brand name of the company will help in increasing the selling of the concerned products within the different targeted market segments throughout Australia. Understanding the desired offerings from the key competitors within the targeted market segments will help in getting the advantage for the Telstra Corporation of Australia and it can significantly increase its profitability within the targeted market segments. Key business consumers There is a crucial need to focus on the desired relationship between the buyers and the concerned organization as this helps to increase the satisfaction of the customers related to the offering of the concerned products y the firm. Moreover, the Telstra Corporation needs to identify the particularly targeted customers in order to increase the sales revenue for the concerned organization. The concepts of the segmentation, targeting, and the positioning are crucial for the concerned organization , as it helps in targeting the desired customers for the selling of the products. The increase in the demands of the Smartphone evaluated the fact that there is a large number of the youth attracted towards the use of the newly launched mobile devices within the concerned market segments (KIMISHIMA, 2012). Therefore, the youth along the females needs to target as they are much prone to the newly launched gadgets within the concerned market segments. These will help to enhance the growth rate o f the firm and will opt for a large amount of the profitability for the concerned firm. There are some of the crucial factors which influence the desired relationship between the buyers as well as the sellers. The most significant for the concerned association is to understand as well as recognize the desired requirements of the concerned clients and then to assist them with required services. Differentiation in the pricing strategies plays the most crucial role in creating a great and immense impact in the minds of the different clients concerned. It has been seen that the different consumers of the concerned products have their own different requirements and the firms needs to recognize this as to satisfy the consumers from the services offered by the firm. The establishment of the customer support departments creates an enormous impact regarding the satisfaction f the customers as it helps in resolving the queries as well as the complainants of the customers and enhances the reli ability and also provides a desired smooth experience to them. These factors are the availability of the respective alternatives, importance of the supply, complexity of the desired supply and the dynamism of supply market. The performance of the firm is another vital factor which helps in attracting the large number o the consumers towards the firm (Kotler, 2014). Assisting the customers as per the needs will help in retaining the old customers as well as to target the new customers. The youths needed to be targeted as they generate the larger percentage of the sales revenue for nay of the concerned firm. Marketing analysis and the effective planning Segmentation approaches Identification of the desired market segments is considered to very crucial as these increases the selling of the concerned new products launched by the particular company. Telstra Corporation of Australia identifies its market segments throughout the different parts of the world as well as the market segments of Australia to launch its new products. The segmentation is the dividing of the large market segments into smaller segments of the concerned markets as this helps in recognizing the needs of the customers and to assist them with the satisfactory products as well as the services (Latest Developments: UK and EU, 2011). There are three of the crucial factors related to one another for the launching of new products within the concerned market segments; they are segmentation, positioning, and targeting. The analysis of the macro as well as the micro-segmentation will help in identifying the needs and the importance of the concerned market segments. These reflect the desired strengt hs as well as the weakness of the firm. Before launching the new mobile devices, it is very crucial for the firm to recognize the features of the similar products offered by the other firm. The market needs to be segmented on the basis of accessibility, measurability, responsiveness and the substantiality. The use of the PESTEL analysis will help in understanding the desired pressure from the political factors where the company is planning to launch its products and execute its business procedures. Targeting the desired customers is considered to be of great importance as they help in evaluating the desired expansion of the market segments and the business procedure of the company (Latest Developments: UK and EU, 2011). The macro segmentation consists of the size of the organization as well as the industries whereas the micro-segmentation includes several factors such as choice criteria, DMU structure, the process of effective decision making, innovativeness of the organization, the buying of the glasses and the purchasing organization. The organization size refers to the buying of the same products having differentiated features as to enhance the selling of the products. The demands of the telecommunication industries are increasing in large numbers, therefore, the launching of the new products for Telstra Corporation will help in bringing the desired positive outcomes for the organization (Ottman, 2011). The use of the marketing mix is crucial as it provides the desired evaluation in the effectiveness and the efficiency of the concerned firm. The promotion of the products needs to be unique in order to generate an enormous impact on the minds of the concerned clients within the targeted market segments. Future growth potential of the industry There are certain effective strategies which can be used by the companies to enter into the new market segments for executing their concerned business processes. The report on the mobile telecommunication industries of Australia reveals the desired facts that there was a slow revenue growth for the Telstra Corporation as well as the second tiers operators. Telstra Corporation retains the dominances throughout the Australian market segments having a crucial share of 61% of the total revenue generated (Plunkett, 2009). The growth opportunities need to be evaluated on the basis of marketing plan consisting of the marketing mix. The understanding of the requirements of the concerned market segments is important before entering into that particular market segments (Plunkett, 2010). Use of the perceptual maps, as well as the concise implementation plan, is required in order to generate future growth strategies for the company. Figure: Perceptual map In order to enter the desired market segments, the most crucial is to enhance the branding of the concerned firm. The engagement of the customers within the firm is crucial and it needs to be done with the help of effective methods as to establish the desired relationship with the customers. For Telecom Corporation look to enlarge is expected to see a sustained augment in alliances as well as a partnership which is able to carry a range of necessary capabilities plus rate time-to-market (Telstra, 2016). For illustration, incorporation with the vital company in the industry like the retail, automotive, or the concerned healthcare is the preferred direction for the carrier to make bigger their trade, and do so in particular technique that is appropriate as well as less risky. Carriers require carrying on to focus on providing data services along with the voice services which are high superiority, dependable, and reasonable. Moreover, the companies need to enhance the quality as well as the reliability of the products they offer within the concerned market segments. The use of the effective and effectual strategies will increase the profitability share of the concerned organization. Corporate branding and the reduction in the cost prices are considered to be large importance as this helps to evaluate the desired profitability of the concerned firm (The latest intraoral sensors, 2013). The demands of the telecommunication market segments are increasing in large numbers and therefore The Company needs to produce differentiation strategies as to capture the entire market segments. References Anderson, S. (2015). Latest SPIE industry analysis quantifies biophotonics-enabled sector.SPIE Professional. Bachmutsky, A. (2013).System designs for telecommunication gateways. Hoboken, N.J.: Wiley. Balmer, J., Elia, L. and Gonza lez del Valle Brena, A. (2013).Corporate Marketing. Hoboken: Taylor and Francis. Blakemore, S. (2013). Healthcare strategy tackles clients lower life expectancy.Learning Disability Practice, 16(7), pp.8-9. Carroll, C. (2013).The handbook of communication and corporate reputation. Chichester, West Sussex: Wiley-Blackwell. The impact of latest NICE guidelines on CRT and ICD implant rates. (2015).Br J Cardiol. Incorporation latest. (2015).BDJ, 219(3), pp.142-142. KIMISHIMA, M. (2012). Introduction to Latest RF ATE with Low Test Cost Solutions.IEICE Transactions on Electronics, E95.C(7), pp.1147-1153. Kotler, P. (2014).Kotler on marketing. [Place of publication not identified]: Free Press. Latest Developments: UK and EU. (2011).Capital Markets Law Journal, 6(3), pp.396-405. Latest Developments: UK and EU. (2011).Capital Markets Law Journal, 6(4), pp.497-511. The latest step in implant evolution launched. (2014).BDJ, 216(6), pp.369-369.

Wednesday, December 4, 2019

Social Networking free essay sample

Social networking sites such as Friendster, Linkedin, Spoke, Face book, MySpace and Twitter all vary slightly, yet the one main feature they have is that they enable users to create a profile within the website to represent themselves and allows uses to interact through email, instant messaging and other integrated communication channels within the site (Papacharissi, 2009). The popularity and growth of social networking sites over the past five years has been colossal, as many people from all over the world join up to this social phenomenon for varied reasons. Today, there are more than 500 million active users on face book and users spend over 700 billion minutes per month on this social networking site (Facebook, 2011). As the technology of Web 2. 0 improves and advances, social networking sites have an even bigger impact on society and human relationships, both positive and negative. This paper argues that social networking sites have a negative influence on children, teenagers and adults, increase the ease and prominence of cyber bullying, increase personal insecurities and feed addictions and weaken strong personal ties. This paper also argues that social networks create distraction and decrease productivity and profits within the workplace and can also can jeopardise a company’s reputation. Social networks also increase the ease of identity theft and bring to light other privacy issues as well as lead to an overall decrease in our face to face social skills and confidence. This paper will demonstrate that social networking sites do cause more harm than good. Identity Theft Identity theft is a huge problem in today’s society and has come about as a result of the rapid expansion and availability of internet technology and the increase in personal data found on social networking sites. In fact â€Å"A total of 806,000 Australians aged 15 years and over were victims of at least one incident of personal fraud in or identity theft in 2008† (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2008). Sites such as MySpace, Facebook and Twitter facilate identity theft in two mains ways. The first being is that sites encourage you to ‘edit your profile’ this includes adding your interests, full name, where you live, who your top friends are, your email address and even personal details like your phone number an relationship status. â€Å"Users share a variety of information about themselves on their Facebook profiles, including photos, contact information, and tastes in movies and books. †(Jones amp; Soltren, 2005). This information disclosure causes a huge problem as the more information you have on your profile the easier it is for identity thieves to verify themselves as being you. The second main issue is the privacy settings on these social networking sites also help faccilate personal fraud. Whilst there are built in features that allow users to change their privacy settings and not allow other users to view such personal details, these settings are never default, so that users are usually unaware how much information they are sharing not only with their friends, but with the rest of the world â€Å"By default, profiles on Friendster and Tribe. net are crawled by search engines, making them visible to anyone, regardless of whether or not the viewer has an account† (Boyd amp; Ellison, 2007). A general lack of awareness amongst users and the fact that digital identity can be easily hacked makes social networking sites a hub for identity theft which results in unwanted legal hassles, loss of money and years of trying to re-establish a victim’s credit and good name (Acquisti amp; Gross, 2006). This is why it is important for â€Å"users of social network systems to be aware of the value of the data they are making available online and of the ways that is can pote3nitally be used† (Donath amp; Boyd 2004). Furthermore another privacy issue that social networking sites face is that they encourage users to overshare very private information that can easily be used against them. For example the location based social networking site Foursquare encourages users to ‘check in’ at various locations to win points and earn badges and discounts. However these ‘check ins’ are in real time and essentially users notify others where they are, but more importantly when they aren’t home. For strangers and thieves this is the perfect opportunity to take advantage of such knowledge and rob someone’s house while they are out. A web site called â€Å"Please rob me† has been set up to raise awareness about over-sharing and highlights these kinds of privacy issues that social networks create â€Å"Location based services also raise myriads of privacy issues due to the ability to collect, store, use and disclose the locations of users. † (Anuar amp; Gretzel, 2010). In this respect social networks like these pose serious privacy concerns. Cyber bullying Cyber bullying refers to â€Å"bullying through information and communication technologies† (Webster, n. ), mediums such as, emails, mobile phone text messages, phone calls, internet chat rooms, instant messaging and most importantly and recently, social networking websites such as MySpace, Facebook and Bebo (Webster, n. d). Whilst cyber bullying is not physical it’s emotional and psychological effects are devastating for the victim and can often lead to suicide and depression (Hinduja amp; Patchin, 2010). Cyber bulling in terms of s ocial networks is a huge issue as more than 50% of American teenagers aged from 12 to 17 use social networking sites (Hall, 2010). Online bullying is often seen as the easy way out. Social Networking sites act as a platform where bullies can say things they might not usually say to someone in person, anonymity and less physical proximity act as a wall between the bully and the victim, none the less, the words or rumours that are shared are still just as hurtful. Bullies often feel more confident online and they can contact their victims any time, anywhere, day or night, not just in the school yard (Smith et al. , 2008). For example in 2009 a 14 year old girl committed suicide as a direct result of cyber bulling. The daughter’s mother spoke out in an ABC news report and explained that â€Å"Friday night she was on the internet and told me about some message that had come through, and she wanted to die because of the message. I laid in bed with her and we discussed it for about an hour and she left me fairly happy. I can guarantee you if she didn’t go on the internet Friday night she’d be alive today. † (Dikeos, 2009). Additionally another well know case of cyber bulling that resulted in suicide was the case of Megan Meier who was constantly teased tormented and riven to her death from intense cyber bulling. â€Å"13 year old Megan began receiving nasty messages from a boy after a few weeks of an online flirtation with him, via her MySpace account, ending with one that suggested ‘the world would be a better place’ without her. Megan, believing she had been rejected by â€Å"Josh,† committed suicide in her home. † Times Topics, Megan Meier. (2011). The sad part was that Josh was ust a fictional character, created by a mother of one of Megan’s former friends. These two case studies bring to light the fact that cyber bulling is a massive problem that is not only exists all over the world, but is only made possible by the use of social networking sites. Without such platforms for bullies to target their victims the rate of teen suicide and depression would most likely drop. Groups on facebook can be created to make fun of or abuse particular people or ideas. On facebook I found groups titled â€Å"I hate Kevin Rudd† and on their wall things like â€Å" F**k you Kevin! and â€Å"I can’t believe they let this di***ead become foreign minister†. Also a recent incident that was covered on the news showed the negative comments towards babies and their parents over facebook surrounding the ‘Bonds Baby Search’. Some comments under a photos said â€Å"A child only a mother could love† and another baby was called an â€Å"ugly duckling† (Cute baby competition turns ugly, 2011). Comments like these are spiteful not only to the babies, but for their parents as well. This in itself is another form of cyber bullying that has been made possible via the increased use of social networking sites. It is clear that social networking sites aid in the prominence of cyber bulling which is just one of the negative impacts that social working sites has on society today. The weakening of strong ties amp; isolation The way we communicate with our peers and with strangers over the internet is changing. Another negative impact that social networks have on our relationships is the fact that whilst they might strengthen our weak ties we have with acquaintances and people we don’t see often, they are in fact weakening our strong ties and also bring about physical social isolation. The term ‘social networking’ misleads people into believing they are being social, â€Å"Facebook isn’t considered a social network but more a public phone book or search engine. Contact is minimal and impersonal (Carr, 2010). The news feed feature on facebook and twitter keeps us in the loop with everything that our close friends and family are doing. Why would one call their friend to ask them what they got up to on the weekend, when clearly all they have to do is look at their news feed and find all the details along with pictures entailing their lives. Traditionally we would regularly call each other, or go out of the way to catch up. Nowadays the urge to contact each other over the phone or even face to face isn’t as important because we feel like we are still connected via social networks ( Thomas, 2007). This idea of constantly being connected is awful in the way that personal interactions between friends are more superficial than they were before Facebook and other social networking sites. Users are also more likely to let more time pass between face to face encounters because they still feel like they are in contact as they constantly have tabs on all of their friends. A case study that was done in America revealed that â€Å" twenty-five percent of the respondents in the 2004 survey appear to have no close ties, up from ten percent in 1984. Additionally a similar study amongst college student found that â€Å"1 in 7 say that social networking sites increase feelings of isolation† (Katonda News Network, 2010) As well as â€Å"Nearly 70% report reading posts from someone close to them that seemed like a cry for emotional help, and while most students would offer support in some way, fewer than half would make a personal visit† (Katonda News Network , 2010). It is clear that the rise of social networks has increased social and emotional isolation and diluted the strength our human relationships. Workplace interference Social networking sites can have a negative impact in the workplace, for both employers for employees and future employees. They create distraction, decrease productivity, cost companies money, can jeopardise a company’s reputation and legal liability and for those users who don’t have their profiles set to private can often result in unemployment. If every employee in a 50-strong workforce spent 30 minutes on a social networking site every day, that would work out to a loss of 6,500 hours of productivity in one year! † (Kelleher, 2009). Social networking sites can also be damaging for prospective employees looking for work ,as facebook and MySpace are fantastic resources for companies as they offer revealing information about a candidate’s true colours. Several profiles often contain awkward and embarrassing information that job seekers would not want their future managers to know about themselves. According to a new study conducted by Harris Interactive for CareerBuilder. com, 45 percent of employers questioned are using social networks to screen job candidates† (Wortham, 2009).. Moreover, there have been many instances where personal status updates or blog posts have hurt or damaged a companies reputation, thus seeing many employees loose their jobs over mindless updates that they didn’t think twice about. For example in 2010, Jaguar ambassador and swimmer Stephanie Rice tweeted â€Å"Suck on that f**gots,† (Robertson, 2010) after a rugby game the Wallabies had won. Many twitter users and public figures referred to it as a gay slur and even after a public apology, Jaguar Australia general manager Kevin Goult announced that â€Å"Jaguar Australia today terminated its relationship with Stephanie Rice, who has been an ambassador for the Jaguar brand in Australia since the start of 2010. †(Robertson, 2010). Another fine example of one employee who damaged his reputation before he even stared at his new job was a Cisco employee who tweeted â€Å"Cisco just offered me a job! Now I have to weigh the utility of a fatty pay check against the daily commute to San Jose and hating the work† It wasn’t long before Tim Levad, a channel partner advocate for Cisco Alert, shared this open response, â€Å"Who is the hiring manager. I’m sure they would love to know that you will hate the work. We here at Cisco are versed in the web. †( Popkin, 2009)It is clear that social networking sites can have a damaging effect on not only employees but the companies themselves. Users are unfortunately unaware that everything they post on their profile is public information and even if your profile is set to private your boss or work colleagues may still be fronted with this information at some stage in the future. As social networking sites become more popular by the day, the rise of negative social effects within our society also greaten. We have and will see further instances of cyber bullying; more cases of identity theft and additional privacy breaches. We will also see our strong relationships diluted to a more superficial and ‘convenient’ type of relationship. We will continue to see a further decrease in productivity within workplace and also more instances of company’s reputations and names being brought into disrepute. Social networking sites have had a huge negative impact on our mental and social health and will continue to do so into the future. It is also now evident that social networking sites facilitate all these problems, and without them they would cease to exist. Therefore it is undeniably true that Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, and the like do in fact cause more harm than good. References: Acquisti, A amp; R, Gross. (2006).