Cyber Security and Social Computing: Feeling Sad
Why do people turn to social media for support? Have you ever updated your status looking for support, but only to find few (if any) comments or likes? People use Facebook (and others) for support, empathy, and advice. Receiving support in such a medium can be therapeutic, but it can also make one vulnerable. Cyber security is of paramount concern to individuals, organizations, governments, and the military. Humans have been recognized as the weakest link in cyber security. While sometimes this is due to malicious activity, often times it is the result of sharing information that should not be shared.
Social networking sites provide an exciting opportunity for the average user to share pictures, thoughts, etc., from their day to day activities. However, in doing so they may make themselves vulnerable to identity theft, stalking, etc. This research will examine the role of the big five personality traits (extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism, and openness) and types of affect (e.g., happy, sad) in how individuals either seek or do not seek support via social media.
Project Goals
- Develop a list of phrases that are representative of the phrases used by individuals seeking support,
- Incorporate the phrases into rating schema using a Likert scale to determine how often individuals use specific types of phrases in posts they make,
- Develop a survey that incorporates demographic data, the phrases, personality questions, and affect questions and test the instrument in a pilot study and then a main study, and
- Develop a tool using the Facebook API (not required of all students) to measure this more directly.
Student Qualifications
- Attend weekly research meetings,
- Self-motivated and a strong team player with good communication skills,
- Interest in social media and its impact on our lives,
- Ability to develop a tool using the Facebook API (not required),
- Interest in reading, analyzing, understanding, and summarizing prior research.
Student Responsibilities
Attend weekly research meetings.