Clustering Stock Market Companies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 8000 words

Clustering Stock Market Companies - Essay Example It is often seen that business houses in clusters are more successful than those businesses doing identical trade or commercial ventures but are separated from each other, either through geographical distances or other barriers which do not offer their clustering. Not only are clusters more successful in terms of profitability and growth indicators but they are also well-positioned in terms of good management structures and high share value with respect to the companies who are not clustered. It is often found that in many countries the situation of certain similar industries is in close geographical proximity to each other. For instance, computer firms are found in the US in Silicon Valley and Bangalore in India, and they are proliferating exponentially in the recent times. This geographical proximity also gives rise to clustering and has a positive impact on the company's growth since all the members of the cluster would be able to contribute to the economic welfare of the State to which it belongs. The concept of clustering is fundamentally to determine the essential grouping or collation of data, and in the contest of business enterprises could be used to consider important aspects like revenue generation, profit making corporation and the main location aspects of the business. Through this research it is tried to focus upon the important aspects that work in the case of Clustering and how this aspect impacts upon the economy of the country. Clustering could be used for a variety of applications depending upon the desired results or objectives and could help in studying areas of interest like biology, insurance, seismic recordings for earthquakes, World Wide Web (www) where it is necessary to determine the pattern of behaviour in seemingly discrete and unorganized data. For instance in determining census reports, a lot of mass of data from all over the districts are collated and gathered and for arriving at the correct distributional patterns among the vast mass of data and to provide intelligent and coherent analysis and interpretations for the data . This could be done through the use of cluster formation which would distribute the similar data in identical formatting and thus help in achieving the desired ends and conclusions regarding the distribution and behaviour patterns of the data under study. The main determinants of clustering would be therefore in terms of Ability to make valid measurements and coherent analysis Assign attributes to the data based on the findings of clustering Formulating data with the various designs for implementation of decisions Established the least requirement for domain knowledge and determining the inputs that could provide valid outputs measurements and the basis for arriving at logical conclusions It is to be noted that the domain is not concerned with the order of the inputs recording since the processing would be based on similar identification and not other criteria High dimensionality would have to be accorded to the data being researched since this would impinge upon the final results It is also necessary that the data on clustering has high degree of usability in the academic context There are different types of clustering and they could be seen in the contest of Exclusive clusters, overlapping clusters, hierarchical clusters and probable clusters. The Euclidean distance would be the

Human Resource Management Models Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Human Resource Management Models - Essay Example The soft approach appears to be the better option considering the human ability to change and adapt, but as we will see, it cannot be used alone to manage human resources. We need to integrate approaches and find a multidisciplinary approach to dealing with people. How much of people management depends on theory and how much cannot be measured "In theory, practice and in the workplace experience, though people appear to be of central concern, the rich, warm, unpredictable face of humanity are all too clearly absent." Perhaps the most difficult question to answer is whether people are better lead or managed. Do people respond better when encouraged by a leader or when they are managed To begin with, it is necessary to understand what human resource management is and how it works. Every business runs on resources and the one resource that it cannot function without, is its staff. Human resource management is therefore about getting the most out of staff members (Human Resource Management Guide). Human resource management also, however, includes deciding which individuals are better suited to which position as well as conducting sufficient research to determine the best placement of individuals (McNamara 2008). We can now determine what has to be done with regards to human resource management, but there are two ways of going about this: we can either look at the humanistic approach or at the objective 'hard' approach. ... Two schools of thought were developed with hard and soft theories in mind: Harvard and Michigan. Harvard follows the soft model more closely while Michigan is based on the soft model. The normative model seeks to consolidate both the strategic management of the business as well as the interpretive model which is considered soft (Gill: 3). The problem here is that according to Gill (1999) "there are problems in the integration of HRM policy with business strategy and evidence indicates that HRM is more ad hoc than strategic."(Gill 1999: 3). In this case, one cannot assume that what is good for he business is necessarily good for the employee (Gill 1999: 3). The hard model would therefore focus on the employee as a resource, assuming that whatever causes the business to soar, will automatically uplift the employee (Gill 1999: 4). The intuitive problem is that humans are not controllable and they are not constant. Human's cannot be 'paid off' or compensated with more pay without regarding emotions or feelings even though this is a simple solution to a complex issue. In Gill and Meyer (2007) it was ascertained that outsourcing of certain business portions yielded dramatic results (Gill and Meyer 2007: 4). These results were not necessarily good ones, in the sense that businesses no longer had to employ people to do the jobs they could outsource, leading to job-losses and retrenchment. Despite this, there has to be an increase in individual 'soft' model relationships with employees if the employee numbers are smaller (Gill and Meyer 2007: 4-5). According to Gill and Meyer too, human resource management has to "manage the simultaneous pursu it of soft and

Evaluation of intervention mapping Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Evaluation of intervention mapping - Essay Example This will be followed by choice, implementation, and evaluation of intervention methods that may pose to change the health-related behaviour. (Bartholomew et al., 1998, 545-563). If a health intervention is effective leading to change in related health practices, there would be demonstrable change in the determinants and antecedents of health behaviour. Health promotion strategies are closely related to the psychological theories of behavioural changes. These can be achieved in an organised manner through intervention mapping, which had been the result of works of L. Kay Bartholomew, Guy S. Parcel, Gerjo Kok, and Nell H. Gottlieb (Bartholomew et al., 2001), which was published as â€Å"Intervention Mapping: Developing theory and evidence-based health education programs† in the year 2001. This was designed to provide a framework for effective decision making in intervention planning, implementation, and evaluation. It is known that health promotion is possible only through an effective health education. Drawing on this, health promotion is a synergy of educational and environmental supports for actions and conditions health-conducive living. Green & Kr euter (2005) have defined health promotion as "Any combination of education, political, regulatory and organizational supports for actions and conditions of living conducive to the health of individuals, groups or communities† (Green & Kreuter, 2005, p. G-4). If these change health behaviour, appropriate evaluation is necessary to ensure detection of these changes to assess whether these conform to evidence, so the health promoters can take a decision at every step of the process of planning and implementation of intervention (Kok et al., 2004, 85-98). Theory is the pillar of evidence-informed health promotion. Interventions that address the determinants of intervention or change must be evidence based and guided by need (Green, 2000, 125-129). Many authors have concluded that

Sustainability plan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Sustainability plan - Essay Example Organizers of London Olympic games had put sustainability into their heart to ensure sufficient demonstration on how games can provide a chance to show case changes on how people live, perform their duties, building styles and business practice to the beneficial of a healthy life within the limit of resources available on earth. The London Olympic strategy was laid through a subdivision into groups, assigning each group with its own responsibility and managed by a committee. The committees were to execute over the raising of funds, planning infrastructural development and provision of legislation in governance to ensure that everybody from the United Kingdom at least benefited from the Olympic Games. Introduction London Olympic Games and the Paralympics games hosted in 2012were to be used beyond what is just done in sports, but to enable people around the world to develop a sense of friendship and to facilitate sharing of culture as an attempt of exposing diversity (Great Britain 200 7). The organizers based their strategies on economical, social and environmental sustainability. Other than the influence on sports, London Olympic Games organizers incorporated different authorities and assigned roles to ensure that playing of games was to create a perpetual legacy to all its citizens. A number of strategies were placed forward to ensure that games influenced all the communities residing in United Kingdom by creating job opportunities, enhancing business infrastructure and providing training in different areas to improve the life standards. However, these strategies were narrowed down to address the areas of climate change, waste disposal, biodiversity, infrastructure development and provision of health (Brebbia 2013). Biodiversity Biodiversity has become one of the major vital elements in sustenance of the environmental economy. It serves a basic duty of enhancing balance of the climate changes, ensures sustainable maintenance of the water catchment areas and emb races the available natural resources making them sufficient to support life and make it desirable (MacRury and Poynter 2009). The Olympic movement in the recent years has taken it as a priority to ensure that environment is made sustainable for all the inhabitants. The London Olympic 2012 organizers made it as a provision of maintaining the ecology by promoting the relevance of natural environment. With assistance of international sports centre and the United Kingdom, the Olympic organizers managed to improve different number of sites including the lower Lea valley. After the amendments of some laws to give way for improvements, the organizers thereafter developed most sites as a way of enhance diversity (MacRury and Poynter 2009). For instance, at Lea valley nature plant seeds were collected with a motive of sustaining indigenous plant species. Quite a number of reptiles who resided within the valley under natural circumstances were relocated to appropriate sites. The organizers a lso created artificial nests of some birds as a way of safeguarding species of birds like the kingfisher whose population were dwindling rapidly. Inclusion Inclusion involves the culture of breaking down

Chronicle of a Death Foretold and Fly Away Peter Comparative Essay Essay Example for Free

Chronicle of a Death Foretold and Fly Away Peter Comparative Essay Essay Menace and threat are two elements in fiction that often help to create tension and build towards a climax. These components are evident in David Maloufs Fly Away Peter and Gabriel Garcia Marquezs Chronicle of a Death Foretold under two overarching themes: sense of duty and violence. Through the perspectives and experiences of different characters in the stories, both Malouf and Marquez develop the concept of peril that is sustained throughout their stories of war and murder. In Fly Away Peter, Malouf introduces the notion of threat in the context of war a place where people, including peace lovers like Jim, are forcibly drawn into. Jim is invited by Bert to ride on the bi-plane and Malouf reveals his blood fear, a bone fear, of leaving the earth and is thus portrayed as being resistant to change. When the war arrives, he feels panicky on this new and dangerous slope that had once been ground [that] stretched away to a clear future Brisbane is sliding towards Europe and the war as it is a duty befallen on patriotic men to prove their worth in defending the honour of their country. Many people seem to be supporting this view; Jim meets a girl who says passionately she would want to be in it because it is an opportunity, and similarly his father feels it is a chance to reach out and touch a unique thing. Malouf thus draws our attention to Jims change as he slide[s] with the rest down into the pit of war with superstitious dread and juxtaposes this to his initial uneas[e] about the new presence of bi-planes and man-made technology. This creates a sense of foreboding and threat, further emphasized by warnings such as catastrophe and madness, as Jim plunges into a brutal world of war from his sacred haven in the sanctuary (the light, and then the dark) to fight for his country. On the other hand, Marquez expresses the idea of threat in Chronicle of a Death Foretold through the rigidness of the townspeople in their ideas regarding tradition and family honour. To uphold the honour of their sister, the Vicario twins perceive as their duty to kill Santiago who supposedly took her virginity. However, this crime is largely condoned by their Catholic society and even Father Amador the priest pronounces their innocence before God. Marquez presents a town where first-degree murder is justified in the name of the cult of virginity and it is the responsibility of the men in the town to defend this tradition. Prudencia Cotes would never have married [Pablo] if he hadnt done what a man should do. Her mother tells Pedro and Pablo them honour doesnt wait and Clotilde Armenta voices her sympathy in saying it is a horrible duty thats fallen on them as they are duty-bound to avenge Angela. The twins are forced to conform to societys expectations of masculine assertiveness even if they couldnt sleep for the rest of [their lives] on their conscience. In killing Santiago, the twins have proved their status as men [and] the seduced sister was in possession of her honour once more in defending the validity of their culture. The town can be viewed, to an extent, as dysfunctional and a tense atmosphere is present throughout the book as readers know the threat of this cult will result in an innocent mans death. The theme of violence is exemplified in many characters and through the eyes of Jim, we see the menace posed in Mans capacity to cause suffering and death in Fly Away Peter. Even before the war, violence is hinted as being part of daily life when Jim witnesses the killing of a lone man with his hands over his face with blood between them as another figure, hurling itself from the shadows, brought him down. Although Jim has always been consciously rejecting any notions of violence, he discovers black anger in himself and a potential for violence when he faces Wizzers bullying later. He is shaken to realize that he has come closer to his fathers [similar] nature of violence unwittingly to the extent that he does not wish to be confronted with some depth in himself that frightened him and he doesnt understand. Killing in war is also epitomized by the brutality of Clancys death where Jim experiences for the first time Mans ruthlessness on a personal level. Clancys senseless death comes as a shock to him and Jim is greatly affected by this; the hosing off never left him clean and often woke from nightmares drenched in a wetness that dried and stuck. Malouf forcefully juxtaposes the previous setting of Jim buttering slabs of bread with the diversely opposite scene of Clancys accident, effectively demonstrating the harsh reality of war. Clancys passing further shows another step in Jims loss of innocence as he feels touched by the horrors of war and menace is manifested in Fly Away Peter through the ordinariness with which violence presents itself. Violence is a dominant theme in Chronicle of a Death Foretold as it is in Fly Away Peter as it leads to the ultimate menace of Santiagos death. It is a minor yet significant part of everyday life for most of the town; Victoria Guzman [disembowels] rabbits pull[s] out the insides by the roots and throw[s] the steaming guts to the dogs and Leandro Pornoy dies gored in the jugular vein by a bull all of which are accepted by the town matter-of-factly. The murder of Santiago is brutal as his liver was almost sliced in pieces, his pancreas [was] destroyed and there were perforations in the transverse colon and small intestine among other injuries. His death has been brought on by any one of the seven major wounds and this reflects an unnecessary level of violence on the part of the Vicario twins. Even after his death, Santiagos autopsy is mishandled as a syrup-coloured liquid began to flow from the wounds, drawing flies, and a purple blotch appeared on his upper lip and spread out very slowly up to his hairline and Father Amador remarks it was as if we killed him all over again after he was dead. Through the use of violence in the lives of common people and graphic imagery illustrating the aftermath of a murder, Santiagos killing mirrors the menace in which the town is under in their acceptance of the idea of violence. The themes of male duty and violence in both Fly Away Peter and Chronicle of a Death Foretold develop the concepts of threat and menace. Malouf uses Jims dilemma in enlisting for the war to highlight the threat of the blind trend in which men fight to prove their masculinity even though it results in countless lives lost and Jims experiences in the war that draw on the idea of menace in the form of violence. Conversely, Marquez develops the notion of threat through the tradition of the town surrounding Angela Vicarios enigmatic predicament which precipitates the menace of Santiagos murder wherein violence plays an important role. A tense and portentous atmosphere is thus crafted in both books as the authors expand on these themes, building up to a final climax.

Examining The Roles Of Moral Entrepreneurs Media Essay

Examining The Roles Of Moral Entrepreneurs Media Essay There are certain powerful tools such as moral entrepreneurs and/or social control agents that are said to contribute to the development of moral panics in a society (Becker, 1963:147; Cohen, 1980:85). This essay will argue that amplitude as a news value appears to be the major tool through which moral panics are developed in a society (Cohen, 1980:31). The essay will commence with a brief background and definition of key terms such as news values, amplitude and moral panics, not necessarily in the same sequence. Then using relevant research sources, this essay will analyse the role that the news value of amplitude plays in the development of moral panics. Furthermore, the reasons for this kind of journalism will be considered by carefully analysing the issues of interest and morality. Finally, the essay will consider the effects of moral panics on society by looking into instances in different societies. Ben-Yehuda (2009:1) describes the concept of moral panic as creating a state of exaggerated fear from topics that are claimed to have a moral element. He states that moral panics have to create, focus on and sustain powerfully persuasive images of folk devils that can serve as the heart of moral fears. According to Ben-Yehuda and Goode (1994:12), the idea of moral panics developed from the earlier concept of moral crusades where a person or a group of persons where stigmatised as deviants and isolated from what was regarded as normal society. It was first revealed by Jock Young in 1971 as opposed to the thought that Stanley Cohen was the originator of the concept. Critcher (2006: ix) also concurs that Cohen borrowed the term from Young. However, though Young introduced the term, it was Cohens research on the Mods and Rockers that launched it to its present state as a still central tool of sociological and media analysis, as well as a common phrase in popular discourse (Ben-Yehuda, 20 09:1). Cohen defines moral panic in his book Folk Devils and Moral Panics: The Creation of Mods and Rockers (1980:9), as when a condition, episode, person or group of persons emerges to become defined as a threat to societal values and interests; its nature is presented in a stylized and stereotypical fashion by the mass media This shows that every society has particular moral values and interests that define it as a society. Hence, it will not be normal for a person or group of persons to go against those moral values and interests. Becker (1963:1) states that social rules are made to be enforced and they determine what is right or wrong in a social group. Therefore the person or group of persons who breaks those rules is regarded as an outsider because such cannot be trusted to live by the rules. The outsider is then labelled by that society as a deviant or a folk devil as Cohen calls it. The outsider is isolated from normal society and this leads to more deviance (Cohen, 1980:12; 18). Goode (1993:93) also defines moral panic as a widespread feeling on the part of the public that something is terribly wrong in the society because of the moral failure of a specific group of individuals, subpopulation is defined as the enemy. In short, a category of people has been deviantized. Deviance refers to behaviour that breaks social values or upsets the expectations of society thereby attracting social penalty or punishment (OSullivan, et al., 1994: 83; Aggleton, 1987:4). Some examples of deviant behaviours that lead to moral panics are related to drug usage, homosexuality, gang activities, pornography, prostitution, and so on (Ben-Yehuda, 2009:2; Cohen, 1980:18). Cohen (1980:9; 59) observes that a type of moral panic which has kept occurring in Britain since the war has been tied to the coming up of a variety of youth culture who are either working class, middle class or students and are seen as deviants associated with violence. The Teddy Boys, the Mods and Rockers, the Skinheads, are some examples he gives of those labelled deviants or folk devils that represented youths at the time. This is also reflected in Ben-Yehudas study of the 1982 drug panic in Israel where youths were identified with the deviant behaviour of illicit drug-taking. Those who create and enforce the rules in society respectively referred to as moral entrepreneurs by Becker (1963: 147) and social control agents by Cohen (1980: 85). These are powerful concepts that are said to contribute to the development of moral panics in a society. They comprise the Police, the Courts and Civil Society or Action Groups who take appropriate action at the Federal and Local levels. Here the media also plays a vital positive role in checking the excesses of these so-called deviants. As we all know, the media is a tool through which information is dispensed to the public. The way and manner information is dispensed determines how the public reacts to such information. There are certain criteria that determine what news is and it varies from one culture to the other (Galtung and Ruge, 1965: 65). The criteria or guidelines by which events are regarded as newsworthy are referred to as news values (Brighton and Foy, 2007:1). Galtung and Ruge (1965: 70) provide a list of a number of factors that qualify for news values. An event must possess at least one of these to qualify as news. One of such news values is amplitude on which this essay will focus. Amplitude refers to how big the event is; The bigger, the better, the more dramatic, the more likely the event is to achievethreshold value (Watson, 1998: 118). It is argued here that amplitude as a news value appears to be the major tool through which moral panics are developed in a society (Cohen, 1980: 31). It was stated earlier that moral entrepreneurs or social control agents are powerful tools that are said to contribute to the development of moral panics. Cohen (1980: 166) and Becker (1963: 147) have argued that these tools create and enforce rules in order to control deviant behaviours. They intervene whenever they feel a particular value in society is being threatened by behaviours that are out of the norm. This shows that a deviant behaviour can be powerful enough as to instigate creation and the enactment of laws in a society (Ben-Yehuda, 1990: 124). However, it is important to note that these agents cannot function alone to create moral panics in the society, they need the mass media to be able to pass across what they deem as morally wrong or evil so, they take advantage of the media to be able to create a moral panic (Ben-Yehuda, 1990: 116). It thus seems that without the media, moral panics may never occur and amplitude plays a major role in such a development. Cohen (1980:1 6) describes the media as an especially important carrier and producer of moral panics. He states that information that gets to the public have already been processed by the media, that is to say that they have been subject to classifications of newsworthiness and how they are to be relayed to the audience. He argues that what is usually called news focuses on reports on deviance and its consequences and such reports create concerns, anxiety, indignation or panic. When these feelings have been created, the need to protect certain moral values arises and this leads to the definition of the problem and the creation of rules to protect societal values. All that has been said boils down to the fact that for the media to cover an event successfully as news, amplitude (as a news value) plays a very important role. As earlier defined, amplitude refers to how big and dramatic the event is (Watson, 1998: 118; Galtung and Ruge, 1965: 66) so the need for amplitude leads the media to amplify de viance whereby exaggerating the event so it becomes a very big issue through the reaction of the audience. OSullivan, et al. (1994:10-11) define amplification as the process whereby initial activity, labelled as deviant is increased or amplified as a result of social reaction which is largely co-ordinated and articulated by the mass media. Furthermore, Galtung and Ruge (1965: 71) state that there are three things the media does to manufacture news and one of them is accentuation or distortion and that is to make the event even more noticeable. Cohen (1980: 31) gives examples of this kind of distortion or exaggeration. In describing the Mods and Rockers event at Clacton, he states that a journalist from the Daily Mirror admitted that the event had been over reported. Cohen describes how the media grossly exaggerated its seriousness; Over-reportingthe number taking part, the number involved in violence and the amount and effects of any damage or violence. Such distortion took place primarily in terms of the mode and style of presentation characteristic of most crime reporting: the sensational headlines, melodramatic vocabulary and heightening of those elements in the story considered as news. The regular use of phrases such as riot, orgy of destruction, battle, attack, beat up town and screaming mob left an image of a besieged town from which innocent holidaymakers were fleeing to escape a marauding mob. This event was so exaggerated that the police began making preparations for the next anticipated Bank Holiday hooliganism. On the next Bank Holiday at Brighton, so many suspicious youths, though not guilty of all that they were accused of, were arrested on the beach escalating the matter and confirming the doubts and fears of the public who acted and took their local problem to the legislature ( Cohen, 1980:91-113). Another instance of such exaggeration is found in the 1982 drug scare event in Israel. Ben-Yehuda (1990:103) argues that the media played a crucial role by providing information that stimulated the panic. He states that youths in high schools in Israel were accused by the police and a member of legislature of the misuse of psychoactive drugs. It appeared in the media that over a hundred thousand students used hashish. A particular school was labelled Hashish High School because it was accused of a high rate of unlawful drug use. The principal revealed statistics showing o nly one pupil in the school was found using drugs but the release of the statistics did not help because the panic had already been created. The Ministry of Education sought for proof from the police for the outrageous statistics they released to the media but none was given. Anxious parents parents demanded that the Ministry of Education do something about the terrible drug problem. Most parents eventually withdrew their children from schools as a result of such exaggerations, turning the event into a huge story. The media used such headlines as youth drug abuse plague, How to Behave with a Drug Abusing Adolescent, The Dangers of Hashish. This event shows how active the social control agents and the media were in the development of moral panic but the media seemed to be the major tool through which moral panic began. The connection between personal and group interests to moral panics has been espoused by (Ben-Yehuda, 1990: 114; Becker, 1963:148; Goode and Ben-Yehuda, 1994: 159). Ben-Yehuda (1990:114) suggests that on one hand, moral panics reflect the moral struggle in a society and on the other hand, the issue of interests show that moral panics use moral topics to cover up clash of interests between different parties. He argues that the moral panic in Israel in 1982 was based on distorted information, clearly aimed at sharply marking the boundaries between moral right and moral wrong. However, behind the public display about morality, there were other strong interests at work as well. This shows that just as there are moral entrepreneurs who seek to truly uphold moral values for the good of the society, there are also those entrepreneurs who seek to fulfil their own interests. Young (2009: 10) states that there are three reasons for moral intervention. The first is the conflict of interest wher e he explains that interests of a powerful group are directly threatened or the group sees that the intervention would be to its advantage. The second reason for intervention is moral indignation. He explains that the deviant threatens the moral values of a more powerful group therefore an intervention is required. Finally, the third reason is humanitarianism where the more powerful group intervenes for the good of the deviant(s). This goes further to reveal a powerful economic and political relationship between those in power and those regarded as outsiders because laws, wealth and status could be created as a result of moral panics (Goode and Ben-Yehuda, 1994: 159). For instance, the legislator could create laws and have his political status established as a result of a moral panic through the media and the police could gain more funds to aid in fighting deviance. Furthermore, the media is responsible to protect the public interest through the proper dissemination of information. The public should be aware of events that affect them through the news. News that stirs up moral panics does not seem to be in the public interest because the end result is fear and anxiety (Ben-Yehuda, 2009: 1). It then seems that the media may only be interested in its business competition through the selling of a breaking story to attract more viewership and not minding how the news is presented thereby fulfilling its own interest. It could also be that the media in creating a moral panic is not aware that it is doing so and may publish or broadcast news in the public interest since its duty is to create awareness of issues prevalent in the society. Moral panics have certain effects on the society. They create stereotypes, for instance, (Young, 2009:6) thereby segregating a particular class or group of people within society. A stereotype is a social classification of a group based on a particular set of values, judgments and assumptions toward the groups behaviour, characteristics or history (OSullivan, et al., 1994:299). The Mods and Rockers were stereotyped because they behaved and did things differently from the rest of the society at the time. They dressed differently, rode scooters and motor-bikes and they were two confrontational groups. As a result they were seen as a threat to traditional, decent values of law and order (Critcher, 2006: xii). According to Cohen (1980:62) the Mods and Rockers were seen as a disease that needed to be cured or completely removed from society therefore they experienced indignation. A survey revealed that the medias reaction to the Mods and Rockers were more intense and stereotypical than the opinion of the public (Cohen, 1980: 66). In addition, moral panics create fear, anxiety and panic among members of society. Statistics show that fear is created especially among older people (Cohen 1980:70). For instance, as mentioned earlier, during the 1982 drug scare in Israel, parents out of fear and anxiety about the terrible drug problem that had invaded high schools, withdrew their children from school. The sort of presentation and language used by the media may cause its audience to think they are living in a very unsafe environment while that may not be entirely true. Also, moral panics could help establish new laws claimed to guard the moral values and interests of the society and even if it does not do so, it leaves memories that usher in the next panic (Ben-Yehuda, 2009: 3). For instance, early 1970 in America, President Nixon successfully carried out a war on drugs that later paved the way for subsequent drug panic that led to the creation of laws against illicit drug taking in America in 1986 and 1989 (Goode and Ben-Yehuda, 1994:169). All these prove that moral panics could either have a lasting or a short term effect on a society. The effect could be felt at the time of the panic and eventually fade away with the panic as it was with the Mods and Rockers or the effect could be a long lasting one as in the case of laws made to prohibit illicit drug use. In conclusion, although other strong tools such as the moral entrepreneurs or the social control agents contribute in creating moral panics, it is clear that amplitude as a news value is a major tool used by the media to create moral panics in the society. This essay has also shown that there are certain reasons why moral panics occur and those reasons could either be moral or for personal interests. Furthermore, there is a preponderance of the unhealthy effects of moral panics in the society including the creation of stereotypes, the instigation of fear among people and possibly the creation of new unnecessary laws. Practitioners in journalism and media must be careful in the reporting and dissemination of information to the general public to avoid impressing their personal or group interests on society that they may have detrimental effects in the peaceful order of society. WORD COUNT: 2,824

Social Networking Sites Analysis

Social Networking Sites Analysis Social Networking Sites are increasingly becoming popular, attracting the attention of millions of users by functioning like an online community. These sites are web based services that allow individuals to create a public/private profile on one or more sites. Users once registered can input their personal data including photos and videos. This then allows them to interact with other users with whom they want to share a common interest or view point. Currently there are thousands of different social networking sites operating worldwide that offer a variety of features aimed at an assortment of different subject groups. Therefore the social networking sites works by collecting profiles of users who are registered. Once they collect information, this data is open to other members of the group or community for which the user is registered. INTRODUCTION Internet is considered as a part of our life in todays world. Through internet, people can interact with other person from anywhere in the world. There are no divisional and setbacks to prevent people from interacting. Social networking websites are very popular nowadays especially within teenagers. Millions of users incorporate these sites into their daily lives by checking their profile several times a day and getting updates from friends and families time to time. Almost all the online users are members of either one or more social networking websites. In my own words, I would describe these sites as an online utility that enables users to communicate actively with other members and friends by allowing individuals to set up an account and describing his/her own interests. Once the account is created, users are then able to post personal information including photographs, videos and blog entries in their account. The way user interacts with other person depends on features that eac h social networking websites offer. Some of those features include instant messaging, video calling, chatting, emails, blogging, group discussions, file sharing and so on. The social networking websites are classified into different categories. While most of the sites are based on general purpose, some of the sites are based on specific theme. A few of these categories are discussed below. Category 1 General Interest These sites are for general purpose where a user can keep contact with old friend, or make a new friend. These sites also enable user to comment on other member messages/views. Below are some of the top general purpose sites. Facebook: This site allows users to have contact with friends, family around them. Currently facebook is most popular networking site among teenagers. Orkut: Similar to facebook, Orkut also provides its users to meet new friends and maintain existing relationships. This website is owned by Google Inc. Twitter: This website enables its users to send and read other user messages called tweets. This site is sometimes described as the SMS of the internet. Category 2 Specific Interest These sites are based on specific themes which are aimed at certain kinds of groups. Below are some of the theme based network sites. LinkedIn: It is a business-oriented network where members invite people to be connections instead of friends. This is mainly used for professional networking. The purpose of this website is to allow its users to maintain a list of contact details of people they know and trust in business. It can then be used to find jobs, people and business opportunities recommended by someone in ones contact network. Employers use these sites to post job vacancies in their companies. Last.fm: This networking site is based on Music. Registered Users will be able to post in the Last.fm forums, send and receive private messages and use the Last.fm client music player. Flixster: This is a social movie site allowing users to share movie ratings, discover new movies and meet others with similar movie taste. Benefits of Social Networking Websites Using social networking sites, we can develop friendship with people online all around the world. Not only we can make new friends but we will get an opportunity to learn about new languages, cultures of other countries. Social networking websites mostly involves either specific individuals or organizations together. For individuals, these sites provide better ways to keep in touch with friends, families. Also one can increase their group of contacts that can go beyond geographical and cultural differences as they can meet people who share your interests from almost all sides of world. We can share messages within seconds with the person sitting at distant places. One can also create and share blogs with friends and families by providing links to them. Thus, social networking sites have been quite effective in facilitating making new friends or enabling old friend after years of lack of communications. Hence social networking sites can be great way to stay in touch with large groups of people. On the other side, businesses and organizations can use these sites to promote their websites, products and services widely. News channels provide updates to public with recent and up-to-date news about events and activities around the world. Disadvantages of Social Networking Websites Even though there are lot of advantages of these sites, there are dangers also associated with this. The main consequence will be identity theft and fraud of personal data which is on rise. The names, addresses, email ids, age and so on are personal information that a user can give out and fraudsters use this information in performing illegal activities. There are also many people who pretend to be someone else and are using these sites to make a business deal. But the truth is that they will rob money out of another user. Another danger would be meeting strangers online. The main concern from these people is online harassment. They use the information available on users profile. Some fake advertisements can invite users to unwanted viruses to their computers. Nowadays, professional companies are referring online profile while judging people at the time of interviews. Conclusion Social networking sites are an online community that has users registered from all around the world. As seen above there are both pros and cons from using this sites. Therefore one must be very careful while providing personal data online. Nowadays all the social networking websites are offering an option of privacy. By using this option, one can restrict the entry of unwanted users and unknown users. We may get many requests for adding as friends or joining different communities. It is always better to know as much as information about them before adding anyone as friend or joining any community. Otherwise there is a possibility that we may become a victim of fake identity which may spoil your image.