Vviewpoints
DOI: 10.1145/1995376.1995389
Viewpoint
realizing the Value of social
media requires innovative
Computing research

How social media are expanding traditional research and
development topics for computer and information scientists.

SOCial media teChnOlOgies uch as Facebook, Twitter, blogs, wikis, Flickr, and YouTube have garnered more than a billion users. These platforms enable more than friendly chatter and individual expression; they facilitate remarkably diverse and broad participation while accelerating the formation of effective collaborations.

Promising social media projects suggest that dramatic transformations are possible in health care, energy sustainability, environmental conservation, disaster response, and community safety. 14 Some commentators even see social media as a means for economic revitalization through business innovation, educational transformation, and civic revival. 15 However, there are deep challenges in understanding the benefits of social media and ameliorating their dangers. Computer, information, and social scientists, network analysts, system developers, community managers, and many other professionals will have important roles to play as they extend their disciplines with innovative research and development agendas.

The potential for social media impact is illustrated by international upheavals such as the Iranian elections, 9 Wikileaks information releases, and Egyptian democratic movement. In ad-

there are deep
challenges in
understanding
the benefits
of social media
and ameliorating
their dangers.

dition, a variety of U.S. and other open government efforts have been launched recently to promote transparency, participation, and collaboration. For example, data.gov promotes access to detailed U.S. government agency performance data and recovery.gov provides contracting information on the county-by-county use of stimulus money, leading to broader discussion, plus invitations to report fraud, abuse, and waste. Increased participation and collaboration that changes the relationship between government agencies and the general public is beginning with challenge.gov, which invites solutions to problems, serve.gov to expand volunteering, and wiki-based deliberative Web sites to request commentary on agency directions or regulatory plans.

Social media present dangers too. These include the potential for more polarized discussions as users selectively view only materials aligned with their world view and scientists retreat to narrow research topics (“ bal-kanization”) that limit the healthy interchange with related disciplines. 16 Another risk is reduced credibility of online resources as rumors and misinformation spread, unfiltered by traditional journalistic verification. Social media can distract from deep reflection as individuals respond to frequent interruptions and collaborative production methods with free distribution can undermine established reward systems, as journalists have painfully discovered. 6 Breaches of privacy and security are frequently mentioned topics and so is identity theft, online bullying, and disclosure of potentially damaging or embarrassing personal information.

 

Goals and Challenges for Computing Research Realizing the full value of social media requires research agendas that include understanding the mechanisms for unleashing chain reactions of human contributions and collaborations while preventing harmful outcomes such as privacy violations, malicious attacks, and misuse by terrorists, oppressive regimes, and criminals. Evo-