Mobile Social Networks Research Articles

Does Socioeconomic Status Moderate the Association Between Screen Time, Mobile Phone Use, Social Networks, Messaging Applications, and Mental Health Among Adolescents?

The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between different screen time (ST)-related behaviors and mental health conditions such as depression, anxiety, and stress. In addition, this study aimed to determine the moderating role of socioeconomic status (SES). This was a cross-sectional study and included data from 620 adolescents, aged 12-17 years, from the Valle de Ricote, Region of Murcia, Spain. Mental health was assessed using the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale (DASS-21). Overall ST, mobile phone use, social network use, and messaging application use were measured using validated questionnaires. SES was assessed using the Family Affluence Scale-III. The results indicated that overall ST was significantly associated with symptoms of depression at the mean SES (unstandardized beta coefficient [B] = 0.005, p = 0.023) and 1 standard deviation (SD) below the mean (B = 0.007, p = 0.011), and with stress only 1 SD below the mean (B = 0.006, p = 0.011). No significant associations were found for anxiety and stress across all socioeconomic levels. Mobile phone use exhibited a strong positive association with symptoms of depression (B = 0.891, p < 0.001), anxiety (B = 0.530, p = 0.014), and stress (B = 0.790, p < 0.001) at 1 SD below the mean SES. Similar patterns were observed for mean SES, albeit with slightly weaker associations. Conversely, social network use was positively associated with all three DASS-21 scales, particularly at 1 SD below the mean SES, with the strongest associations found for symptoms of depression (B = 0.327, p < 0.001), anxiety (B = 0.325, p < 0.001), and stress (B = 0.318, p < 0.001). Furthermore, messaging application use did not show significant associations with symptoms of depression, anxiety, or stress across any SES levels. In conclusion, social inequalities may influence the associations between various ST-related behavior and symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress among adolescents. These findings may have implications for the design of effective interventions to improve symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress in this population.

Instagram vixens: the racialized sexual scripts of erotic labor online

ABSTRACT Despite growing interest in the ways information and communication technologies shape labor, few studies have accounted for the racialized sexualization of erotic labor. This study examines how Black women exotic dancers deploy racialized sexual scripts in the content they generate on the mobile social networking application Instagram. As erotic influencers, these women engage in multifaceted and multimodal erotic self-presentations both within and beyond the strip club. This article presents data from a digital ethnography of 73 Black female exotic dancers located in the southeastern United States, as well as a content analysis of the digital media files they created on Instagram. The findings suggest four distinct sexual scripts that these Instagram users perform: virtual cover girl, erotic professional, boudoir baddie, and assets model. Findings demonstrate Black women use smartphone and social networking technological features to create presentations of femininity, desirability, and sensuality that simultaneously subvert and adhere to the controlling images that define Western ideologies on race and sexuality. Ultimately, this article argues for the need to account for the social and cultural contexts in which the affordances of networked communication technologies that permeate contemporary erotic labor operate.

Enhancing data integrity in opportunistic mobile social network: Leveraging Berkle Tree and secure data routing against attacks

In Opportunistic Mobile Social Networks (OMSNs), ensuring data integrity is crucial. The anonymous and opportunistic nature of node communication makes these networks vulnerable to data integrity attacks. The existing literature identified significant shortcomings in effectively addressing data integrity attacks with high efficiency and accuracy. This paper addresses these issues by proposing the "Berkle Tree", a novel data structure designed to mitigate data integrity attacks in OMSNs. The Berkle Tree leverages the EvolvedBloom filter, which is a variant of the bloom filter with a negligible False Positive Rate (FPR). The key contributions of this study include i) an innovative application of EvolvedBloom for membership testing and Berkle Tree root validation, and ii) comparative analysis with existing data structures like Merkle and Verkle Trees. The Berkle Tree demonstrates superior performance, reducing tree generation and integrity validation times and leading to substantial computational cost reductions of 79.50 % and 90.57 %, respectively. The proposed method integrates the Berkle Tree into OMSN routing models and evaluates performance against Packet Drop, Modification, and Fake Attacks (PDA, PMA, PFA). Results show average Malicious Node Detection Accuracy of 98.2 %, 85.2 %, and 94.4 %; Malicious Path Detection Accuracy of 98.6 %, 86.6 %, and 90.2 %; Malicious Data Detection Accuracy of 98.4 %, 80.2 %, and 93.4 %; and False Negative Rates of 1.8 %, 14.8 %, and 5.6 % for PDA, PMA, and PFA, respectively. The major findings demonstrate that the proposed approach significantly improves OMSN routing models by reducing Packet Dropping, Modifying, and Faking Rates by 48.62 %, 28.99 %, and 31.2 %, respectively. Compared to existing methods, the Berkle Tree achieves a substantial reduction in filter size by approximately 25 %–40 %, while maintaining a negligible FPR. These advancements contribute to the state-of-the-art of OMSNs by providing robust solutions for data integrity with significant implications for enhancing security and trustworthiness in OMSNs.

How mobile social networks affect rural household income: evidence from China

How mobile social networks affect rural household income: evidence from China

사회적 연결은 득인가 실인가: 사회적 연결의 이점과 비용에 관한 연구 동향과 과제

Network theory has traditionally focused on social ties as its primary subject of study, investigating patterns of linkages and relationships among actors and the ensuing social structures from various perspectives. This paper reviews the extant literature on both the positive and negative effects of social ties and social networks. It transcends the mainstream research tradition that has predominantly emphasized positive impacts, presenting domestic and international studies that explore the constraints and costs engendered by social ties, including the excessive homogenization they can cause. Specifically, the paper delves into Granovetter’s (1973) “strength of weak ties” theory, Burt’s (1992, 1995) structural hole theory, which addresses both the patterns of connections and relationships between actors and the resultant structures, and Coleman's (1990) concept of network closure, which underscores the overall structure of social networks. In doing so, this paper presents core tenets of these theories and critically evaluates the current state of knowledge as presented in leading domestic and international management and sociology journals. Finally, considering the implications of networks and their social ties for organizational research, alongside the ease with which individuals can now join various networks through the rapid development of online and mobile social networking sites, the paper underscores the importance of focusing on the costs and constraints that actors face when navigating numerous social connections. It also highlights the necessity of being wary of confirmation bias caused by suggestion algorithms embedded in online sites and proposes directions for future research.

Analyzing the impacts of cultural backgrounds on migrants' acculturation strategies in mobile phone social networks

By employing a large-scale mobile phone dataset and constructing a social network with 6,351,033 nodes and 14,735,425 ties, this research empirically studies how the individualistic and collectivistic (I-C) cultural backgrounds of migrants influence their acculturation strategies under different contexts. We introduced the rice theory and developed new network-based constructs to measure their acculturation strategies, I-C cultural backgrounds, and socioeconomic status. We found that migrants with more collectivistic cultural backgrounds tend to interact more with people from their hometowns rather than locals of their host societies. Surprisingly, this relationship is contingent on cultural distance: when a migrant's cultural background is similar to the host society, this migrant tends to interact more with local friends than people from her hometown. Moreover, higher socioeconomic status is found to decrease the cultural conservatism tendencies of migrants with more collectivistic cultural backgrounds. These findings can help stakeholders to devise more refined policies to better integrate migrants with diverse backgrounds and reduce potential cultural conflicts.

“Coolness” and “joy” in games: factors influencing mobile game players' willingness to make in-game purchases

PurposeThis study aims to deeply explore the factors influencing mobile game players' willingness to make in-game purchases, providing references for game developers and marketers to formulate effective strategies.Design/methodology/approachThis research integrates the coolness factors and hedonic motivation system acceptance model to construct a comprehensive theoretical model analyzing mobile game players' willingness to make in-game purchases. The framework includes multidimensional variables such as joy, coolness, immersion, and game experience. Using data from 392 surveys collected from mobile game forums and social networks, the study employs structural equation modeling to analyze the factors and mechanisms influencing players' willingness to make in-game purchases and to verify the related research hypotheses.FindingsThe findings reveal that coolness factors have a significant positive impact on game experience and immersion, which in turn affect players' willingness to make in-game purchases. Game experience has a significant positive impact on both immersion and purchase willingness. A good game experience not only increases players' immersion but also directly enhances their willingness to make in-game purchases. Immersion plays a mediating role in the influence of coolness factors and joy on purchase willingness.Originality/valueBy integrating coolness theory with the hedonic motivation system acceptance model, this study constructs a comprehensive model to explore mobile game players' willingness to make in-game purchases. The combination of variables, including personal psychological and social psychological factors, provides a thorough analysis of the factors influencing mobile game purchase willingness, enriching existing research.

Cyber Security Challenges: Safeguarding Data in the Digital Era

The Internet is one of the fastest-growing areas of technical infrastructure development. In today’s business environment, disruptive technologies such as cloud computing, social computing, and next-generation mobile computing are fundamentally changing how organizations utilize information technology for sharing information and conducting commerce online. Today more than 80 percent of total commercial transactions are done online, so this field required a high quality of security for transparent and best transactions. The scope of Cyber Security extends not only to the security of IT systems within the enterprise, but also to the broader digital networks upon which they rely including cyber space itself and critical infrastructures. Cyber Security plays an important role in the development of information technology as well as Internet services. Our attention is usually drawn on “Cyber Security” when we hear about “Cyber Crimes”. Our first thought on “National Cyber Security” therefore starts on how good is our infrastructure for handling “Cyber Crimes”. This paper focus on cyber laws and security emerging trends, issues and challenges while adopting new technologies such as mobile computing, e-commerce, and social networking.

Research on Social and Technical Factors Affecting Consumers" Quantified-Self Consciousness in Mobile Social Networks

Research on Social and Technical Factors Affecting Consumers" Quantified-Self Consciousness in Mobile Social Networks

Онтология институционального дизайна современных общественных движений

The article offers an ontological conceptualization of the institutional design of social movements and outlines its func-tioning mechanism in modern society. The purpose of the article is to identify the specifics of the institutional design of contemporary social movements. Institutional design is described as an integrated unity of virtual and real practices, incorporating a technological component. The core of this design is the project activity of social movement partici-pants, and the construction of the reality through their participation in social and political life in both online and offline spaces. An ecosystem of design is presented, which includes a structure of opportunities and conditions for the creation, functioning, and institutionalization of social movements. Within this ecosystem, participants interact with an institu-tional environment that contains rules and regulations, as well as opportunities for participation in socio-political life. In a digital society, social movement participants have tools to create new algorithms for constructing reality using mobile applications and social networks. The ecosystem of institutional design expands as social movements gain political opportunities and organize both offline and online interactions with government authorities to address social issues.

A Privacy-Preserving Friend Matching Scheme Based on Attribute Encryption in Mobile Social Networks

In mobile social networks, users can easily communicate with others through smart devices. Therefore, the protection of user privacy in social networks is becoming a significant subject. To solve this problem, this paper proposes a fine-grained data access control scheme that uses attributes to match friends. In our scheme, the friend-making parties generate friend preference and self-description lists, respectively, realizing attribute hiding by converting friendship preference into ciphertext access control policies and self-description into attribute keys. The social platform matches user profiles to quickly eliminate unmatched users and avoids invalid decryption. In order to reduce the computational burden and communication cost of mobile devices, we adopt an algorithm mechanism for outsourcing decryption. When the user meets the matching conditions, the algorithm outsources the bilinear pair operation with large computation to the friend server. After that, the user finally decrypts the ciphertext. Security analysis shows that our scheme is safe and effective. In addition, performance evaluation shows that the proposed scheme is efficient and practical.

Mobile Phone-Based Confidential Social Network Referrals for HIV Testing (CONSORT): Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial.

Critical to efforts to end the HIV epidemic is the identification of persons living with HIV who have yet to be diagnosed and engaged in care. Expanded HIV testing outreach efforts need to be both efficient and ambitious, targeting the social networks of persons living with HIV and those at above-average risk of undiagnosed HIV infection. The ubiquity of mobile phones across many high HIV prevalence settings has created opportunities to leverage mobile health (mHealth) technologies to engage social networks for HIV testing outreach, prevention, and treatment. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the acceptability and efficacy of a novel mHealth intervention, "Confidential Social Network Referrals for HIV Testing (CONSORT)," to nudge at-risk individuals to test for HIV using SMS text messages. We will conduct the CONSORT study in Moshi, Tanzania, the commercial center and administrative capital of the Kilimanjaro Region in northern Tanzania. After qualitative formative work and pilot testing, we will enroll 400 clients presenting for HIV counseling and testing and 200 persons living with HIV and receiving care at HIV care and treatment centers as "inviters" into a randomized controlled trial. Eligible participants will be aged 18 years or older and live, work, or regularly receive care in Moshi. We will randomize inviters into 1 of 2 study arms. All inviters will be asked to complete a survey of their HIV testing and risk behaviors and to think of social network contacts who would benefit from HIV testing. They will then be asked to whom they would prefer to extend an HIV testing invitation in the form of a physical invitation card. Arm 1 participants will also be given the opportunity to extend CONSORT invitations in the form of automated confidential SMS text messages to any of their social network contacts or "invitees." Arm 2 participants will be offered physical invitation cards alone. The primary outcome will be counselor-documented uptake of HIV testing by invitees within 30 days of inviter enrollment. Secondary outcomes will include the acceptability of CONSORT among inviters, the number of new HIV diagnoses, and the HIV risk of invitees who present for testing. Enrollment in the randomized controlled trial is expected to start in September 2024. The findings will be disseminated to stakeholders and published in peer-reviewed journals. If CONSORT is acceptable and effective for increasing the uptake of HIV testing, given the minimal costs of SMS text reminders and the potential for exponential but targeted growth using chain referrals, it may shift current practices for HIV testing programs in the area. ClincalTrials.gov NCT05967208; https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT05967208. PRR1-10.2196/55068.

ROLE OF SOCIAL NETWORKING IN RECENT ERA

We are living in Cyber or Networking Age. The advancements in the field of communication technology created a world with no boundary or limitations. We have witnessed the immense power of the internet and now, with the launch of Web 2.0, social networking sites are redefining the communication field of communication. In India, social networking sites are getting more popular and it has become a vital part of our social life. This study seeks to find out the various dimensions in which social networking sites are used by the student community. Students use social networking sites for their personal and curricular activities. The study shows that the social networking sites are an integral part of their social life. They use it to maintain and strengthen their offline connections and primarily for communication rather than entertainment. The study also points out the popularity of mobile social networking among the students community.

Attribute Based Signature Encryption Scheme Based on Cloud Computing in Medical Social Networks

The emergence of mobile medical social networks has provided great convenience for patients to communicate with each other about their medical conditions, promoting efficient and high-quality communication and exchange among patients. However, at the same time, it has also raised issues of confidentiality and privacy of patient data. In response to this issue, this article proposes a cloud-based attribute-based signature encryption scheme that can effectively protect the privacy of patient data. The patient encrypts their medical information and uploads it to the cloud server. When the data user wants to access the patient’s information, the cloud server helps the data user partially decrypt and verify the integrity of the data, which to some extent reduces the computational workload of the data user. Meanwhile, under the random oracle model, it has been proven that the scheme satisfies the unforgeability under selective message attacks, indistinguishability under selective cipher text attacks, and attribute privacy security. Theoretical analysis and numerical simulation experiments show that this scheme has higher efficiency than existing schemes in the signing and decryption stages.

Dynamics, Blockages and Relief of Social E-commerce

Social e-commerce, as an emerging e-commerce method, integrates the advantages of mobile networks, social networks and e-commerce, opening up a new space for the development of network economy. Starting from the traditional mode of social e-commerce, this paper takes WeChat takeaway group social e-commerce under the specific region of Shenzhen Campus of Jinan University as a case for specific analysis, with the intention of examining and structurally analysing the status quo of this kind of social e-commerce, and describing its phenomenon while dissecting its essence and abstracting its commonalities. The results of the study show that the development of social e-commerce is still facing many difficulties and challenges, and for the existing problems such as vague market positioning, poor customer experience, and service system with perfection, social e-commerce should be centred on the user, take the service as the cog, and take the advantages as the fulcrum, rely on technological innovation to drive the improvement of the user experience, create a diversified development of social e-commerce, and constantly improve the new mode of social e-commerce in order to meet the consumer's fundamental demand for product value.

Cost-Sensitive GNN-Based Imbalanced Learning for Mobile Social Network Fraud Detection

Cost-Sensitive GNN-Based Imbalanced Learning for Mobile Social Network Fraud Detection

VADIA-Verkle Tree-based Approach for Dealing Data Integrity Attacks in Opportunistic Mobile Social Networks

Opportunistic Mobile Social Networks (OMSN) are prone to data integrity attacks that jeopardize the integrity of the routing data inside the network. Among the several techniques that cope with these attacks in OMSN, tree-based approaches have proven to be the most effective due to its ease of data verification and ensurance in data integrity. This paper evaluates two tree-based data structures, Merkle tree and Verkle tree in terms of their effectiveness in detecting and preventing such attacks. The evaluation considers tree-generation time and proof-checking time, and the results demonstrate that the Verkle tree is a bandwidth-efficient solution and have lower proof-checking time, with a reduction of 98.33% than Merkle tree. This makes Verkle tree a good choice for handling data integrity attacks in OMSN. A Verkle tree-based approach, named VADIA, is proposed to handle data integrity attacks such as packet dropping, packet modification and pollution attack in OMSN. The proposed approach is implemented in the Opportunistic Network Environment (ONE) simulator and is shown to be effective in detecting malicious nodes and paths, reducing false negative rates, and improving accuracy in detecting malicious activities. The results demonstrate a 47%, 84% and 69% improvement in malicious node, malicious path and malicious activity detection over a period of time. Furthermore, the approach achieves an 80% reduction in false negative rates.

Implementing communication technologies to enhance learning efficiency at a technical vocational education and training college in Cape Town

This paper explores the impact of extending instructional time at technical vocational education and training (TVET) colleges using WhatsApp's mobile social network (MSN) application. In South Africa, there is relatively little discussion on extending instructional time within the TVET sector, yet instructional time loss is consistently mentioned as one of the most significant challenges. During the study, the subject of Computer Programming was examined in light of poor learner performance. This study employed mixed-methods research following a pragmatic paradigm to formulate educational policies potentially dealing with TVET instructional time losses in South Africa. Data were collected from two TVET centres (FB1 and FB2) involving two lecturers and 48 students in Cape Town. Despite the study's mixed results, qualitative data reflected the need to extend instructional time and improve the efficiency of applications like WhatsApp. Quantitative data reflected an overall percentage pass rate of 56% and 100% for FB2 and FB1, respectively. The messaging application, however, has challenges, such as disrupting conversations. By participating in learner WhatsApp groups, the paper believes lecturers can reap positive benefits from these initiatives. This study adds voice to mixed-method practices. To maximise pedagogical efficiency, this study recommends that educators provide practical guidance on using MSN applications to increase instruction time.

Feasibility and reliability of peercloud in vehicular networks: A comprehensive study

Advanced computing capabilities embedded in modern vehicles enable them to accommodate a variety of intelligent transportation systems and real-world applications that help improve driving safety and compliance with road regulations. However, some of these applications are computationally demanding, and the local processing capabilities of vehicles may not always be enough to support them. To address this issue, existing research has proposed offloading the excessive workload to other computing facilities, such as nearby base stations, roadside units, or remote cloud servers. Still, these facilities have several limitations, including frequent unavailability, congestion, and high fees. In this paper, we explore a more pervasive and cost-effective solution: offloading excessive workloads to nearby peer vehicles via peer-to-peer connections. This approach, referred to as peercloud-vehicle, is an extension of the peercloud approach, which has been proposed for mobile social networks in the literature. The objective of this work is to have a comprehensive study on the feasibility and reliability of vehicle-to-vehicle offloading. First, we analyze two real-world vehicular network datasets to study the robustness of the vehicle contacts and estimate contact durations with deep learning-based regression methods. Second, we design reliable vehicle-to-vehicle offloading approaches based on two optimization objectives: min-delay task offloading to minimize the overall execution delay, and cost-aware task offloading to minimize the cost of task offloading. Experimental results based on real-world datasets demonstrate that peercloud-vehicle significantly outperforms existing approaches.

Assessing the Impact of E-Learning Adoption on Learning Behavior in Sierra Leonean Higher Education

This study aims to analyze the adoption of e-learning in higher education institutions in Sierra Leone and its impact on learning Behavior using the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). The research employs a survey design, utilizing Structural Equation Modeling (SEM), to analyze the responses of students and lecturers. The study was conducted in Sierra Leone, involving ten universities. The duration of the study is not specified. 728 students and 327 lecturers were surveyed to assess their attitudes towards e-learning. The TAM was used to predict behaviors based on the perceived usefulness and ease of use of e-learning tools, such as mobile devices and social networking applications. The findings indicate that e-learning is more likely to be adopted if the tools are perceived as useful and easy to use. Additionally, prior experience with computers enhances the positive perception of e-learning's attributes and attitudes toward its utilization. The study highlights the potential of e-learning in developing countries like Sierra Leone. It provides insights for stakeholders in the education sector to develop strategies that can promote the adoption of e-learning in regions with similar developmental profiles.