Theoretical Framework
The balancing of social media data for optimizing the customer experience online vs. its use for advertising and selling, including the reselling of the data to other companies anchor the two continuums of the ethical spectrum. For the continuum to stay in balance there must be collaboration and disclosure of just what the data is being used for and how its success is being measured over time. An equilibrium model or framework emerges from this analysis that defines how the use of social media data needs to be managed not just from an execution standpoint but also from a governance perspective as well. For any social network to retain and grow trust the equilibrium of the model must be preserved or their credibility will be lost. Figure 1 shows the proposed Social Media Data Equilibrium Model.
Figure 1: Social Media Data Equilibrium Model
Research Methodology
A multi-phased methodology will be used for creating the model and also for providing insights into how trust in social networks is driven as a direct result of how well the model stays balanced. If there is a perception that the model is shifting in any way, then social network users begin to doubt the transparency and authenticity of a given network and unsubscribe from it, deleting their accounts. Too much...
This will be accomplished with public social networks by reviewing their financials. For private social networks the focus will shift to evaluating their released information on this area including data on their income. Facebook for example ha released much of their financial data even though they are still private (Zimmer, 2010).
Phase 2 will be a study of trust in social networks by consumers. A random sample of college students will be created that seeks to represent the broader population of users globally in their specific age groups. This random sample approach will also be combined with Likert-based scales to quantify the level of trust that consumers have by social network. The trade-offs consumer make about sharing too much or too little information will also be captured using this approach.
Analysis and Discussion
The development of this study is dependent on first capturing the spending and revenues levels of digital media use areas. The spending levels of site enhancement and increasing the user functionality delivered vs. The use
