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Social networking sites such as Facebook have been found to play a modest role in influencing most US users' political views. AFP pic

The poll by the Pew Research Centers Internet & American Life Project comes as Democratic President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney are using Facebook Inc pages and other social media as campaign tools ahead of the November election.

For most of those who use the sites, political material is just a small portion of what they post and what they read. And the impact of their use of the sites is modest, at best, Lee Rainie, director of the Pew project, said in a statement.

Thirty-six per cent of social networking site users say they are very important or somewhat important to them in keeping up with political news, the survey showed.

The sites are very important or somewhat important to 26 per cent of site users in recruiting people to get involved in political issues that matter to them.

A quarter of the site users say they are very important or somewhat important for discussing or debating political issues, the poll showed.

Twenty-five per cent of users say the sites are very important or somewhat important in finding other people who share their views about important political issues.

In each case, Democrats are more likely than Republicans or independents to say the sites are important.

A third of Democrats and liberals who use social networking sites say their activities on the sites have led them to become more active, compared with 24 per cent of site-using Republicans and independents.

The survey found that 84 per cent of site users say they have posted little or nothing related to politics in their recent status updates, comments and links.

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US social sites have modest political impact says poll

Summary: According to a new survey, the majority of young people - without a roof over their heads - remain connected through social networking.

According to a new survey, the majority of young people -- without a roof over their heads -- remain connected through social networking.

The Atlantic reported the results of a new study, published in the journal Computers in Human Behavior, which found that 75 percent of homeless participants in the study used social networks -- and the usage was comparable to college students.

The small but interesting research project, led by the University of Alabama's Rosanna Guadagno, interviewed 237 college kids and 65 homeless people. All subjects were roughly 19 years old. The team found that usage patterns for social networking in both groups were very similar.

90 percent of those attending college were on social networks, including Twitter and Facebook. Fewer homeless youth were found on social networking sites, but those that were reported the same time spent online -- at over an hour a day.

Guadagno argues that a 'digital divide' may be worth rethinking -- as living arrangements and stability did not appear to change how young people find channels to communicate. The study says:

"To the extent that our findings show a 'digital divide' between undergraduates at a four-year university and age-matched participants in a program for homeless young adults, it is mainly in types of Internet use and not access to the Internet, and that divide is relatively minor.

Since it is clear that the proportions of undergraduates and homeless young adults accessing social networking sites are similar, we assert that the term digital divide is not descriptive of the young adult population."

Another recent study from the University of Dayton explored how social media is used by the homeless -- perhaps not only for social contact and equality, but as a means to solve practical issues.

Leader of the study Art Jipson found that the homeless use social media as a place where all people are treated 'equally', and through a series of interviews, discovered that it can also be a medium to find social services, somewhere to sleep and the next hot meal. One subject said:

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75 percent of homeless youth use social networks

If the world of social media seems like a cyber jungle to you, take a look at the courses offered by Baker Labs, a company recently founded by Knoxville social media expert Gavin Baker.

Baker Labs offers small business owners and employees training on how to manage social media like Facebook and Twitter, Tumblr and YouTube, blogging and email marketing. Classes are for anyone, novice to expert, Baker said.

"At the end of the day, social media is a powerful tool," said Baker. "A lot of businesses want help with social media. There's a lot of demand, but most people can't afford to hire an agency to help them with strategy."

Baker is former social marketing director of Moxley Carmichael public relations firm in Knoxville, and he's taught social marketing classes for the University of Tennessee's noncredit programs. He started his new business in July and is now offering two classes a week, $50 each. A set of five classes, called Social Media Standards, costs $200.

Baker said that social media is much different than standard marketing because it's two-way communication with the customers.

"For years, business leaders would sit around tables and wonder what customers were doing. Social marketing gives you that collaborative feedback from your customers," Baker said.

If a business has to pick one social media site to use daily, Baker suggests using Facebook. He said it delivers the most bang for a business's buck. Seventy percent of U.S. adults have Facebook accounts, according to Forrester's North American Technographics Online Benchmark Survey.

"You're engaging your loyal customers, and they're commenting on things you're posting. Others may see it, so then they're exposed to the brand via their friend."

However, if that exposure is from negative comments about a business, that can be a problem, Baker said.

"Restaurant owners are especially sensitive about that," said Baker. "But, this is a chance to recover a customer, a chance to engage them. If their meal is so-so, most people don't call in, but they may say something on Facebook or Twitter. This is your chance to say, 'Let's make it right.'

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Networking guru creates new business, offers social media tips

The FBI recently published a report warning of the dangers posed by social-network sites that it says are being exploited by digital con artists, criminals and other dishonest actors.

The FBI report, made public earlier this month, states that social-networking criminals are exploiting this capability for nefarious purposes, using two main tactics.

They include computer hackers who specialize in writing and manipulating computer code to gain access or install software on computers and phones. The second method involves hackers who specialize in exploiting personal connections through social networks.

Social hackers, sometimes referred to as social engineers, manipulate people through social interactions (in person, over the phone, or in writing), the report said.

Humans are a weak link in cybersecurity, and hackers and social manipulators know this. They try to trick people into getting past security walls. They design their actions to appear harmless and legitimate.

Social-networking sites such as Facebook and others are Internet-based services that are used to share information and communicate.

According to the FBI, the risk of using social-network sties is that once information is posted to a social-networking site, it is no longer private.

The more information you post, the more vulnerable you may become, states the report, posted on the National Counterintelligence Executive site. Even when using high-security settings, friends or websites may inadvertently leak your information.

Personal information obtained by hackers and criminals on social networks can be used to conduct attacks on people or organizations; and the more information that is shared, the more likely someone could impersonate you and trick one of your friends into sharing personal information, downloading malware, or providing access to restricted sites, the report said.

Foreign intelligence agencies, predators, hackers and business competitors are among those who use social-networking sites that can be targeted in attacks. The information may not be used to attack the social-networking site, but could be used in other attacks.

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Inside the Ring: FBI on social-network risks

Google may be moving too slowly in building up Google Apps' enterprise social networking (ESN) features, at a time when this type of software has become a key component in workplace collaboration suites.

On Wednesday, the company took another step in its effort to tailor its Google+ consumer social networking site into one that Apps customers can use to boost collaboration among their employees.

Although moves in that direction are welcome for the Apps email and collaboration suite, Google might do well to speed up the pace, since demand for ESN software has been growing robustly, a trend expected to intensify in coming years.

"We have to think about this as the art of the possible," said Forrester Research analyst Rob Koplowitz, referring to the development of Google+'s ESN capabilities.

ESN software provides Facebook- and Twitter-like functionality adapted for workplace use, including employee profiles, activity streams, microblogging, document sharing, content rating, blogging, discussion groups and online communities.

Spending on ESN products grew almost 40 percent last year to $767.4 million, and is expected to increase at a 42 percent compound rate through 2016, when it will reach almost $4.5 billion, according to IDC.

Microsoft recently paid $1.2 billion to acquire ESN vendor Yammer, a deal intended to boost enterprise social collaboration capabilities in SharePoint, Office, Dynamics and other Microsoft products.

IBM, VMware and Cisco have added ESN components to their broader enterprise collaboration suites, while Oracle and Salesforce.com have done the same to their broader enterprise application stacks. And there is a thriving ecosystem of pure-play ESN vendors like NewsGator, Jive Software and Telligent.

Although Apps was launched in 2006, Google only started working on an ESN component last year, when it made it possible for Apps administrators to offer Google+ to their end users as part of their suite.

This week, Google threw in an initial set of IT controls to let Apps administrators set companywide default restriction settings for Google+ posts and multiparty video conferencing via the Hangouts feature. These IT controls are available to customers using the Education, Government and Business editions of Apps.

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Google too slow with Apps enterprise social networking development