![Sample our Computer Science journals, sign in here to start your access, latest two full volumes FREE to you for 14 days]({"type":"image" , "src" : "/sda/5928/TOC-Subject-Sample-2021-Computer-Science.jpg"})
Abstract
More than 2 billion people are using the Internet at present, assisted by the mediating activities of software agents that deal with the diversity and complexity of information. There are, however, ethical issues due to the monitoring-and-surveillance, data-mining, and autonomous nature of software agents. Considering the context, this study aims to comprehend stakeholders’ perspectives on the social network service environment to identify the main considerations for the design of software agents in social network services in the near future. Twenty-one stakeholders, belonging to 3 key stakeholder groups, were recruited using a purposive sampling strategy for unstandardized semistructured e-mail interviews. The interview data were analyzed using a qualitative content analysis method. It was possible to identify 3 main considerations for the design of software agents in social network services, which were classified into the following categories: comprehensive understanding of users’ perception of privacy, user type recognition algorithms for software agent development, and existing software agents enhancement.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Hojung Kim
Hojung Kim is a Ph.D. student at the School of Engineering and Design. His research focuses on the role, impact, and ethical issues of software agents in social network services to suggest possible benefits of the software agents through identifying users’ behavior, usage patterns, needs, and perception of privacy.
Joseph Giacomin
Joseph Giacomin is a Professor and Director of the Human Centred Design Institute, lecturing in Human Factors and specializing in Human-Centered Design, Perception Enhancement, and Energy Sixth Sense.
Robert Macredie
Robert Macredie is a Professor of Interactive Systems at the School of Information Systems, Computing and Mathematics. His research interests include human–computer interaction, information systems, and virtual environments.