Followers of the Social Media Network and National Security

Abstract. With the social media networks development quickly， the followers of the social media network’s behaviors have taken a lot of damagers and threats to national security， and made the nation into unstable situations， even subverted the national sovereignty .This paper analyzes the characters of the followers of the social media in the Ira， Tunisia， Egypt and Libya's turmoil， concludes constructive suggestions how to ensure national stability and harmonious development， has some positive effect to our national security.

Key words： Social Media Networks； Followers； National Security

1.Definitions and Characteristics of Followers of Social Media Network

1.1 Definition of Social Media Network

There has been no accurate definition on social Media Network. Today， there are accurate definitions on SNS （Social Network Service） and internet media. In China， it is also called as Social Network Service. In social network service， different groups are composed by correlation dependences of one or multiple specific types of trends such as values， ideals， ideas， financial exchanges， friendship， blood relationship， liking and disliking [1]. At present， the social network service websites， which are commonly used by people， include Twitter， FaceBook， YouTube， and Flickr. Internet Media relies on the technologies and equipments that IT device developers provide for transferring， storing and processing audio and video signals.

1.2 Definition and Characteristics of Followers of Social Media Network

Followers of social media network can be defined as a group of people who make use of network functions for pursuing a certain and interacting with others event for a long time at network media network platforms， and also transform their behaviors from virtual network to a kind of behaviors in the real life. Generally speaking， followers of social media network own several characteristics as follows. First of all， they have a certain cultural quality. This is because it is necessary for these followers to own the basic ability in the internet surfing operation of network equipments such as computer and cell phones as long as they make use of network social media as platform. Second， followers of social media network have the conditions of controlling and following information. In terms of software， it is necessary for them to acquire limits of authority to access a certain social network service platform. In terms of hardware， it is necessary for them to have the devices allowing them access the Internet. Third， followers of social media network are always clinging for pursuing， following， forwarding or paying close attention to a specific issue in the Internet for a long time. The followers of social media network generally own the same cycle of activities or the same hobbies. Fourth， members of the followers of social media network are rather complicated and are distributed in a very wide range. Fifth， followers of social media network are easy to be manipulated because of complicated composition. At last， some followers of social media network are with special social identities actually.

2.Affects of Followers of Domestic and Foreign Social Media Network Services on the National Security

2.1 Current Situation of Followers of Social Media Network

At present， a great number of persons all over the world have generated social instabilities in many countries by relying on the social media network platforms and hence given rise to a series of extremely large affects on the securities of many countries. For example， Iran's Twitter Revolution， Tunisia's Jasmine Revolution， Egypt's FaceBook Revolution and currently unrest Libya Revolution have a very close relationship with the followers of social media network.

First， in Iran's Revolution， the official data from Twitter shows that the photos and links about the peace marches in Tehran （Iran's capital） as well as the reviews on the conflicts and casualties on the streets had changed into the most popular topics in the social media network platform [2]. Generally speaking， the followers of social media network feature paying special attention to an already-specific event for a very long time. In the mean time， a follower of social media network， named as mousavi1388， released the resistance and continuous fighting agitation articles written in English and Persian languages over the social media network platform， and the number of his followers has been higher than 50， 000 at the present time [3].

Second， in Tunisia's Revolution， because the followers of social media network platforms are proficient in operation network and also half of the national Internet users （3.6 million） are users of FaceBook website， the online radical movement of Tunisia could obtain echoes from people in the real world. Followers of social media network feature relying on each other in a social media network platform and also paying attention to an occurred event for a very long time.

Third， in Egypt's Revolution， the majorities of the followers of social media network platform are professionals such as lawyers and company white-collars who have been extremely proficient in network operation， and some of them are supposed to be website administrators， although there is a population of 80 million in Egypt： 60% of them are below 30 years old， and one third of them are illiterate. Therefore， most Egyptian people can’t make full use of network resources.

2.2 Affects of Followers of Social Media Network on National Security

Social media network platforms have brought about a series of affects on the securities of all countries currently. Social media network platforms are with a powerful political power. The specific behaviors that are implemented by the followers of social media network platforms such as FaceBook， Twitter and YouTube in the real societies have given rise to affects on the securities of all countries to some extent.

First， in Iran's Revolution， Twitter was used by the followers of social media network. Therefore， Twitter， after coming to realize its own political power， put off the original plan on closing service for one day with the maintenance of its system. At the same time， however， its followers were willing to mutually share the ways of escaping from the monitoring and control of government. The reason why Twitter is able to strongly go against supervisory systems is that it owns multiple ways such as cell phones， Web browser or special applications for the releasing of information.

Second， in Tunisia's Revolution， FaceBook was used by the followers of social media network for connecting with each other and implementing the behaviors which could impose threats on the national security in the real society. Under the unstable form of the security of Tunisia state， the government began to block the most important Tunisian news sites as well as FaceBook pages that were created by protesters， and arrested five blog writers at the same time. However， the Tunisian followers of social media network broke through the blockades and verifications through online proxy sites， encryption and VPN， and then continued to make use of social media network platforms to spread messages one after another.

Third， in Egypt's Revolution， the followers of social media network platforms were converted to the main force of the revolutionary demonstrators， and social media network websites FaceBook and Twitter are their most important tools of communication among them. Before this revolution， the government in Egypt has prohibited using Twitter and other network tools， and hence the followers of social media network in Egypt had been unable to log in Twitter normally. However， these followers of social media network platforms entered the relevant websites trough a proxy server and continued to transfer messages and organized protests through the social media network the platforms. All these have given rise to extremely great threats to the national security.

3.How to Effectively Control the Followers of Social Media Network for Guaranteeing National Stability

At present， the followers of social media network have exerted extremely great affects on the security stability of a country. For this reason， how to effectively carry out a control on the followers of social media network for guaranteeing the national stability has changed into one of the most important issues that all countries in the world are urgently faced up with.

3.1 Improving the Quality of the Followers of Social Media Network

First， it is necessary to get a control on the quality of the followers of social media network starting from their sources. Specifically， an improvement should be made to the network morals of the followers of social media network， and also these followers should be encouraged to adhere to network moral self-discipline and the principle of honesty and trustworthiness， abide by the network agreements and perform network responsibilities， make an enhancement to moral cultivation， and also take initiative to maintain the order of network [4]. Therefore， they can be promoted to have a positive effect on the securities of their countries. In the mean time， when the followers of social media network are making use of social media network platforms， it is necessary for them to own certain ability in making a selection， so that they can correctly tell the real information from the false information. At the same time， as followers of social media network， it is necessary for them to extensively release the real videos and images which are favorable for maintaining national unity and stability as well as a harmonious development through social media network platforms and blog sites. As a result， a right public opinion direction can be formed on the social media network platforms， and the followers of social media network can be promoted to develop towards the direction which can ensure the national security to develop healthily and stably.

3.2 Restricting the Followers of Social Media Network from the Legal Level

With the purpose of ensuring the stability and unity of the country and preventing followers of social media network from making behaviors imposing threats on the national security， it is suggested that a real-name management system can be implemented on those social media network platforms， and take full advantage of laws and regulations to standardize the behaviors of the followers of social media network.

On June 8， 2010， the information office of the State Council of China issued a white paper that was named as "Preventing the Transmission of Illegal Information in the Internet and Maintaining Citizen Rights and Interests and the National Security". The white paper pointed out that based on the characteristics of the Internet and starting from the actual needs of effectively managing the Internet， Chinese government claimed to prevent the harms of the illegal information to the national security， social public interests and juveniles by playing the prevention role of technical means in accordance with the relevant laws and regulations， with reference to international practices.

In the mean time， Decision of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress on Preserving Computer Network， People's Republic of China Telecommunication Act of Administration， Internet Information Service Management Method， Computer Information Network and Internet Security， Protection and Management Regulations and other Rules and Regulations have clearly pointed out that it is strictly prohibited to spread the information， which is oriented at overturning the national political power， breaking the national unity， damaging the national honors and interests， inciting ethnic hatred， undermining the national unity， promoting heresies and pornographies， violence and terror， and infringing the lawful rights and interests of other people， etc.

According to these laws and regulations， it is necessary for fundamental telecommunication business operators and Internet information service providers to establish a security management system for the Internet， take the technical measures， and also prevent all kinds of illegal information from spreading in the Internet [5].

3.3 Providing Guidance for the Followers of Social Media Network from the Technical Level

At present， tens of thousands of Chinese people have established a personal relationship with many sorts of international associations through all kinds of channels and forms， and simultaneously keep exchange and information communication with them through multiple languages.

Just like a famous traditional Chinese saying goes， birds of a feather flock together. Chinese people carry out external communication with their foreign associations through network public diplomacy and oral network news， but such a communication is much more spontaneous than the traditional external communication and also much easier to accept because it is constructed based on all kinds of social and psychological demands of people [6].

In addition， in the social media networks， they also have set up famous-person blogs， web pages， and Twitter with a certain public trust. Social media network service spreading news by relying on Chinese internet users to spread news to foreign countries will be more compatible and influential than the traditional media methods. The traditional external communication way of China always stood in the point of view of government and served for the interests of government， and therefore people often tended to call in questions about its authenticity.

Thus， it is necessary for the external communicators in the traditional sense to carry out communications with another different angle and standing point.

Also， it is necessary to pay attention to that the followers of social media networks carry out network propagandas with the henchmen status and standpoint of a social network service platform， but not in the form of a governmental spokesperson.

Therefore， it is highly necessary to create a correct public opinion direction， and otherwise the network propagandas will play an opposite role if they carry out network propagandas with governmental spokesperson and language， making the followers of social media networks sick.

Finally， only half the result is obtained although twice the effort has been made， and also a correct public opinion direction can't be formed. What is worse， it is easy to play an opposite part if some ulterior followers grasp causes and chances for gossips. Ultimately， it is not beneficial to the stability and development of the national security. In social media network platforms， the followers can be friends， relatives and friends， colleagues， and fellow students， and fellow villagers or townsmen， who have a close relationship with each other.

4. Conclusion

From above analysis， under the social media network platforms， it is necessary for Chinese governments to formulate the strategies and guidance for the followers of social media networks， actively take initiative to give direction to public opinion， allow the international society to recognize China better in social media networks.

Also， it is necessary to create the national image of China in social media networks and ensure the national security， and this is of important strategic significance for the harmonious， stable and unity development of China.

Fund Projects： This paper is supported by the National Social Science Foundation Project―Research on Network Association and the Stability and Development of Ethnic Minority Area in China's Borderland―Take Yunnan Area as an example （No. 09CZZ011 ）， and the Key Project of Educational Department of Yunnan Province―Research on the policemen working mode guided by intelligence （No. 2010Z089）.

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