earticle

영어

The 21st century is characterised by the advent of Social Networking Sites, designed to enable social activities over the internet. Social Networking has changed the way people interact; messaging, chatting, photo sharing, reunion with old friends or colleagues, meeting new people living in different countries, etc, all at the touch of a button. Social Networks also make the formation of a group possible which is a site dedicated to a particular type of conversation or designed to allow communication among people with similar interest. To this regard, Social Networking Sites (SNS) dedicated to students emerged and was termed Educational Networking Site (ENS). The ENS provides a platform where students could interact among themselves and with lecturers. This work investigates E-Portsocial; the ENS of the Polytechnic of Namibia (now Namibia University of Science and Technology). The investigation is focused on the factors to consider if an educational institution would build an effective and successful ENS in terms of meeting the expectations of both the organisation and its users. The study also investigates how an Educational Network could be improved in terms of its set up, to ensure availability with minimal threat to security.