Keywords

1 Introduction

Due to the evolution of Online Social Networks (OSNs), a new feature emerges to increase the information exchange in this kind of system. Nowadays OSNs users can publish texts, photos and videos on their profiles, create links, chat by direct messages, manage their relationships, find content and other users who share common interests. Concerning that activities happen in a space with abundant information and where people are responsible for their own publications, it is possible to imagine scenarios where problems may occur due to misunderstandings.

Users frequently believe that all information published on social networks is reliable [1]. This harmful behavior contributes to misinformation spreading, lack of concernment with content evaluation and, in extreme circumstances, users distorting stories believing that opinions without alignment with their point of view are wrong or inaccurate. In most cases, users do not care about evaluating information before reading or discussing about it. Sometimes they think checking information is not important, but most of times they do not do it because OSNs do not have elements to help users with information analysis. An example of fake information listed among the most frequent ones in the social network Facebook [2] is that it owns the copyrights of content published by users. In this hoax, users are encouraged to post on their walls a text explaining that they do not allow FacebookFootnote 1 to use their publication contents. Information regarding copyrights in social networks that easily clarify this subject can be found at the privacy policy section, but users do not check this section believing the hoax and ending up reinforcing the misinformation chain.

This paper is based on an explanatory research and is presented as follows: the concept of auditability used as reference in this article, the relationship between this concept and other works that apply HCI practices are showed in Sect. 2. A catalog that organizes characteristics and operationalizations for OSNs in order to enable the auditability of information in these systems using influences of the HCI topics is presented in Sect. 3. A guide that can help developers to implement the catalog operationalizations and characteristics described in Sect. 3, followed by some examples of these implementations is available in Sect. 4. In Sect. 5 we present the conclusion of this article and suggestions of future works that can explore the discussed issues.

2 Auditability and HCI Related Issues

An auditable system allows better management of content when information can be discovered and evaluated by a monitoring process [3]. With this idea there are many efforts to evaluate information in all kinds of system, but on dynamic systems such OSNs, information auditability is a task that may consider variables related to the environment, development and the system users. Unlike traditional system audit actions that are performed after the identification of disruptions in data integrity, the definition of auditability enhances the claim of a social network with the capacity of constant audit of information by users and the easy implementation of features that support audits.

The definition of auditability that guides this paper is the capacity of OSNs systems to promote the audit aspects of information exchanged and disseminated on their core, especially the aspects derived and aligned with the definition of auditability described in the catalog of information transparency [4]. Once the concept of auditability of information is considered a quality requirement of software it’s necessary to analyze the use of HCI foundations in this topic, especially those related with usability and which encourage users satisfaction, improving their experience of use and information understanding.

2.1 Working on Improvements of OSNs Elements

Some researchers studied the design of elements presented in OSNs and the user behavior during the use of these tools. It’s possible to observe that misunderstanding or mistakes committed by users during the use of an element may result in the spread of unreliable information. In some cases, the system element can be manipulated to confuse the user. Given these possibilities, the developer should be prepared to build features that minimize or do not allow the incorrect system usage and dissemination of information created under this circumstances.

According to Lipford et al. [5], the difficulty that users face to set up their data and privacy settings within social ends up compromising the information exchanges. The research report shows mechanisms made to allow information sharing are purpose fully formulated to explore the users anxiety with the content flow. Those kinds of mechanisms and features do not follow HCI best practices. In these studies, the concern is that elements designed to raise security and privacy for users of social networks do not interact with other parts of the system. Some examples related to the user behavior using dubious elements and settings in Facebook are posts with information having public access when the user wanted to publish only for a group of friends and wrong system language and time zone setup compromising the understanding of displayed information. Despite the focus on improving the implementation of elements responsible for user settings, the research [5] do not worry about other elements in the social network that deal with content spreaded by users.

The research of Medeiros and Cybis [6] sets users satisfaction assessment activity regarding interfaces built from the use of various International Organization for Standardization (ISO) guidelines regarding user experience. This activity consists of a questionnaire designed to be applied, identify the users satisfaction with usability factors of a given system and associate it with international standards like ISO 9241 [7]. Although the questionnaire was not made for evaluation of user experience on social networks, it served as guidance during the elicitation of characteristics that combines usability and information auditability in the work presented on this paper. The HCI literature is rich of works related to usability of systems and user experience, but it has a lack of associations between the false or unreliable information generation and the difficulty that some users have to deal with the interfaces used to generate the information.

Brown et al. [8] analyzed the content manipulation in OSNs relying on social aspects of information presentation mixed with negligence of users during the system usage. The characteristics of OSNs are widely exploited by individuals interested in all kinds of information distortion. Users can be tricked by a friend request from a suspicious profile, without basic information details or click on a malicious link in a message sent internally by the system messaging service. The approach of this work classifies the types of attacks that may occur and the interface elements that allow information manipulation. An example of this subject is the spreading of users status updates with URLs containing headlines that use sensationalist content or manipulated metadata tags of web pages to attract the user access also known as clickbaits. The HCI concepts cited by the works above and their relation with OSNs elements allowed the choice of characteristics of the catalog of auditability that counts on the importance of user experience and also the implementation of features by system developer.

3 Projecting a Catalog of Information Auditability in Social Networks

To implement auditability characteristics in a social network interface, a catalog of information auditability in social networks was first created [9] and after improved, according to the settings and notations of the NFR Framework [10] and it is composed of features that contribute to achieve information audit capacity for OSNs. This catalog is based on the foundations of an information transparency catalog. A bundle of knowledge represented as a catalog supports the developer with topics constantly highlighted when the influence and contribution of HCI to the process of development of systems is discussed and the mechanisms and operationalization of the catalog considers it, since all user interaction in OSNs is made through their interface elements. The Table 1 shows the catalog with characteristics that must be implemented in a social network to support auditability of information.

Table 1. Catalog characteristics and definitions
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3.1 Operationalizations and Mechanisms to Support Auditability

The main actions for the project of a catalog to provide information auditability in social networks were identifying the characteristics that could be applied to improve auditability in OSNs and the next step is to define and explain operationalizations and implementation mechanisms of each characteristic. Although the Table 1 contains 11 characteristics, in this work are addressed the mechanisms and operationalizations those related to spread of misinformation caused by lack of usability in the system or those require the attention of developers about unexpected user behavior. The characteristics chosen as example are: clarity, uniformity and verifiability.

Clarity is one of the key features to ensure a good experience to the user during the use of a system. An approach related to this feature is the capacity of reading graphics elements on a website [11]. The clarity in the system design allows the user to be guided during the system usage, navigation and interaction with the elements in an objective way. On repetitive tasks involving some activity, the clarity characteristic should be applied, indicating the users actions and where they are on the system [7]. Prioritize clarity, simplicity and assessing which elements should be considered in the interface over those one that may disrupt or incorrectly display information to the user [12]. Clarity enables “understanding without training”. The human being has a visual system suitable for recognition of elements. When a design element is displayed with clarity the users perception is easier and helps in understanding the whole system [13]. This feature is aligned with clear and objective presentation of images and texts for a variety of purposes like better navigation on pages and menus. The use of a communication language without technical details on the system is also aligned with characteristic of clarity.

Uniformity contributes with the understanding of the meaning of a system by the user, keeping it focused on tasks and preventing distractions to the ambiguities of the application. Uniformity is based on ensure that users do not allocate all their cognitive ability in other marginal aspects of the content of the system. Elements such as visual hierarchy, proportion, alignment and typography appear as important parts of uniformity in a project of a system based in web pages [14]. The formation of a mental model for navigation enables the extraction of information quickly and concisely by the users [15]. The uniformity in design enhances the feeling of efficiency in the use of a system and impacts in sense of control of the people over information [16]. A uniform system has a consistent distribution of elements following layout schemes and enables the user to find similar information in the same position on different sections. The mechanisms of uniformity implementation are aligned with the provision of icons used to navigate in the system, elements with important information and standardization of names.

Verifiability provides details about the system elements that promote the information audit. Interface elements with auditable purpose should be properly identified to the users [17]. The verified users are an example of feature that reinforces auditability concepts. A verified user is recognized by the system authority due his qualities like reputation or because this user is a public personality. Some elements related to navigation security are also indicators of verifiability. For example, a post that contains a secure URL using HTTPS protocol can display the lock icon next to the link, using the same meaning of this icon in web browsers and showing to the users that it is safe to access the published link. This kind of element is important to help the users to judge the legitimacy of the URL and consequently the reliability of information that comes together with this link [18]. The mechanisms of implementation of verifiability will highlight and explain the elements that help with audit of information.

4 A Guide to Implement the Catalog of Information Auditability in Social Networks

After the catalog presented in the Sect. 3, the second tool that composes the solution is a Developer Guide. The guide provides options of system features that once implemented can promote credibility and avoid misinformation in OSNs. The features are based in the catalog of information auditability for social networks and described along with their operationalizations and implementation suggestions, duly adjusted to the context of social networks. It’s important to remember that the examples of implementation mechanisms are suggested based in the Facebook, emulating a social network with the same characteristics, but as the system that needs elements with capacity of auditability of information enabled. Examples of implementation of suggested operationalizations mentioned on item 3.1 are presented next, with one or more description of problems that affect OSNs and the orientation for developers to use the guide.

The use of the guide begins at the start of development or in the maintenance phase of a social network. On this moment one or more developers should analyze the system elements looking forward to improve the information auditability. With the guidance, the developers must exercise their capacity of abstraction, analyzing problems related to the auditability information on their systems that already exists or may exist in certain time.

The next step predicts that the developer made a review of the operationalizations proposals listed in the guide. If the developer verifies the absence of an operationalization on his system but the operationalization is present in the guide, the suggested implementations should be evaluated. Stated the unapplied operationalizations, the developer will need to check the suggestions of mechanisms of implementation for it in the guide and if these implementations can be applied to solve some problem or lack of information auditability. If this flow is positively followed, the developer will ensure the auditability capabilities for his social network. If the developer identifies an operationalization or implementation not listed in the guide further research should be made to verify the need to include these items.

4.1 Examples of Characteristics and Operationalizations with Respective Implementations Mechanisms

The guide contains, for each characteristic, an operationalization, an example of a problem to be solved and the suggested implementations to solve or minimize the problem. This information is represented in Tables 2, 3 and 4 for clarity, uniformity and verifiability respectively. The guide also contains one or more images for each possible implementation (Figs. 1, 2 and 3), using the social network Facebook as example.

Table 2. An example of Clarity characteristic in the guide
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Table 3. An example of Uniformity characteristic in the guide
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Table 4. An example of Verifiability characteristic in the guide
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Fig. 1.
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An image as example for Clarity characteristic implementation

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Fig. 2.
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An image as example for Uniformity characteristic implementation

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Fig. 3.
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An image as example for Verifiability characteristic implementation

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5 Conclusion

The solutions presented on this paper can contribute to the refinement and quality of the information spread in social networks through the adoption of mechanisms targeting the evaluation of content. Since OSNs have become a source of information, the users should evaluate the content they access before share it or take it as trustful. Another goal is reinforcing the idea that the developer should be concerned about the development of systems with usability and auditability of information for users enabled. The actions that promote the development of tools focused in auditability are aligned with issues of critical design in HCI [19], since the developer needs to analyze the impacts that his software may cause in various aspects (like cultural or ethical) due to the emerging possibilities of design. During the system development, the developer should be prepared to estimate the behavior of users and their understanding of computerized communication technologies with critical skills of seeking, choosing and evaluating information in different contexts [20].

The adoption of the catalog of Information Auditability in Social Networks and the guide, suggests implementations in new OSNs in or for review systems already exist. The challenge in OSNs development, even after the use of guide suggestions presented in this paper is the users cognitive ability, their informational literacy and ability to interpret the spread content and adherence to auditability features.

The future works about the theme addressed in this paper include guide evaluation for refinement and creation of new operationalizations and mechanisms of implementation for auditability. In social networks like Facebook, it’s possible to create third-party tools such as plugins that connect the system through their APIs providing missing information auditability options.

Some concepts of semiotics engineering like communicability, which deals with qualification of the communication between the system designer (developer) and users, it also can be used for improvement of the guide in an attempt to reduce the communication problems of the stakeholders in the development process.

The ubiquity of OSNs increases the challenge of evaluating information credibility because only changing the device used for browse the social network means that new requirements should be considered by the developer about the user experience. Therefore, studying the limits of auditability in different devices is also recommended.