Social networking
A social
networking service is an online
service, platform, or site that focuses on facilitating the building
of social
networks or social relations among people who, for example,
share interests, activities, backgrounds, or real-life connections. A social
network service consists of a representation of each user (often a profile),
his/her social links, and a variety of additional services. Most social network
services are web-based
and provide means for users to interact over the Internet,
such as e-mail
and instant messaging. Social networking sites
allow users to share ideas, activities, events, and interests within their
individual networks.
The main types of
social networking services are those that contain category places (such as
former school year or classmates), means to connect with friends (usually with
self-description pages), and a recommendation system linked to trust. Facebook,
Google+,
tumblr
and Twitter
widely used worldwide. A 2011 survey found that 47% of American adults use a
social networking service.
History of Social
Networking
Efforts to support
social networks via computer-mediated communication were made in many early
online services, including Usenet, ARPANET, LISTSERV, and bulletin board services (BBS). Many prototypical features of social
networking sites were also present in online services such as America
Online, Prodigy, CompuServe,
ChatNet, and The WELL.
Early social networking on the World Wide
Web began in the form of generalized online communities such as Theglobe.com
(1995), Geocities
(1994) and Tripod.com
(1995).
This newer
generation of social networking sites began to flourish with the emergence of SixDegrees.com
in 1997, followed by Makeoutclub in 2000, Hub Culture
and Friendster
in 2002, and soon became part of the Internet mainstream. Friendster was
followed by MySpace
and LinkedIn
a year later, and eventually Bebo. Attesting to the rapid increase in social networking
sites' popularity, by 2005, it was reported that MySpace
was getting more page views than Google. Facebook, launched in 2004, became the largest social
networking site in the world in early 2009.
Social interaction
More and more
relationships and friendships are being formed online and then carried to an
offline setting. Psychologist and University of Hamburg professor Erich H.
Witte says that relationships which start online are much more likely to
succeed. Witte has said that in less than 10 years, online dating will be the
predominant way for people to start a relationship. One online dating site
claims that 2% of all marriages begin at its site, the equivalent of 236
marriages a day. Other sites claim 1 in 5 relationships begin online. Most
sites are free instead of being paid based which allows younger people with
stricter budgets to enjoy some of the same features as those of adults who are
more likely to be able to afford pay based sites.
Privacy concerns with social networking services have been raised growing concerns amongst users on the dangers of giving out too much personal information. In addition, there is a perceived privacy threat in relation to placing too much personal information in the hands of large corporations or governmental bodies, allowing a profile to be produced on an individual's behavior on which decisions, detrimental to an individual, may be taken.
Furthermore, there is an issue over the control of data—information that was altered or removed by the user may in fact be retained and/or passed to third parties. This danger was highlighted when the controversial social networking site Quechup harvested e-mail addresses from users' e-mail accounts for use in a spamming operation.
Cyber-bullying
is a relatively common occurrence and it can often result in emotional trauma
for the victim. Depending on the networking outlet, up to 39% of users admit to
being “cyber-bullied”.
As social
networking sites have risen in popularity over the past years, people have been
spending an excessive amount of time on the Internet in general and social
networking sites in specific. This has led researchers to debate the establishment
of Internet addiction as an actual clinical disorder. Social networking can
foster feelings of sensitivity to disconnection, which can lead to loneliness.
According to ComScore,
up to end of November 2011:
Social impacts
Web-based social networking services make it possible to connect people
who share interests and activities across political, economic, and geographic
borders. Facebook
and other social networking tools are increasingly the object of scholarly
research. Scholars in many fields have begun to investigate the impact of
social-networking sites, investigating how such sites may play into issues of
identity, privacy,
social
capital, youth culture, and education.
An article about a harmful effect of facebook:
http://mashable.com/2013/02/01/facebook-mental-health/
An article about the some changes facebook has made: http://mashable.com/2012/06/25/facebook-email-address/
An article about the success of facebook as a social networking site: http://mashable.com/2012/06/11/international-social-networks/
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