Social Networking Essay Example for Free

Social Networking Essay In this report I will be outlining what Social Networking Sites are. A growing number of different Social Network Sites allows people to reunite and communicate without the limitations of distance or time. Enabling people to have regular interaction and keep up to date with the everyday life of others. So how do these sites work and why are they so popular? Associates may include close friends, family, distant relatives, old school friends, previous work colleagues or just shared interests. Whilst you will have frequent face to face contact with many of these people, others you will not. It is thought that our interactions with others, enhances our individual well-being. Due to the mainstream popularity of Social Network Sites where many people engage, they are a useful platform for both businesses and academic learning, with the creation of forum groups, they provide and extension of class discussion. Communication pages are a great benefit for schools and colleges to update information for parents and students. Not forgetting the functional applications, designed to support education. Many sites introduced games and other â€Å"applications† to entertain users and combat the flatness for new users during the early stages and those with a low number â€Å"friends†. Facebook has a large number of Applications available. Most sites contain common aspects, including a personal â€Å"profile† to allow the user to identify themselves, possibly with a photograph and a short description. They can then link to other people they know within the site to create a list of â€Å"friends†. Additional information may also be invited, such as age, location, hobbies and interests. ‘Their network of connections is displayed as an integral piece of their self-presentation’ (boyd et. al 2007). Some sites such as Twitter allows users to change the appearance of their profile page, this site is very popular with celebrities. As always, there are negative aspects to using online social network sites and the growing concerns surrounds the privacy methods in place. It is imperative that these sites are responsible with the control and use of data held for their users. Not only for the risk of data theft, but companies have been known to pass personal details on to third parties and used for unsolicited emails, also known as spamming. In addition to this, data mining software is repeatedly used to spy on regularly visited web pages and purchases to target the user to a more precise market. It is reported that many users have experienced cyber-bullying, which can have a major impact on personal health and well-being, causing anxiety and fear. Trolling is another increasing menace, where a user tries to impersonate another user, by setting up an account in another persons’ name using their pictures, intentionally causing upset by being offensive to others. Other risks include grooming, where sex pests try to build a trusting relationship online, with the aim to eventually meet. However, sites such as MySpace and Netlog are pro-active with the increasing number of sexual predators active on their site and often liaise with law enforcement to monitor and intercept such activities. Therefore, it is clear why many people prefer to completely avoid them. Launched in 1997, SixDegrees was the first Social Network Site. It had the same characteristics that we see today. Despite having millions of users, it did not develop into a worthwhile business. SixDegrees closed in 2000. The site creator deemed the site was ahead of it’s time. Today the top most popular Social Network Sites are: Facebook and Twitter. Strong contenders include MySpace, and LinkedIn. To summarise, I would describe Social Network Sites to be speed socialising, as we all have busy lives and may find it hard to make time for our close friends and family. This method enables people to socialise with a wider circle of friends you wouldn’t necessarily have time to socialise with. It is important to be aware of the personal details we are supplying about ourselves and the consequences it could have, it may seem obvious but it is essential that people should only share information that you are happy for others to know. But, if used with both common sense and caution the sites can be very positive and gratifying. [Word Count: 700] References DirectGov, 2012. Social Networking Service [online] Available at: http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Parents/Yourchildshealthandsafety/Internetsafety/DG_182627 [Accessed 13 April 2012] Boyd, d. m. and Ellison, N. B. (2007) ‘Social network sites: definition, history, and scholarship’, in Donelan, H., Kear, K. and Ramage, M. (eds) Online Communication and Collaboration: A Reader, Abingdon, Routledge, pp. 261–281.