Posts Tagged ‘Online social networking’

Social Networking 1

// January 10th, 2010 // 3 Comments » // Internet

I’ve recently had to do a big paper on social networking sites and society, focusing on net neutrality. Interesting stuff, I’ll post it up every now and then in sections. Here’s the intro:

socialmobile

More recently, our society has been struck by a social revolution that has taken almost every aspect of life to a new level.  The way we communicate, find friends, find soul mates, find jobs, has all been transformed, thanks to the Internet and social networking sites. However, the Internet is not yet as accessible around the world. In North America, there are over 230 million Internet users, while in Africa there are less than 30 million Internet users. The Internet began to rise in activity during the early 1990’s and exponentially rose each year thereafter.  It still is! It completely changed how the average person communicates and how they deals with commerce. Small blogs and companies rely heavily on the Internet. Furthermore, bandwidth (traffic) limits are being lowered because these social networking sites are attractive to almost any age group. They simplify our lives, but as with most technology; advantages come with disadvantages. Never before have internet service providers struggled to provide fast, reliable internet access to everyone.

Addicted to the Innertubes?

// November 23rd, 2009 // 1 Comment » // Internet, Life

smbandwagonI’m doing a research paper right now, and I think like everyone, I keep multi tasking.  Switching music, watching youtube, checking facebook, playing a mini game here and there. However I found some information that was striking.

The first U.S. residential treatment center for Internet addiction opened this summer in Washington state.

The Internet has simplified our lives in numerous ways while allowing us to what we want, fast. It has also allowed us to reconnect with old friends, neighbors, co-workers and family through social networking sites such as Facebook. By communicating to others, regardless that is is done through the Internet, we are strengthening our relationships. Social networking along with social media has revolutionized how we live in society today. Social networking sites bring people with common interests together, offer exposure to new ideas from around the world, and are able overcome social anxiety. People who have a difficulty communicating in person are more comfortable interacting via the Internet. And not always are the most sociable people in real life are the most active online. Also, social networking sites allow for creative expression in a new modern way. They provide free messaging, blogging, photo storage, games, event invitations, and many other services to anybody, fast. Social networking sites had a huge impact with the 2008 U.S. Presidential Election and how the Iranian protesters used twitter to organize anti-government protests recently. I personally think the positive things that come from Social Networking and media outweigh the problems, and critics need to understand that it’s time for an information and social revolution.

However, pretty much like everything else in life: Advantages come with disadvantages. Social networking sites make give someone a false sense of security. Are your friends really your friends?  This leads to identity online. Social networking sites have no way to verify that people are who they claim to be, leaving people vulnerable to messages from online predators who are able to hide their true identities. Also, the hours a day of face-to-face socializing has declined as the use of social networking sites and other media has increased. Being anonymous online is so easy, even for sex offenders and criminals. Cybercriminals can gather information to be used for identity theft from social networking profiles, such as birthdays, pet names, mothers’ maiden names, names of children, and other details often used in passwords and security questions for bank accounts or to other important websites.

The bottom question I think is: Were these social networking sites created to make money or to ease people’s social lives?

If you’re curious take the net addiction test.