Social+networking+websites

toc =Social Networking Websites=

Social networking websites have become extremely popular on the internet over the last decade. There are now over 90 social networks available on the internet targeting many different audiences and ranging from under a thousand users to over one hundred million users. Most of these are open for anyone to join, but some are private (invite only). Social networks are not always used for fun either, they are also used by businesses and organizations to share contact networks between other individuals or companies. These websites are a huge and sometimes addictive part of the internet, connecting millions of individuals or organizations everyday. Social networking on the internet has enabled many people to acquire attention that they would not otherwise have access to. Services like MySpace.com have given users the ability to essentially market themselves based on their user profiles.

**Social Networking: A Definition**
A network can be defined as a structure or system of interconnected nodes, all linked together. Social networking, therefore, consists of communicating between many different individuals or organizations over a large system, or network, which connects them all. Social networks are usually made up of individuals with a common social feature or familiarity. Some are very loose (allowing just about anyone to join) and others are very tight (must have a close bond or similarity to join). As we are a social species, these networks have existed for centuries and have played a critical role in society. The emergence of online social networks has created a new medium which allows social networks to operate much easier between many more people, no matter where they live.

**Social Networking Websites: Different Types and How They Work**
There are many different types of social networking websites, each with different focuses and different membership rules. Some are simple casual networking services, allowing anyone to join and connect with anyone else. Dating services are designed to help “match” you up with someone of the opposite sex (or same sex, if you prefer), based on your statistics and preferences. Other websites group you with individuals whom share a common feature, such as Facebook. Then there are websites that have a specific focus or target a specific group, like car enthusiasts for example.

Typically, social networking websites allow you to create a profile containing a picture and certain details about you. Your profile can be viewed by either everyone, or only a specific group of people. There is also an internal email, message board, and/or forum system which you can use to communicate with either a specific person, or a group of people.

**The “First” Social Networking Website**
Classmates.com is known as the first social networking website. Created in 1995, Classmates.com is an open networking service which helps connect you with friends and acquaintances from school, from kindergarten to college/university, and even from work. It is free for anyone to join and now has over 40 million members throughout North America.

Other social networking websites soon followed, such as SixDegrees.com and Epinions. In 2001, the concept of having a “circle of friends” was introduced, and networks containing this started appearing.

**Facebook**
Perhaps one of the most popular networking websites today, Facebook groups you with individuals within the same network of friends, usually within your high school and/or college/university. You are restricted to viewing only users within your network of friends, or confirmed friends. Users can upload photos and exchange messages (either public or private). Facebook is a fundamentally different sort of social networking site. Originally it was created by Mark Zuckerberg a Harvard University student who initially intended it to be a place to look up students as the various colleges on campus did not exchange their "face books". The popularity of facebook exploded at such an expontential rate that many colleges on the eastern seaboard quickly joined and has since spread throughout North America and the across the globe. Facebook was also originally a much more secure network than myspace.com as users had to have a valid school email address to register. The focus of Facebook was not online dating or a place to meet singles, it was totted as a site to socialize with school friends on a primarily platonic level. Users joined networks based on their University or Colleges which made the site much more secure. The current changes to facebook have brought in an onslaught of users who were originally not permitted to join the site. Users around the globe are no longer required to possess a school email and rather can now join using any email extension. Facebook is now open to a whole host of new privacy concerns as networks which were previously based on campus affiliations not include regional networks that are open to anyone with an internet connection. What many users do not realize that unless they adjust their privacy settings under the MyPrivacy all of the information that they post is available to users on their network, including faculty and staff at their academic institution. This is potentially an enormous concern for students, especially those living on campus who are subject to the rules of their governing academic institution. Students in the States, so far have found themselves liable for what they post on Facebook, pictures of themselves or others drinking under age, using drugs or even creating groups against faculty and staff.

The New Yorker. "The Facebook Generation" May 7, 2006. http://www.newyorker.com/printables/press/060515pr_press_releases

**MySpace**
MySpace is another extremely popular social networking website. Users have a profile where they can post pictures, videos, audio, and comments. They also have a list of friends which they can exchange messages with. MySpace.com gives users the ability to market themselves in ways that would not otherwise be available to them. It allows them to create a producerly text of themselves giving others access into their lives, recording the number of hits made to their page. It has allowed "average" people to acquire celebrity status, and also "has been" actors to revamp their image and recapture a certain sense of popularity. A young asian woman has created an alias for herself as "Tila Tequila" and rapidly became the most popular profile visited by myspace users. Tila was able to market her image through a medium which may or may not have intended such possibilities. The outcome of it for her has been absolutely enormous. She has launched a clothing line, a music career, gathered an enormous fan base and has become a celebrity, appearing on television and talk shows. Tila has become a cultural phenomenon as the entire world has been given access to her profile if they have a computer and the internet. Tila's sex kitten image has been able to reach the homes of millions as the access to myspace is unbiased, giving everyone who wants to use the site the access to do so. It was created in entirely different way to facebook, which initially required users to be students. Myspace allows users to create their own personal space, as apposed to facebook which maintains uniform profiles for users who upload photos and information into a pre-set formulaic layout. With myspace the fundamental difference is that users can write their own page as their desire it, create layouts and backgrounds different from anyone else, post pictures, movie clips and music that is their own or someone elses. The site incorporates many different mediums to allow users to individualize themselves in ways that other social networking sites do not. Users around the globe are able to log on and view any information that a user posts. Essentially the world is at the finger tips of the viewers, as we have seen with Tila Tequila, if you are able to capture enough attention in a dynamic way, you don't have to leave your house to attract attention, you can become an instant celebrity online.

DesiPlanet
DesiPlanet is also a social networking website that is popular among the South Asian community. It allows the users to create a profile and list their interests, along with photos, and journals. It is considered as the best virtual cafe to get to know other South Asians and offers picture albums, messaging, chat, message boards, information on the events and much more. Users can also create a list of friends, give comments to others, or even make groups. In addition, the fact that this network is South Asian based, users feel its easier to find better matches because they are mingling with others from the same or similar community.

CraigsList
Craigslist is a popular classifieds site created by Craig Newmark. It started out from the San Francisco Bay area in March of 1995 and has now spread around the world. Today almost every major city in the world has a CraigsList page. People are able to make posts that range from selling used cars, computers, antqiues etc to posting personal ads looking for friends, spouses or casual sex partners to searching for volunteer opportunities, apartments or jobs. CraigsList provides people with very limited web application skills to participate in the online community. It doesnt take a lot of work to make a post and replying is as easy as sending an email. Although you do not need to be a computer-wiz, many web savvy people find a use for it.

=References= Wikipedia. "Social network". http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_network Wikipedia. "MySpace". http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MySpace Wikipedia. "Facebook". http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facebook Wikipedia. "Classmates.com" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classmates.com "CraigsList". [|What is CraigsList]

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