Social+Networking

By Ellis Field

**__The Influence of Technology__** Social interactions and the formation of social networking through personal connections with others has been around since the beginning of humankind. It is very easy to do in person. Simply gather a group of friends who all like pizza and then allow anyone else who enjoys the food too join. Then, discuss it. T hings such as book clubs and sporting events can be classified as social networks. A group of people who are brought together to share in similar  hobbies or interests or to talk about various concerns are social networks. But with the invention of the computer, social networking is now at a higher level. People now communicate virtually through blogs, chats, and the posting of information. The intimate  connections are no longer because of body language and face-to-face communication, but rather through motherboards and wires. Friends are made because of pictures, and relationships are created because of "compatibility" in likes and dislikes.

__**Not A Member? Sign Up**__ Social networking is set up to allow any person on the Internet to find any other person, business, or group. Many sites are free and claim they always will be. Looking for a job?Just join Monster, which is set up to enable one's resume and information to be sent to businesses looking for employees. Trying to connect with old friends from high school? Facebook or Myspace are great one-stop-shops that readily share names and non-private information of all their users. There are about 4 thousand social networking sites available to Internet users.

media type="youtube" key="UMkZUzjcOzo" width="381" height="315" align="center"

After only three years of free public life, the famous Facebook had over 150 million users and the number continuously grew. Now, at over 500 million members, Facebook is the most used online social network across age groups in history. Its founding, which inspired a 2010 movie, was devised by the Harvard college student, Mark Zuckerberg. Zuckerberg created the site from an idea to connect the students specifically at Harvard to form a sense of community and creates an online support system. After seeing the great amount of use from Harvard students within the first couple days of activation in 2004, the site was expanded to other universities, and it eventually went public a mere year later as an official company. The site is helpful in many ways. People of all ages, races, and nationalities connect with their friends for school projects, social events, gossip, and to simply catch up on the network.
 * __A Closer Look: 500+ million__**

People are so attuned to the site that more than 200 mobile operators in 60 countries are putting social network or Facebook buttons directly on phone keyboards for easy access by customers. [|F into Facebook - The instant share button]. Zuckerberg has rightfully become the youngest billionaire in the world, and the site grows everyday. The site boasts over 900 million pages, groups, events, and community pages with which people can interact, and an average user is connected to 80 of them. An average user creates 90 pieces of content each month, and, in total, there are over 300 billion content pieces, including web links, news stories, and photo albums, shared by all users each month. Over 70 different languages are available on the site because of the immense world-wide use. In fact, about 70% of Facebook members are from countries other than the United States. These numbers come as no shock when considering the 700 billion minutes of accumulated activity on Facebook per month.

Since 2010, when social network icons appeared on countless websites that linked the website to a network group, more than 2.5 million sites have combined with Facebook, including sites from comScore's U.S. Top 100 and comScore's Global Top 100 websites. The connection to the social networks through third party websites aids the networks in their quest for users; every month more than 250 million people engage with Facebook on external websites ("Statistics").

**__Worldwide Connection__** Social networking plays a critical role in world affairs, too. The easy ways to update what is occurring in all parts of the global spectrum is fast; all it takes is typing a few words and clicking a button in many cases. The quick communication between people all over the world aids not only businesses with nationwide and global customers, but also the political personnel who need to share information.

In early 2011, the already battered Arab world was further shocked as the Egyptian people moved to overthrow their president, Hosni Mubarak. Citizens in the African country began to use social networks to share their ideas and have discussions on how to deal with the rising conflict. The turmoil became so widespread that the government had to cut off the Internet from the Egyptian people in hopes that the influence of both known and anonymous network posts would stop being effective. Little did Mubarak know, but the anxious profiles outbursts online were just a gateway to allow the Egyptian people to become more comfortable with the incentive to take action. [|The Face of Egypt's Social Networking Revolution]. Mubarak stepped down from office on February 11, 2011.

**__Friend Request Denied__** Social networking is not always positive. New studies have shown that there are increased dangers in social networking. Most people understand some of the risks involved with joining a social network, but online scams are the least of researchers' worries. "When Keri McMullen and Kurt Pendleton of Indiana left a status update on Facebook about their whereabouts one night in May, their home was looted. Luckily, this technology caught the entire episode on tape. Later, McMullen recognized one of the suspects as a man who had reconnected with her on the social networking site some months before" ("Crazy Social Networking Stories"). Along with robbery, there have been cases of stalking and rape because of connection through social networking sites where personal information is available for everyone to see. For celebrities, the problems with social networking are worse, because they have fans and paparazzi who follow their every move. Social networks are also beginning to pull at the threads of self-esteem too. Recently, with the onslaught of Internet activity, cyber-bullying has become a big issue, especially among high school students, and social networks are making this immoral act much easier and much quicker. The rate of teen depression is at one of its all time highest levels, and this coincides with the teen suicide rate. Many facilities are researching the links between depression level and suicide rates with the Internet and cyber-bullying.

Social networking is also now being studied in its link to the exponential [|divorce rate increase]. The divorce rate in the United States is now at 50% and rising.

Do social networking problems extend beyond the individual realm? What affect will online social networking have on future generations?
 * __Comment__**





**__Works Cited__**"Crazy Social Networking Stories." MSN. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Feb. 2011.  Crazy-Social-Networking-Stories.aspx?cp-documentid=25905739&imageindex=4&cp-searc htext=Keri%20McMullen%20Kurt%20Pendleton%20Facebook&FORM=MSNIIT>. <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; text-align: center; white-space: nowrap;"> Cyberbullying Research Center. N.p., 2010. Web. 27 Feb. 2011. <http://www.cyberbullying.us/>. <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; text-align: center; white-space: nowrap;"> "The Face of Egypt's Social Networking Revolution." CBS. N.p., 12 Feb. 2011. Web. 22 Feb. 2011. <http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/02/12/ eveningnews/main20031662.shtml>. <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; text-align: center; white-space: nowrap;"> "Friend or Foe? Social Networking Has Hidden Dangers for Today’s Players." HeraldScottland.N.p., 11 Feb. 2011. Web. 27 Feb. 2011. <http://www.heraldscotland.com/sport/more-scottish-football/ friend-or-foe-social-networking-has-hidden-dangers-for-today-s-players-1.1084562>. <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; text-align: center; white-space: nowrap;"> "How to Keep in Contact." New Venture Championship Blog. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Feb. 2011. <http://oregonnvc.wordpress.com/2010/02/23/ how-to-keep-in-contact/>. <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal; text-align: center; white-space: nowrap;"> "HTC Puts F into Facebooking." Emirates 24/7. N.p., 16 Feb. 2011. Web. 27 Feb. <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal; text-align: center; white-space: nowrap;"> 2011. <http://www.emirates247.com/videos/ <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal; text-align: center; white-space: nowrap;"> htc-puts-the-f-into-facebooking-2011-02-16-1.357093>. <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal; text-align: center; white-space: nowrap;"> Keefe, Mike. "The Evolution of Communication." GreyReview.com. N.p., 27 Mar. <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal; text-align: center; white-space: nowrap;"> 2009. Web. 27 Feb. 2011. <http://zhiq.posterous.com/ <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal; text-align: center; white-space: nowrap;"> a-brief-brief-history-of-communication-what-m>. <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal; text-align: center; white-space: nowrap;"> "Mark Zuckerberg Founder of Facebook Named Time’s Person of 2010." Daily Press. <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal; text-align: center; white-space: nowrap;"> N.p., 15 Dec. 2010. Web. 23 Feb. 2011. <http://www.dailypress.com.pk/ <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal; text-align: center; white-space: nowrap;"> ?p=2750>. <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal; text-align: center; white-space: nowrap;"> Nickson, Christopher. "The History of Social Networking." Digital Trends. N.p., <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal; text-align: center; white-space: nowrap;"> 21 Jan. 2009. Web. 22 Feb. 2011. <http://www.digitaltrends.com/features/ <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal; text-align: center; white-space: nowrap;"> the-history-of-social-networking/>. <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal; text-align: center; white-space: nowrap;"> "Social Media Glossary." Social Media Buying Guide. N.p., 2011. Web. 27 Feb. <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal; text-align: center; white-space: nowrap;"> 2011. <http://www.socialmediabuyingguide.org/community/glossary.htm>. <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal; text-align: center; white-space: nowrap;"> "Statistics." Facebook. N.p., 2011. Web. 27 Feb. 2011. <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal; text-align: center; white-space: nowrap;"> <http://www.facebook.com/press/info.php?statistics>. <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal; text-align: center; white-space: nowrap;"> "When Did Facebook Start ." Denznet.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Feb. 2011. <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal; text-align: center; white-space: nowrap;"> <http://www.denznet.com/internet/when-did-facebook-start/>.