Social networking service: Difference between revisions
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==History== |
==History== |
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The potential for computer networking to facilitate newly improved forms of computer-mediated social interaction was suggested early on.<ref>''The Network Nation 2'' by S. Roxanne Hiltz and Murray Turoff (Addison-Wesley, 1978, 1993)</ref> Efforts to support social networks via [[computer-mediated communication]] were made in many early online services, including [[Usenet]],<ref>Michael Hauben, [[Ronda Hauben]], and [[Thomas Truscott]] (1997-04-27). Netizens: On the History and Impact of Usenet and the Internet (Perspectives). Wiley-IEEE Computer Society P. ISBN 0-8186-7706-6</ref> [[ARPANET]], [[LISTSERV]], and bulletin board services ([[Bulletin board system|BBS]]). Many prototypical features of social networking sites were also present in online services such as [[America Online]], [[Prodigy (online service)|Prodigy]], [[CompuServe]], [[ChatNet]], and [[The WELL]].<ref>[[Katie Hafner]], The WELL: A Story of Love, Death and Real Life in the Seminal Online Community (2001) Carroll & Graf Publishers ISBN 0-7867-0846-8</ref> Early social networking on the [[World Wide Web]] began in the form of generalized online communities such as [[Theglobe.com]] (1995),<ref>{{cite journal | ref=harv| last=Cotriss | first=David| date=2008-05-29| title=Where are they now: TheGlobe.com| journal=The Industry Standard| url=http://www.thestandard.com/news/2008/05/29/where-are-they-now-theglobe-com}}</ref> [[Geocities]] (1994) and [[Tripod.com]] (1995). Many of these early communities focused on bringing people together to interact with each other through chat rooms, and encouraged users to share personal information and ideas via personal webpages by providing easy-to-use publishing tools and free or inexpensive webspace. Some communities - such as [[Classmates.com]] - took a different approach by simply having people link to each other via email addresses. In the late 1990s, [[user profile]]s became a central feature of social networking sites, allowing users to compile lists of "[[friending|friend]]s" and search for other users with similar interests. New social networking methods were developed by the end of the 1990s, and many sites began to develop more advanced features for users to find and manage friends.<ref>Romm-Livermore, C. & Setzekorn, K. (2008). Social Networking Communities and E-Dating Services: Concepts and Implications. IGI Global. p.271</ref> This newer generation of social networking sites began to flourish with the emergence of [[SixDegrees.com]] in 1997,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol13/issue1/boyd.ellison.html |title=mcmc.indiana.edu |publisher=Jcmc.indiana.edu |date= |accessdate=2013-08-07}}</ref> followed by [[Makeoutclub]] in 2000,<ref>{{cite web|last=Island |first=Long |url=http://www.longislandpress.com/2010/09/30/from-friendster-to-myspace-to-facebook-the-evolution-and-deaths-of-social-networks/ |title=longislandpress.com |publisher=longislandpress.com |date=2010-09-30 |accessdate=2013-08-07}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bnet.com/videos/gibby-miller-inventing-the-social-network/239462 |title=bnet.com |publisher=bnet.com |date=2008-10-06 |accessdate=2013-08-07}}</ref> [[Hub Culture]] and [[Friendster]] in 2002,<ref>Knapp, E. (2005). A Parent's Guide to MySpace. DayDream Publishers. ISBN 1-4196-4146-8</ref> 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]],<ref>Steve Rosenbush (2005). [http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/jul2005/tc20050719_5427_tc119.htm News Corp.'s Place in MySpace], [[BusinessWeek]], July 19, 2005. (MySpace Page Views figures)</ref> launched in 2004, became the largest social networking site in the world<ref>[http://www.economist.com/business/displaystory.cfm?story_id=9990635 "Social graph-iti"]: Facebook's social network graphing: article from ''[[The Economist|The Economist's]] website. Retrieved on January 19, 2008.</ref> in early 2009.<ref>{{cite web|last=Kazeniac |first=Andy |url=http://blog.compete.com/2009/02/09/facebook-myspace-twitter-social-network/ |title=Social Networks: Facebook Takes Over Top Spot, Twitter Climbs |publisher=Blog.compete.com |date=2009-02-09 |accessdate=2013-08-07}}</ref> |
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==Social impact== |
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{{main|Social impact of the Internet#Social networking and entertainment}} |
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Web-based social networking services make it possible to connect people who share interests and activities across political, economic, and geographic borders.<ref>{{cite web |publisher=comscore.com |year=2007 |title=Social networking goes global |location= Reston, VAR |accessdate=September 9, 2007 |url=http://www.comscore.com/press/release.asp?press=1555 }}</ref> Through e-mail and instant messaging, [[online communities]] are created where a [[gift economy]] and [[reciprocal altruism]] are encouraged through [[cooperation]]. Information is particularly suited to [[gift economy]], as information is a [[nonrival good]] and can be gifted at practically no cost.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Mackaay |first=Ejan |title=Economic Incentives in Markets for Information and Innovation |journal=Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy |year=1990 |volume=13 |issue=909 |pages=867–910|ref=harv}}</ref><ref name="Heylighen">{{cite book |last=Heylighen | first=Francis |editor=B. Lutterbeck, M. Barwolff, and R. A. Gehring |title= Open Source Jahrbuch |publisher= Lehmanns Media |year=2007 |chapter=Why is Open Access Development so Successful? }}</ref> |
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[[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 (social science)|identity]], [[privacy]],<ref>Gross, R and Acquisti, A (2005). [http://www.heinz.cmu.edu/~acquisti/papers/privacy-facebook-gross-acquisti.pdf Information Revelation and Privacy in Online Social Networks (The Facebook case)]. Pre-proceedings version. ACM Workshop on Privacy in the Electronic Society (WPES)</ref> |
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[[social capital]], [[youth culture]], and [[education]].<ref>Danah Boyd, (2007), [http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/dmal.9780262524834.119 Why Youth (Heart) Social Network Sites], MacArthur Foundation Series on Digital Learning - Youth, Identity, and Digital Media Volume (ed. David Buckingham). MIT Press</ref> |
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Several websites are beginning to tap into the power of the social networking model for [[philanthropy]]. Such models provide a means for connecting otherwise fragmented industries and small organizations without the resources to reach a broader audience with interested users.<ref>[http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB118765256378003494.html "A New Generation Reinvents Philanthropy"], ''Wall Street Journal'' website.</ref> Social networks are providing a different way for individuals to communicate digitally. These communities of hypertexts allow for the sharing of information and ideas, an old concept placed in a digital environment. |
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In 2011, HCL Technologies conducted research that showed that 50% of British employers had banned the use of social networking sites/services during office hours.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/facebook/8506380/Half-of-employees-banned-from-Facebook-at-work.html | location=London | work=The Daily Telegraph | title=Half of employees banned from Facebook at work | date=2011-05-11}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.searchofficespace.com/sos-news/50-of-british-employers-have-banned-facebook-from-the-office-what-do-you-think.html |title=news.searchofficespace.com |publisher=news.searchofficespace.com |date=2011-05-11 |accessdate=2013-08-07}}</ref> |
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==Features== |
==Features== |
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===Typical features=== |
===Typical features=== |
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According to Boyd and Ellison's (2007) article, "Why Youth (Heart) Social Network Sites: The Role of Networked Publics in Teenage Social Life", social networking sites share a variety of technical features that allow individuals to: construct a public/semi-public profile, articulate a list of other users that they share a connection with, and view their list of connections within the system. The most basic of these are visible profiles with a list of "friends" who are also users of the site. In an article entitled "Social Network Sites: Definition, History, and Scholarship," Boyd and Ellison adopt Sunden's (2003) description of profiles as unique pages where one can "type oneself into being."<ref name = SNS-Def>boyd, D. M., & Ellison, N. B. (2007). [http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol13/issue1/boyd.ellison.html Social Network Sites: Definition, History, and Scholarship]. ''Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication'', 13(1), article 11. Retrieved on: 2012-01-30.</ref> A profile is generated from answers to questions, such as age, location, interests, etc. Some sites allow users to upload pictures, add multimedia content or modify the look and feel of the profile. Others, e.g., Facebook, allow users to enhance their profile by adding modules or "Applications."<ref name = SNS-Def/> Many sites allow users to post blog entries, search for others with similar interests and compile and share lists of contacts. User profiles often have a section dedicated to comments from friends and other users. To protect user privacy, social networks typically have controls that allow users to choose who can view their profile, contact them, add them to their list of contacts, and so on. |
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===Additional features=== |
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Some social networks have additional features, such as the ability to create [[group (online social networking)|groups]] that share common interests or affiliations, upload or stream live videos, and hold discussions in forums. [[Geosocial networking]] co-opts Internet mapping services to organize user participation around geographic features and their attributes. |
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There is a trend towards more [[Social network aggregation|interoperability between social networks]] led by technologies such as [[OpenID]] and [[OpenSocial]]. In most mobile communities, mobile phone users can now create their own profiles, make friends, participate in chat rooms, create chat rooms, hold private conversations, share photos and videos, and share blogs by using their mobile phone. Some companies provide wireless services that allow their customers to build their own mobile community and brand it; one of the most popular wireless services for social networking in North America is Facebook Mobile. |
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==Emerging trends== |
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{{Rquote|right|The things you share are things that make you look good, things which you are happy to tie into your identity.|Hilary Mason, chief data scientist, [[bitly]]|{{nowrap|[[VentureBeat]], 2012}}<ref name="venturebeat byrne 2012">{{cite news|last=Byrne|first=Ciara|title=What you read is not what you share|url=http://venturebeat.com/2012/08/23/bitly-realtime-hilary-mason/|accessdate=10 September 2012|newspaper=[[VentureBeat]]|date=23 August 2012}}</ref>}} |
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While the popularity of social networking consistently rises,<ref>[http://www.google.com/trends?q=e-commerce%2C+social+networking&ctab=0&geo=all&date=all&sort=1 Search for "e-commerce, social networking"]. [[Google Trends]]. Accessed 26 October 2009.</ref> new uses for the technology are frequently being observed. |
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At the forefront of emerging trends in social networking sites is the concept of "[[real-time web]]" and "location-based." Real-time allows users to contribute contents, which is then broadcast as it is being uploaded - the concept is analogous to live radio and television broadcasts. [[Twitter]] set the trend for "real-time" services, wherein users can broadcast to the world what they are doing, or what is on their minds within a 140-character limit. [[Facebook]] followed suit with their "Live Feed" where users' activities are streamed as soon as it happens. While Twitter focuses on words, [[Clixtr]], another real-time service, focuses on group photo sharing wherein users can update their photo streams with photos while at an event. Facebook, however, remains the largest photo sharing site - Facebook application and photo aggregator [[Pixable]] estimates that Facebook will have 100 billion photos by Summer 2012 |
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.<ref>{{cite web|author=By Sarah Kessler2011-02-14 13:17:47 UTC |url=http://mashable.com/2011/02/14/facebook-photo-infographic/?asid=c228f21b |title=mashable.com |publisher=mashable.com |date=2011-02-14 |accessdate=2013-08-07}}</ref> In April, 2012, the image-based social media network [[Pinterest]] had become the third largest social network in the United States.<ref>[http://mashable.com/2012/04/06/pinterest-number-3-social-network/] Pinterest is Now the No. 3 Social Network in the U.S via Mashable.com</ref> |
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Companies have begun to merge business technologies and solutions, such as [[cloud computing]], with social networking concepts. Instead of connecting individuals based on social interest, companies are developing interactive communities that connect individuals based on shared business needs or experiences. Many provide specialized networking tools and [[Application software|applications]] that can be accessed via their websites, such as [[LinkedIn]]. Others companies, such as [[Monster.com]], have been steadily developing a more "socialized" feel to their career center sites to harness some of the power of social networking sites. These more business related sites have their own nomenclature for the most part but the most common naming conventions are "Vocational Networking Sites" or "Vocational Media Networks", with the former more closely tied to individual networking relationships based on social networking principles. |
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[[Foursquare (service)|Foursquare]] gained popularity as it allowed for users to "check-in" to places that they are frequenting at that moment. [[Gowalla]] is another such service that functions in much the same way that Foursquare does, leveraging the [[GPS]] in phones to create a location-based user experience. Clixtr, though in the real-time space, is also a location-based social networking site, since events created by users are automatically geotagged, and users can view events occurring nearby through the Clixtr [[iPhone]] app. Recently, [[Yelp, Inc.|Yelp]] announced its entrance into the location-based social networking space through check-ins with their mobile app; whether or not this becomes detrimental to Foursquare or Gowalla is yet to be seen, as it is still considered a new space in the Internet technology industry.<ref>{{cite web|author=MG Siegler Jan 15, 2010 |url=http://www.techcrunch.com/2010/01/15/yelp-iphone-app-4-check-ins/ |title=Yelp Enables Check-Ins On Its iPhone App; Foursquare, Gowalla Ousted As Mayors |publisher=Techcrunch.com |date=2010-01-15 |accessdate=2011-03-13}}</ref> |
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One popular use for this new technology is social networking between businesses. Companies have found that social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter are great ways to build their brand image. According to Jody Nimetz, author of Marketing Jive,<ref name="marketing-jive.com">Nimetz, Jody. [http://www.marketing-jive.com/2007/11/jody-nimetz-on-emerging-trends-in-b2b.html "Jody Nimetz on Emerging Trends in B2B Social Networking"]. Marketing Jive, November 18, 2007. Accessed 26 October 2009.</ref> there are five major uses for businesses and social media: to create brand awareness, as an online reputation management tool, for recruiting, to learn about new technologies and competitors, and as a [[lead generation]] tool to intercept potential prospects.<ref name="marketing-jive.com"/> These companies are able to drive traffic to their own online sites while encouraging their consumers and clients to have discussions on how to improve or change products or services. |
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Social networking services have also become a mainstream topic of academic study in various disciplines. For example, social networking services are highly relevant to [[technoself]] studies which focus on all aspects of human identity in a technological society. |
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===Social networks and science=== |
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One other use that is being discussed is the use of social networks in the science communities. Julia Porter Liebeskind et al. have published a study on how new biotechnology firms are using social networking sites to share exchanges in scientific knowledge.<ref>Liebeskind, Julia Porter, et al. [http://www.jstor.org/pss/2635102 "Social Networks, Learning, and Flexibility: Sourcing Scientific Knowledge in New Biotechnology Firms"]. ''Organization Science'', Vol. 7, No. 4 (July–August 1996), pp. 428–443.</ref> They state in their study that by sharing information and knowledge with one another, they are able to "increase both their learning and their flexibility in ways that would not be possible within a self-contained hierarchical organization." Social networking is allowing scientific groups to expand their knowledge base and share ideas, and without these new means of communicating their theories might become "isolated and irrelevant". |
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===Social networks and education=== |
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[[File:Two competitions for ESO's 50th anniversary.jpg|thumb|The [[European Southern Observatory]] uses social networks to engage people in astronomical observations.<ref>{{cite news|title=Choose What the VLT Observes & Tweet Your Way to the VLT!|url=http://www.eso.org/public/news/eso1232/|accessdate=8 August 2012|newspaper=ESO Press Release}}</ref> ]] |
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The advent of [[social networking]] platforms may also be impacting the way(s) in which learners engage with technology in general. For a number of years, Prensky's (2001) dichotomy between [[Digital Natives]] and Digital Immigrants has been considered a relatively accurate representation of the ease with which people of a certain age range—in particular those born before and after 1980—use technology. Prensky's theory has been largely disproved, however, and not least on account of the burgeoning popularity of social networking sites and other metaphors such as White and Le Cornu's "Visitors" and "Residents" (2011) are greater currency. |
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The use of online social networks by school libraries is also increasingly prevalent and they are being used to communicate with potential library users, as well as extending the services provided by individual school libraries. |
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Social networks and their educational uses are of interest to many researchers. According to Livingstone and Brake (2010), “[[Social networking sites]], like much else on the Internet, represent a moving target for researchers and policy makers.”<ref name=group=Livingstone>{{cite journal|last=Livingstone|first=Sonia|coauthors=Brake, David R|title=On the Rapid Rise of Social Networking Sites: New Findings and Policy Implications|journal=Children & Society|date=December 2010|volume=24|issue=1|pages=75–83|doi=10.1111/j.1099-0860.2009.00243.x|url=http://eprints.Ise.ac.uk/30124/|accessdate=July 16, 2012}}</ref> Recent trends indicate that 47% of American adults use a social network.<ref name=Wikipedia>{{cite web|last=Wikipedia|title=Social Networking service|url=http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Social_networking_service|accessdate=July 17, 2012}}</ref> A national survey in 2009 found that 73% of online teenagers use SNS, which is an increase from 55% three years earlier. (Lenhart, Purcell, Smith, & Zickuhr, 2010)<ref name=Lenhart>{{cite web|last=Lenhart|first=Amanda|title=Social Media & Mobile Internet Use Among Teens and Young Adults|url=http://pewinternet.org/Reports/2010/Social-Media-and-Young-Adults.aspx|publisher=Pew Research Center|accessdate=July 16, 2012}}</ref> Recent studies have shown that social network services provide opportunities within professional education, curriculum education, and learning. However, there are constraints in this area. Researches, especially in Africa, have disclosed that the use of social networks among students have been known to negatively affect their academic life. This is buttressed by the fact that their use constitutes distractions, as well as that the students tend to invest a good deal of time in the use of such technologies. |
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====Professional uses within education==== |
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Professional use of social networking services refers to the employment of a network site to connect with other professionals within a given field of interest. SNSs like [[LinkedIn]], a social networking website geared towards companies and industry professionals looking to make new business contacts or keep in touch with previous co-workers, affiliates, and clients. Other network sites are now being used in this manner, [[Twitter]] has become [a] mainstay for professional development as well as promotion<ref name=Davis>{{cite web|last=Davis|first=Michelle R.|title=Social Networking Goes to School|url=http://www.edweek.org/dd/articles/2010/06/16/03networking.h03.html?print=1|publisher=Education Week|accessdate=July 17, 2012}}</ref> and online SNSs support both the maintenance of existing social ties and the formation of new connections. Much of the early research on online communities assume that individuals using these systems would be connecting with others outside their preexisting social group or location, liberating them to form communities around shared interests, as opposed to shared geography.<ref name=Ellison>{{cite journal|last=Ellison|first=Nicole B.|coauthors=Steinfield, Charles; Lampe, Cliff|title=The Benefits of Facebook "Friends:" Social Capital and College Student's Use of Online Social Network Sites|journal=Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication|year=2007|volume=12|pages=1143–1168|doi=10.1111/j.1083-6101.2007.00367.x|url=http://www.elkhealth.pbworks.com/f/Ellison,+Steinfield,+and+Lampe+(2007).pdf|accessdate=July 16, 2012}}</ref> Other researchers have suggested that the professional use of network sites produce “[[social capital]].” For individuals, social capital allows a person to draw on resources from other members of the networks to which he or she belongs. These resources can take the form of useful information, personal relationships, or the capacity to organize groups. As well, networks within these services also can be established or built by joining special interest groups that others have made, or creating one and asking others to join.<ref name=Knobel>{{cite book|last=Knobel, Michelle., Lankshear, Colin|title=Digital Literacy and Participation in Online Social Networking Spaces|year=2008|publisher=Peter Lang|location=New York|pages=249–278}}</ref> |
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====Curriculum uses within education==== |
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According to Doering, Beach and O’Brien, a future English curriculum needs to recognize a major shift in how adolescents are communicating with each other.<ref name=Doering>{{cite journal|last=Doering|first=Aaron|coauthors=Beach, Richard and O'Brien, David|title=Infusing Multimodal Tools and Digital Literacies into an English Education Program|journal=National Council of Teachers of English|date=October 2007|volume=40|issue=1|pages=41–60}}</ref> Curriculum uses of social networking services also can include sharing curriculum-related resources. Educators tap into user-generated content to find and discuss curriculum-related content for students. Responding to the popularity of social networking services among many students, teachers are increasingly using social networks to supplement teaching and learning in traditional classroom environments as they can provide new opportunities for enriching existing curriculum through creative, authentic and/or flexible, non-linear learning experiences.<ref name=Buzzetto-More>{{cite journal|last=Buzzetto-More|first=Nicole A.|title=Social Networking in Undergraduate Education|journal=Interdisciplinary Journal of Information, Knowledge, and Management|year=2010|volume=7|pages=63–90}}</ref> Some social networks, such as [[English, baby!]] and [[LiveMocha]], are explicitly education-focused and couple instructional content with an educational peer environment.<ref>{{cite web|title=2012 Learn English Comparisons|url=http://learn-english-review.toptenreviews.com/|publisher=Top Ten Reviews|accessdate=3 September 2012}}</ref> The new [[Web 2.0]] technologies built into most social networking services promote conferencing, interaction, creation, research on a global scale, enabling educators to share, remix, and repurpose curriculum resources. In short, social networking services can become research networks as well as [[learning network]]s.<ref name=Mason>{{cite book|last=Mason, Robin|first=and Rennie, Frank|title=E-Learning and Social Networking Handbook Resources for Higher Education|year=2008|publisher=Rutledge|location=Hoboken|isbn=9780203927762|pages=1–24}}</ref> |
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====Learning uses within education==== |
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Educators and advocates of new [[digital literacy|digital literacies]] are confident that social networking encourages the development of transferable, technical, and social skills of value in formal and informal learning.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Livingstone|first=Sonia|coauthors=Brake, David R.|title=On the Rapid Rise of Social Networking Sites: New Findings and Policy Implications|journal=Children & Society|year=2010|volume=24|issue=1|pages=75–83|doi=10.1111/j.1099-0860.2009.00243.x|url=http://eprints.Ise.ac.uk/30124/|accessdate=July 16, 2012}}</ref> In a formal learning environment, goals or objectives are determined by an outside department or agency. [[Tweeting]], [[instant messaging]], or [[blogging]] enhances student involvement. Students who would not normally participate in class are more apt to partake through social network services. Networking allows participants the opportunity for just-in-time learning and higher levels of engagement.<ref name=luo>{{cite journal|last=Luo|first=Tian|coauthors=Gao, Fei|title=Enhancing Classroom Learning Experience by Providing Structures to Microblogging Based Activities|journal=Journal of Information Technical Education|year=2012|volume=11}}</ref> The use of SNSs allow educators to enhance the prescribed curriculum. When learning experiences are infused into a website, students utilize everyday for fun, students realize that learning can and should be a part of everyday life. It does not have to be separate and unattached.<ref name=Gardner>{{cite web|last=Gardner|first=J. Clark|title=Facebooks Potential in the Classroom|url=http://www.jclarkgardner.com/uploads/5/4/1/4/5414483/jclark_gardner_facebook_classroom.pdf}}</ref> |
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Informal learning consists of the learner setting the goals and objectives. It has been claimed that media no longer just influence our culture. They are our culture.<ref name=Graber>{{cite journal|last=Graber|first=Dianna|coauthors=mentored by Mendoza, Kelly|title=New Media Literacy Education (NMLE): A Developmental Approach|journal=Journal of Media Literacy Education|year=2012|volume=4|issue=1|pages=82–92|url=http://www.jmle.org|accessdate=July 16, 2012}}</ref> With such a high number of users between the ages of 13-18, a number of skills are developed. Participants hone technical skills in choosing to navigate through social networking services. This includes elementary items such as sending an instant message or updating a status. The development of new media skills are paramount in helping youth navigate the digital world with confidence. |
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Social networking services foster learning through what [[Henry Jenkins|Jenkins]] (2006) describes as a "[[Participatory culture|Participatory Culture.]]"<ref name=Jenkins>{{cite book|last=Jenkins|first=Henry|title=Confronting the challenges of participatory culture: Media education for the 21st century|year=2006|publisher=The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation|location=Chicago|isbn=9780262513623}}</ref> A participatory culture consists of a space that allows engagement, sharing, mentoring, and an opportunity for social interaction. Participants of social network services avail of this opportunity. Informal learning, in the forms of participatory and social learning online, is an excellent tool for teachers to sneak in material and ideas that students will identify with and therefore, in a secondary manner, students will learn skills that would normally be taught in a formal setting in the more interesting and engaging environment of social learning.<ref name="Taylor, Gina, Rozi, Kristina">{{cite web|last=Taylor, Gina, Rozi, Kristina|title=Current Issues and Trends: Social Networking|url=http://niu.edu/~lynch/social_networking_510_su2010.pdf|publisher=Northern Illinois University}}</ref> Sites like Twitter provide students with the opportunity to converse and collaborate with others in real time. |
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Social networking services provide a virtual “space” for learners. [[James Gee]] (2004) suggests that [[affinity spaces]] instantiate participation, collaboration, distribution, dispersion of expertise, and relatedness.<ref name=Gee>{{cite book|last=Gee|first=James Paul|title=Situated Language and Learning: A Critique of Traditional Schooling|year=2004|publisher=Routledge|location=London}}</ref> Registered users share and search for knowledge which contributes to informal learning. |
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====Constraints of social networking services in education==== |
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In the past, social networking services were viewed as a distraction and offered no educational benefit. Blocking these social networks was a form of protection for students against wasting time, bullying, and invasions of privacy. In an educational setting, Facebook, for example, is seen by many instructors and educators as a frivolous, time-wasting distraction from schoolwork, and it is not uncommon to be banned in junior high or high school computer labs.<ref name=Gardner /> |
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[[Cyberbullying]] has become an issue of concern with social networking services. According to the UK Children Go Online survey of 9-19 year olds, it was found that a third have received bullying comments online.<ref name="Livingstone and bober">{{cite web|last=Livingstone, Sonia|first=and Bober, Magdalena|title=UK Children Go Online: Surveying the Experiences of Young People and Their Parents|url=http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/archive/00000395}}</ref> To avoid this problem, many school districts/boards have blocked access to social networking services such as Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter within the school environment. Social networking services often include a lot of personal information posted publicly, and many believe that sharing personal information is a window into privacy theft. Schools have taken action to protect students from this. It is believed that this outpouring of identifiable information and the easy communication vehicle that social networking services opens the door to sexual predators, cyberbullying, and [[cyberstalking]].<ref name=Munoz>{{cite journal|last=Munoz|first=Caroline Lego|coauthors=Towner, Terri|title=Back to the "Wall": Facebook in the College Classroom|journal=First Monday|date=Dec 5, 2011|year=2011|volume=16|issue=12}}</ref> In contrast, however, 70% of social media using teens and 85% of adults believe that people are mostly kind to one another on social network sites<ref name=Lenhart>{{cite book|last=Lenhart|first=A. et al|title=Social media and mobile internet use among teens and young adults|year=2010|publisher=Pew Internet and American Life Project|location=Washington, DC}}</ref> |
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Recent research suggests that there has been a shift in blocking the use of social networking services. In many cases, the opposite is occurring as the potential of online networking services is being realized. It has been suggested that if schools block them [social networking services], they’re preventing students from learning the skills they need.<ref name=Davis>{{cite journal|last=Davis|first=Michelle R.|title=Social Networking Goes to School|journal=Education Week|date=June 16, 2010|volume=3|issue=3|pages=16–23}}</ref> Banning social networking […] is not only inappropriate but also borderline irresponsible when it comes to providing the best educational experiences for students.<ref name=Waddington>{{cite journal|last=Waddington|first=Jayme|title=Social Networking: The Unharnessed Educational Tool|journal=Undergraduate Research Journal at UCCS|date=May 2011|volume=4.1|pages=12–18}}</ref> Schools and school districts have the option of educating safe media usage as well as incorporating [[digital media]] into the classroom experience, thus preparing students for the literacy they will encounter in the future. |
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===Social networks and grassroots organizing=== |
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Social networks are being used by activists as a means of low-cost grassroots organizing. Extensive use of an array of social networking sites enabled organizers of the 2009 [[National Equality March]] to mobilize an estimated 200,000 participants to march on Washington with a cost savings of up to 85% per participant over previous methods.<ref name="march">{{cite news |
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| last = Carlson |
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| first = Ben |
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| title = March 2.0: Success of the National Equality March relied on social media tools |
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| publisher = Media Bullseye |
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| date = April 28, 2010 |
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| url = http://www.mediabullseye.com/mb/2010/04/march-2-0-success-of-the-national-equality-march-relied-on-social-media-tools.html#idc-container |
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| accessdate = 2010-04-29}}</ref> |
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The August [[2011 England riots]] were similarly considered to have escalated and been fuelled by this type of grassroots organization. |
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===Social networks and employment=== |
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A final rise in social network use is being driven by college students using the services to network with professionals for internship and job opportunities. Many studies have been done on the effectiveness of networking online in a college setting, and one notable one is by Phipps Arabie and Yoram Wind published in ''Advances in Social Network Analysis''.<ref>Arabie, Phipps, and Yoram Wind. [http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=C6juDKDmvCcC&oi=fnd&pg=PR9&dq=social+networking&ots=Aw9oXw-AtG&sig=CPAZMmPPnAhSZzAu0lh-k4iUXt4#PRA1-PA254,M1 "Marketing and Social Networks"]. In Stanley Wasserman and Joseph Galaskiewicz, ''Advances in Social Network Analysis: Research in the Social and Behavioral Sciences''. Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Sage Publications, 1994, pp. 254–273. ISBN 0-8039-4302-4</ref> |
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Many schools have implemented online alumni directories which serve as makeshift social networks that current and former students can turn to for career advice. However, these alumni directories tend to suffer from an oversupply of advice-seekers and an undersupply of advice providers. One new social networking service, Ask-a-peer, aims to solve this problem by enabling advice seekers to offer modest compensation to advisers for their time. |
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===Social network hosting service=== |
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A [[social network hosting service]] is a web hosting service that specifically hosts the user creation of web-based social networking services, alongside related applications. Such services are also known as vertical social networks due to the creation of SNSes that cater to specific user interests and niches; like larger, interest-agnostic SNSes, such niche networking services may also possess the ability to create increasingly niche groups of users. |
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===Social trading networks=== |
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A social trading network is a service that allows traders of financial derivatives such as [[Contracts for Difference]] or [[Foreign Exchange Contracts]] to share their trading activity via trading profiles online. Such services are created by financial brokers. |
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===Business model=== |
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Few social networks charge money for membership. In part, this may be because social networking is a relatively new service, and the value of using them has not been firmly established in customers' minds.{{citation needed|date=December 2008}} Companies such as [[MySpace]] and [[Facebook]] sell [[online advertising]] on their site. Their business model is based upon large membership count, and charging for membership would be counterproductive.<ref>Chambers, Clem. [http://www.forbes.com/technology/ebusiness/2006/03/29/microsoft-myspace-newscorp-in_cc_0330soapbox_inl.html "Murdoch Will Earn a Payday from MySpace"]. ''[[Forbes]]'', March 30, 2006. Accessed 26 October 2009.</ref> Some believe that the deeper information that the sites have on each user will allow much better targeted advertising than any other site can currently provide.<ref>Tynan, Dan. [http://www.wired.com/techbiz/startups/news/2007/07/facebook_platform "As Applications Blossom, Facebook Is Open for Business"] ''[[Wired (magazine)|Wired]]'', July 30, 2007. Accessed 26 October 2009.</ref> |
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Social networks operate under an autonomous business model, in which a social network's members serve dual roles as both the suppliers and the consumers of content. This is in contrast to a traditional business model, where the suppliers and consumers are distinct agents. Revenue is typically gained in the autonomous business model via advertisements, but subscription-based revenue is possible when membership and content levels are sufficiently high.<ref>Flor, Nick V. (2000). ''Web Business Engineering: Using Offline Activities to Drive Internet Strategies''. Reading, Mass.: Addison-Wesley. ISBN 0-201-60468-X; Flor, Nick V. [http://www.informit.com/articles/article.aspx?p=20882 "Week 1: The Business Model Approach to Web Site Design"]. [[InformIT]], March 2, 2001. Accessed 26 October 2009. Description of the autonomous business model used in social networking services.</ref> |
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===Social interaction=== |
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Put simply, social networking is a way for one person to meet up with other people on the Internet. People use social networking sites for meeting new friends, finding old friends, or locating people who have the same problems or interests they have, called niche networking. |
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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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bitrebels.com/social/online-dating-the-relationship-status-update-infographic/|title=Online Dating: The Relationship Status Update|publisher=bitrebels.com}}</ref> One online dating site claims that 2% of all marriages begin at its site, the equivalent of 236 marriages a day. Other sites claim one in five relationships begin online. |
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Social networking sites play a vital role in this area as well. Being able to meet someone as a "friend" and see what common interests you share and how you have built up your friend base and "likes" you can truly see a fuller picture of the person you are talking with. Most sites are free instead of being pay 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. While not the intended or original use for these social sites, a large area of their current function has stemmed from people wanting to meet other people in person and with the extremely busy schedules of most people, it is a fast, reliable and easy way in which to do so that costs you little time and money (if any). Users do not necessarily share with others the content which is of most interest to them, but rather that which projects a good impression of themselves.<ref name="venturebeat byrne 2012" /> |
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==Issues== |
==Issues== |
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===Privacy=== |
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= |
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[[Privacy concerns with social networking services]] have been raised growing concerns amongst users on the dangers of giving out too much personal information and the threat of [[sexual predators]]. Users of these services also need to be aware of [[Computer insecurity|data theft]] or [[computer virus|viruses]]. However, large services, such as [[MySpace]] and [[Netlog]], often work with law enforcement to try to prevent such incidents.{{citation needed|date=May 2009}} |
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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. |
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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 [[e-mail spam|spamming]] operation.<ref>[http://www.e-consultancy.com/news-blog/364182/social-network-launches-worldwide-spam-campaign.html Social network launches worldwide spam campaign] ''E-consultancy.com'', Accessed 10 September 2007</ref> |
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In medical and scientific research, asking subjects for information about their behaviors is normally strictly scrutinized by [[institutional review board]]s, for example, to ensure that adolescents and their parents have [[informed consent]]. It is not clear whether the same rules apply to researchers who collect data from social networking sites. These sites often contain a great deal of data that is hard to obtain via traditional means. Even though the data are public, republishing it in a research paper might be considered [[invasion of privacy]].<ref>{{cite journal |journal=Pediatrics |year=2008 |volume=121 |issue=1 |pages=157–61 |title= Research ethics in the MySpace era |author= Moreno MA, Fost NC, Christakis DA |doi=10.1542/peds.2007-3015 |pmid=18166570 |ref=harv}}</ref> |
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Privacy on social networking sites can be undermined by many factors. For example, users may disclose personal information, sites may not take adequate steps to protect user privacy, and third parties frequently use information posted on social networks for a variety of purposes. "For the Net generation, social networking sites have become the preferred forum for social interactions, from posturing and role playing to simply sounding off. However, because such forums are relatively easy to access, posted content can be reviewed by anyone with an interest in the users' personal information".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.computer.org/portal/web/csdl/doi/10.1109/MSP.2007.75|title=What Anyone Can Know: The Privacy Risks of Social Networking Sites|author=David Rosenblum|year=2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.danah.org/papers/MySpaceDOPA.html|title=Discussion: MySpace and Deleting Online Predators Act (DOPA)|author=Henry Jenkins and Danah Boyd|date=2006-05-24|accessdate=2006-05-26}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://firstmonday.org/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/viewArticle/1394/1312|title=A privacy paradox: Social networking in the United States|author=Susan B. Barnes|date=2006-09-04}}</ref> |
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Following plans by the UK government to monitor traffic on social networks<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7962631.stm|title=Social Network Sites 'Monitored'|author=BBC|accessdate=2009-03-25 | date=2009-03-25 | work=BBC News}}</ref> schemes similar to [[e-mail jamming]] have been proposed for networks such as Twitter and Facebook. These would involve "friending" and "following" large numbers of random people to thwart attempts at network analysis. |
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Privacy concerns have been found to differ between users according to gender and personality. Women are less likely to publish information that reveals methods of contacting them. Personality measures [[Openness to experience|openness]], [[Extraversion and introversion|extraversion]], and [[conscientiousness]] were found to positively affect the willingness to disclose data, while [[neuroticism]] decreases the willingness to disclose personal information.<ref>Schaar, A. K., Valdez, A. C., & Ziefle, M. (2013). The Impact of User Diversity on the Willingness to Disclose Personal Information in Social Network Services. In Human Factors in Computing and Informatics (pp. 174-193). Springer Berlin Heidelberg.</ref> |
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===Data mining=== |
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Through [[data mining]], companies are able to improve their sales and profitability. With this data, companies create customer profiles that contain customer [[demographic]]s and online behavior. A recent strategy has been the purchase and production of "[[Social network analysis|network analysis]] software". This software is able to sort out through the influx of social networking data for any specific company.<ref>{{cite news|last=Miller|first=Andy|title=Mining Social Networks: Untangling the Social Web|url=http://www.economist.com/node/16910031|publisher=The Economist|date=2010-09-02}}</ref> Facebook has been especially important to marketing strategists. Facebook's controversial "Social Ads" program gives companies access to the millions of profiles in order to tailor their ads to a Facebook user's own interests and hobbies. However, rather than sell actual user information, Facebook sells tracked "social actions". That is, they track the websites a user uses outside of Facebook through a program called [[Facebook Beacon]].<ref>{{cite web|last=Elkins|first=Sarah|title=A Social Network's Faux Pas?|url=http://www.newsweek.com/2007/11/08/a-social-network-s-faux-pas.html|publisher=Newsweek}}</ref> |
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===Notifications on websites=== |
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There has been a trend for social networking sites to send out only "positive" notifications to users. For example sites such as Bebo, Facebook, and MySpace will not send notifications to users when they are removed from a person's friends list. Likewise, Bebo will send out a notification if a user is moved to the top of another user's friends list but no notification is sent if they are moved down the list. |
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This allows users to purge undesirables from their list extremely easily and often without confrontation since a user will rarely notice if one person disappears from their friends list. It also enforces the general positive atmosphere of the website without drawing attention to unpleasant happenings such as friends falling out, rejection and failed relationships. |
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===Access to information=== |
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Many social networking services, such as Facebook, provide the user with a choice of who can view their profile. This prevents unauthorized user(s) from accessing their information.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.facebook.com/policy.php?ref=pf |title=Niet compatibele browser |publisher=Facebook |date= |accessdate=2011-03-13}}</ref> Parents who want to access their child's MySpace or Facebook account have become a big problem for teenagers who do not want their profile seen by their parents. By making their profile private, teens can select who may see their page, allowing only people added as "friends" to view their profile and preventing unwanted viewing of the profile by parents. Most teens are constantly trying to create a structural barrier between their private life and their parents.<ref>boyd, danah. "Why Youth (Heart) Social Network Sites: The Role of Networked Publics in Teenage Social Life"</ref> |
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To edit information on a certain social networking service account, the social networking sites require you to [[login]] or provide a [[password]]. This prevents unauthorized user(s) from adding, changing, or removing personal information, pictures, and/or other data. |
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''See also:'' [[Unauthorized access in online social networks]] |
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===Potential for misuse=== |
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The relative freedom afforded by social networking services has caused concern regarding the potential of its misuse by individual patrons. In October 2006, a fake [[MySpace]] profile created in the name of Josh Evans by Lori Janine Drew led to the suicide of [[Suicide of Megan Meier|Megan Meier]].<ref>{{cite news |author=May 22, 2007 12:00AM |url=http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,21775032-11869,00.html |title=Fatal MySpace internet hoax mother is charged, Herald Sun, 17 May 2008 |publisher=News.com.au |date=2007-05-22 |accessdate=2011-03-13}}</ref>{{Failed verification|date=October 2011}}<ref>{{cite web |url=http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Story?id=3882520 |title=Parents: Cyber Bullying Led to Teen's Suicide: Megan Meier's Parents Now Want Measures to Protect Children Online |date=29 November 2007 |publisher=ABC News }}</ref> The event incited global concern regarding the use of social networking services for bullying purposes. |
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In July 2008, a Briton, [[Grant Raphael]], was ordered to pay a total of GBP £22,000 (about USD $44,000) for libel and breach of privacy. Raphael had posted a fake page on [[Facebook]] purporting to be that of a former schoolfriend Matthew Firsht, with whom Raphael had fallen out in 2000. The page falsely claimed that Firsht was homosexual and that he was dishonest.{{Citation needed|date=October 2011}} |
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At the same time, genuine use of social networking services has been treated with suspicion on the ground of the services' misuse. In September 2008, the profile of Australian Facebook user Elmo Keep was banned by the site's administrators on the grounds that it violated the site's terms of use. Keep is one of several users of Facebook who were banned from the site on the presumption that their names aren't real, as they bear resemblance to the names of characters like [[Sesame Street]]'s Elmo.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.smh.com.au/news/biztech/banned-for-keeps-on-facebook-for-odd-name/2008/09/25/1222217399252.html |title=Banned for keeps on Facebook for odd name, Sydney Morning Herald, 24 September 2008 |publisher=Smh.com.au |date=2008-09-25 |accessdate=2011-03-13}}</ref> |
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===Unauthorized access=== |
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There are different forms where user data in social networks are accessed and updated without a user's permission. One study<ref name="autogenerated4">{{cite web|url=http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/news/security/3311844/unauthorised-access-of-social-networking-profile-surges/ |title=PC Advisor – Unauthorised access of social networking profiles surge |publisher=Pcadvisor.co.uk |date=2013-07-30 |accessdate=2013-08-07}}</ref> highlighted that the most common incidents included inappropriate comments posted on [[social networking sites]] (43%), messages sent to contacts that were never authored (25%) and change of personal details (24%). The most incidents<ref name="autogenerated5">{{cite web|last=Terrelonge |first=Zen |url=http://www.mobile-ent.biz/news/read/over-60m-uk-smugging-incidents-in-the-past-year/015894 |title=ME Mobile Entertainment – Over 60m UK 'smugging' incidents in the past year |publisher=Mobile-ent.biz |date= |accessdate=2013-08-07}}</ref> are carried out by the victim's friends (36%) or partners (21%) and one in ten victims say their ex-partner has logged into their account without prior consent.<ref name="pcadvisor">{{cite web | url=http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/news/security/3311844/unauthorised-access-of-social-networking-profile-surges/ | title=Unauthorised access of social networking profiles surge | date=October 19, 2011 | accessdate=May 3, 2012 | author=Skinner, Carrie-Ann}}</ref><ref name="autogenerated1">{{cite web|author=Tricia Phillips |url=http://www.mirror.co.uk/advice/money/2011/10/19/id-fraud-continues-to-rise-as-80-000-hit-by-crooks-this-year-115875-23497942/ |title=– ID Fraud Continues to Rise as 80,000 hit crooks this year |publisher=Mirror.co.uk |date=2011-10-19 |accessdate=2013-08-07}}</ref> The survey found that online social network accounts had been subject to unauthorised access in 60 million cases in 2011.<ref name="autogenerated3">{{cite web|author=Joanna Robinson |url=http://www.moneymagpie.com/article/identity-fraud-how-to-stay-safe-online |title=Money Magpie – Identity fraud: How to stay safe online |publisher=Moneymagpie.com |date= |accessdate=2013-08-07}}</ref> |
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===Risk for child safety=== |
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Citizens and governments have been concerned with misuse by child and teenagers of social networking services, in particular in relation to online sexual predators. Overuse of social networking may also make children more susceptible to depression and anxiety.<ref>{{cite web|title=Social Networking's Good and Bad Impacts on Kids|url=http://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2011/08/social-kids.aspx|publisher=American Psychological Association|date=August 6, 2011}}</ref> |
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A certain number of actions have been engaged by governments to better understand the problem and find some solutions.{{Specify|date=May 2009}} A 2008 panel concluded that [[technological fix]]es such as age verification and scans are relatively ineffective means of apprehending online predators.<ref>{{Cite journal | year=2008 | publication-date= 31 December 2008 | title=Enhancing Child Safety and Online Technologies | publisher=Internet Safety Technical Task Force, Final Report of the Internet Safety Technical Task Force to the Multi-State Working Group on Social Networking of State Attorneys General of the United States | url=http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/pubrelease/isttf/ | ref=harv | postscript=<!--None-->}}</ref> In May 2010, a [[child pornography]] social networking site with hundreds of members was dismantled by law enforcement. It was deemed "the largest crimes against children case brought anywhere by anyone".<ref>{{Cite journal|title=Child porn 'social networking site' busted by feds|url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/05/27/AR2010052700559.html|publisher=Associated Press|author=Wilson, Charles|date=May 27, 2010|ref=harv|postscript=<!--None-->}}</ref> |
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Social networking can also be a risk to child safety in another way; parents can get addicted to games and neglect their children. One instance in South Korea resulted in the death of a child from starvation.<ref>Mark Tran, [http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/mar/05/korean-girl-starved-online-game], "The Guardian", March 5, 2010</ref> |
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Law enforcement agencies have published articles with their recommendations to parents about their children's use of social networking sites.<ref>http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/investigate/vc_majorthefts/innocent/social-networking-sites</ref><ref>http://www.westmercia.police.uk/internet-safety/teach-your-children-the-smart-rules.html</ref> |
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===Trolling=== |
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{{main|Troll (Internet)}} |
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A common misuse of social networking sites such as [[Facebook]] is that it is occasionally used to emotionally abuse individuals. Such actions are often referred to as trolling. It is not rare for confrontations in the real world to be translated online. {{Citation needed|date=January 2011}} Trolling can occur in many different forms, such as (but not limited to) defacement of deceased person(s) tribute pages, name calling, playing online pranks on volatile individuals and [[Flame bait|controversial comments with the intention to cause anger and cause arguments]]. Trolling is not to be confused with [[cyber-bullying]]. |
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===Online bullying=== |
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Online bullying, also called [[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”.<ref>''Computer Science Illuminated''</ref> [[danah boyd]], a researcher of social networks quotes a teenager in her article, "Why Youth (Heart) Social Network Sites". The teenager expresses frustration towards networking sites like MySpace because it causes drama and too much emotional stress.<ref>{{cite web |last=Boyd |first=Danah |title=Why Youth (Heart) Social Networking Sites: The Role of Networked Publics in Teenage Social Life |publisher=eres.ucsc.edu |url=http://eres.ucsc.edu/eres/coursepage.aspx?cid=3840&page=docs#}}</ref> There are not many limitations as to what individuals can post when online. Individuals are given the power to post offensive remarks or pictures that could potentially cause a great amount of emotional pain for another individual. |
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===Interpersonal communication=== |
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[[File:Personality and gender word cloud for social media.png|thumb|right|Words, phrases, and topics most highly distinguishing English-speaking females and males in social media in 2013]] |
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Interpersonal communication has been a growing issue as more and more people have turned to social networking as a means of communication. "Benniger (1987) describes how mass media has gradually replaced interpersonal communication as a socializing force. Further, social networking sites have become popular sites for youth culture to explore themselves, relationships, and share cultural artifacts".<ref>{{cite web | url=http://firstmonday.org/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/viewArticle/1394/1312#note4 | title=A Privacy Paradox}}</ref> |
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Many teens and social networking users may be harming their interpersonal communication by using sites such as Facebook and MySpace. Stated by Baroness Greenfield, an [[Oxford University]] neuroscientist, "My fear is that these technologies are infantilizing the brain into the state of small children who are attracted by buzzing noises and bright lights, who have a small [[attention span]] and who live for the moment".<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1153583/Social-websites-harm-childrens-brains-Chilling-warning-parents-neuroscientist.html | location=London | work=Daily Mail | first=David | last=Derbyshire | title=Social websites harm children's brains: Chilling warning to parents from top neuroscientist | date=24 February 2009}}</ref> |
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The convenience that social network sites give users to communicate with one another can also damage their interpersonal communication. Sherry Turkle, the founder and director of the MIT Initiative on Technology and Self, stated, “Networked, we are together, but so lessened are our expectations of each other that we feel utterly alone. And there is the risk that we come to see others as objects to be accessed--and only for the parts we find useful, comforting, or amusing”.<ref>{{cite book |last= Turkle |first= Sherry |title= Alone Together: Why We Expect More from Technology and Less from Each Other |publisher= [[Basic Books]] |year= 2011 |page=154 |isbn= 978-0-465-02234-2}}</ref> Furthermore, social network sites can create insincere friendships, Turkle also noted, “They nurture friendships on social-networking sites and then wonder if they are among friends. They become confused about companionship”.<ref>{{cite book |last= Turkle |first= Sherry |title= Alone Together: Why We Expect More from Technology and Less from Each Other |publisher= [[Basic Books]] |year= 2011 |page=17 |isbn= 978-0-465-02234-2}}</ref> |
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===Psychological effects of social networking=== <!-- [[Social network addiction]] links to this section --> |
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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.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/06/24/earlyshow/main4205009.shtml?tag=contentMain;contentBody |title= CBS "Social Networking: An Internet Addiction?", CBS News, June 24, 2008 |publisher= cbsnews.com |date=2008-06-24 |accessdate=2011-05-13}}</ref> |
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Social networking can also affect the extent to which a person feels lonely. In a ''[[Newsweek]]'' article, Johannah Cornblatt explains “Social-networking sites like Facebook and MySpace may provide people with a false sense of connection that ultimately increases loneliness in people who feel alone”. John T. Cacioppo, a neuroscientist at the University of Chicago, claims that social networking can foster feelings of sensitivity to disconnection, which can lead to loneliness.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.newsweek.com/2009/08/20/lonely-planet.html |title= Cornblatt, Johannah, "Lonely Planet", Newsweek, August 21, 2009 |publisher= newsweek.com |date=2009-08-29 |accessdate=2011-05-13}}</ref> However some scholars have expressed that concerns about social networking are often exaggerated and poorly researched .<ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.cnet.com/8301-19518_3-20048148-238.html|title= Magid, Larry, "Is there really 'Facebook depression?'" |publisher= CNET|date=2011-03-29 |accessdate=2011-10-18}}</ref> |
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===Patents=== |
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[[File:Soc-net-paten-growth-chart.png|thumb|right|300px|Number of US social network patent applications published per year and patents issued per year]]There has been rapid growth in the number of U.S. patent applications that cover new technologies related to social networking. The number of published applications has been growing rapidly since 2003. There are now over 3,500 published applications. As many as 7,000 applications may be currently on file including those that haven't been published yet.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ipwatchdog.com/2011/01/23/don%E2%80%99t-steal-my-avatar-challenges-of-social-networking-patents/id=14531/ |title=Mark Nowotarski, "Don't Steal My Avatar! Challenges of Social Network Patents, IP Watchdog, January 23, 2011 |publisher=Ipwatchdog.com |date= |accessdate=2011-03-13}}</ref> Only about 400 of these applications have issued as patents,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-adv.htm&r=0&p=1&f=S&l=50&Query=spec%2F%22social+network%22&d=PTXT |title=USPTO search on issued patents mentioning "social network" |publisher=Patft.uspto.gov |date= |accessdate=2011-03-13}}</ref> however, due largely to the multi-year [[Backlog of unexamined patent applications|backlog in examination]] of [[business method patents]] and the difficulty in getting these patent applications allowed.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ipwatchdog.com/2010/08/16/reducing-patent-backlog-prosecution-costs-using-pair-data/id=12108/ |title=Nowotarski, Mark "Reducing Patent Backlog and Prosecution Costs Using PAIR data", IP Watchdog, August 16, 2010 |publisher=Ipwatchdog.com |date= |accessdate=2011-03-13}}</ref> |
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It has been reported that social networking patents are important for the establishment of new start-up companies.<ref>{{cite web|author=Added by Mikk Putk on July 30, 2009 at 6:48am View Videos |url=http://ipestonia.ning.com/video/patents-on-social-media |title=News 12 "On the Money" interview of Mark Nowotarski, July 30, 2009 |publisher=Ipestonia.ning.com |date=2009-07-30 |accessdate=2011-03-13}}</ref> It has also been reported, however, that social networking patents inhibit innovation.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://yro.slashdot.org/story/10/06/16/2233230/USPTO-Lets-Amazon-Patent-the-Social-Networking-System?from=twitter |title=USPTO Lets Amazon Patent the Social Networking System |date=2010-06-16 |publisher=yro.slashdot.org |accessdate=2011-03-13}}</ref> On June 15, 2010, the [[United States Patent and Trademark Office]] awarded [[Amazon.com]] a patent for a "Social Networking System" based on its ownership of [[PlanetAll]].<ref>{{cite news|first=Kimberly |last=Gold |url=http://blogs.forbes.com/docket/2010/06/17/amazon-secures-patent-for-social-networking-system/ |title=Amazon Secures Patent For Social Networking System |work=Forbes}}</ref> The patent describes a Social Networking System as |
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<blockquote>A networked computer system provides various services for assisting users in locating, and establishing contact relationships with, other users. For example, in one embodiment, users can identify other users based on their affiliations with particular schools or other organizations. The system also provides a mechanism for a user to selectively establish contact relationships or connections with other users, and to grant permissions for such other users to view personal information of the user. The system may also include features for enabling users to identify contacts of their respective contacts. In addition, the system may automatically notify users of personal information updates made by their respective contacts.<ref>[http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=/netahtml/PTO/srchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=7,739,139.PN.&OS=PN/7,739,139&RS=PN/7,739,139 US Patent and Trademark Office] Patent number 7,739,139</ref></blockquote> |
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The patent has garnered attention due to its similarity to the popular social networking site Facebook.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.networkworld.com/news/2010/061710-amazon-social-network-patent.html |title=Network World |publisher=Network World |date= |accessdate=2011-03-13}}</ref> |
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===Worker's rights=== |
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What types of speech workers are protected from being fired for on social networking websites has been an issue for American companies with over 100 complaints as of 2011 on this topic having been made to the [[National Labor Relations Board]] (NLRB).<ref name=work>{{cite web|title=Facebook policies tricky for employers, workers|url=http://www.japantoday.com/category/technology/view/facebook-policies-tricky-for-employers-workers|work=japantoday.com|publisher=[[Japan Today]]|accessdate=28 September 2011}}</ref> The [[National Labor Relations Act]] protects workers from being fired for "protected concerted activity", which prevents workers from being fired for collective action, while allowing companies the right to fire workers for individual actions they take against the company.<ref name=work/> Companies are concerned with the potential damage comments online can do to public image due to their visibility and accessibility, but despite over 100 cases being presented thus far to NLRB only one has led to a formal ruling, leaving uncertainty as to the boundaries of what types of speech the NLRB will ultimately put in place.<ref name=work/> |
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===Decentralized architecture=== |
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Most of the existing SNS sites use one or multiple dedicated data centers to serve all its users. Such infrastructure-based systems faces over-provisioning during non-peak hours, while may encounter service outage during peak hours, due to the highly dynamic of SNS users' activities. There are several proposals, leveraging a decentralized architecture to ensure the scalability of SNS sites with low infrastructure cost. These proposals include Fethr<ref name="Fethr_iptps09">{{Cite conference |
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| author = D. R. Sandler and D. S. Wallach |
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| url = http://www.iptps.org/papers-2009/sandler.pdf |
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| format=PDF |
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| title = Birds of a FETHR: Open, decentralized micropublishing |
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| conference = Proc. of the 8th International Workshop on Peer-to-Peer Systems (IPTPS‘09) |
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|date=April 2009 |
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}}</ref> uaOSN,<ref name="uaOSN_SNS10">{{Cite conference |
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| author = Michal Kryczka, Ruben Cuevas, Carmen Guerrero, Eiko Yoneki, Arturo Azcorra |
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| title = A first step towards user assisted online social networks |
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| conference = Proc. of the 3rd Workshop on Social Network Systems (SNS'10) |
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|date=April 2010 |
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}}</ref> and Cuckoo.<ref name="Cuckoo_Middleware11">{{Cite conference |
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| author = Tianyin Xu, Yang Chen, Lei Jiao, Ben Y. Zhao, Pan Hui, and Xiaoming Fu |
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| url =http://cseweb.ucsd.edu/~tixu/papers/middleware11.pdf |
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| format=PDF |
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| title = Scaling Microblogging Services with Divergent Traffic Demands |
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| conference = Proc. of the ACM/IFIP/USENIX 12th International Middleware Conference (Middleware'11) |
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|date=December 2011 |
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}}</ref> |
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===Virtual identity suicide=== |
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There is a growing number of social network users who decide to quit their user account by committing a so-called virtual identity suicide or Web 2.0 suicide. A 2013 study in the journal ''CyberPsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking'' investigated this phenomenon from the perspective of Facebook users. The number one reason for these users was privacy concerns (48%), being followed by a general dissatisfaction with the social networking website (14%), negative aspects regarding social network friends (13%) and the feeling of getting addicted to the social networking website (6%). Facebook quitters were found to be more concerned about privacy, more addicted to the Internet and more conscientious.<ref>{{cite web|url = http://online.liebertpub.com/doi/abs/10.1089/cyber.2012.0323 |title = Who Commits Virtual Identity Suicide? Differences in Privacy Concerns, Internet Addiction, and Personality Between Facebook Users and Quitters |publisher = Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking }}</ref> |
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===Breaking up=== |
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Breaking-up with a significant other is never easy to do, and new technologies are starting to make the process easier, but also less personal. Sites such as [[Facebook]] are becoming increasingly popular tools for methods of ending relationships, proving that although new media is being used as a tool for connecting with individuals, it is now creating new problems associated with disconnecting from others.<ref>{{cite book|last=Gershon|first=Ilana|title=The Breakup 2.0: Disconnecting Over New Media|year=2010|publisher=Cornell University Press}}</ref> Instead of the traditional phone call or face-to-face interaction between individuals, people are now starting to end relationships by simply changing their relationship status, knowing full-well that their significant other will see it shortly. The problem with that is that you are left with no closure and the entire online world now knows you are no longer in a relationship.<ref>{{cite web|last=Vlahakis|first=George|title=The Breakup 2.0': A Look at How New Media Is Used to End Relationships|url=http://homepages.indiana.edu/web/page/normal/15705.html|publisher=Indiana University}}</ref> In a 2010 study conducted online, nearly one-quarter of the 1,000 individuals surveyed found out that their own relationship was over by seeing it on Facebook.<ref name="O'Dell">{{cite web|last=O'Dell|first=Jolie|title=Would You Break Up via Facebook?|url=http://mashable.com/2010/06/21/facebook-break-up/|publisher=Mashable}}</ref> New media websites have made our private lives much more public, especially when it comes to breaking up, since updates are able to be immediately viewed by everyone in our networks (which tend to be more people than we would normally tell personally); for example, having friends comment on your newly changed “single” relationship status, and having to explain what happened can be distressing. |
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This creates further problems, as it is even more crucial to ‘save face’ after one’s relationship has been broken when one is connected to new media technologies. [[Erving Goffman]] argues that all social life boils down to face-to-face interactions. These interpersonal interactions are mediated by what Goffman terms as “face-work”, which are the actions undertaken to maintain consistency with one’s face, and to uphold the expressive order of social situations. Individuals attempt to keep a positive image of the self when interacting with others, and in order to do so, they may have to alter their appearance or manner in some way.<ref>{{cite book|last=Goffman|first=Erving|title=On Face-Work: Interactions Ritual: Essays on Face-to-Face Behavior|year=1967|publisher=Anchor|location=Garden City, NY|pages=5–45}}</ref> Such face-work can also be seen in new technologies, especially social media websites such as Facebook. If someone breaks-up with you, you can actively choose what "face" you want to present to your friends, including your ex. You can choose to either post sad updates, which is the most natural thing you would want to do, or you can "save face" by posting happy updates and pictures of you going out with your friends. Even though you may be absolutely heartbroken within, Facebook allows you to hide your true feelings from the online world, and from your ex, by manipulating your profile. New media is being utilized as a tool for helping users present a desirable image of themselves, enabling them to save face in difficult situations. Nearly 35% of respondents in a study admitted to using their Facebook status to make someone think that they had plans, even if they did not.<ref name="O'Dell"/> |
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Many people find that the only way to really move on from a past relationship is to cut the person out of their life completely. Social media has made this process much more complicated and difficult. In a 2012 study, 48% of the participants stated they had remained friends with their ex on Facebook, and of these people, 88% stated they ‘creeped’ their ex after the breakup.<ref name="Lukacs">{{cite web|last=Lukacs|first=Veronika|title=It's Complicated: Romantic Breakups and Their Aftermath on Facebook|url=http://ir.lib.uwo.ca/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1938&context=etd&sei-redir=1&referer=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.ca%2Furl%3Fsa%3Dt%26rct%3Dj%26q%3Dit%27s%2520complicated%253A%2520romantic%2520breakups%2520and%2520their%2520aftermath%2520on%2520facebook%26source%3Dweb%26cd%3D1%26ved%3D0CC4QFjAA%26url%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fir.lib.uwo.ca%252Fcgi%252Fviewcontent.cgi%253Farticle%253D1938%2526context%253Detd%26ei%3DAiA6UeaCIs2ayQGxooGYDg%26usg%3DAFQjCNHmVw1kJRHKayjY5PenyP6XVurKdQ%26bvm%3Dbv.43287494%2Cd.aWM#search=%22its%20complicated%3A%20romantic%20breakups%20their%20aftermath%20facebook%22|publisher=The School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies, The University of Western Ontario}}</ref> Keeping your ex on Facebook can cause much distress, as you are forced to see what they are doing (and often, it can be with a new partner). Moreover, the fact that Facebook acts as a digital archive can also make it difficult to move on after a breakup, as re-reading and over-analyzing old messages and wall posts, and looking through tagged photos with an ex can be a major source of distress. This is due to the fact it often causes one to remember the good parts of a relationship, leading to feelings of confusion about the breakup.<ref name="Lukacs"/> These digital social networking sites leave behind a trail of one’s interactions,<ref>{{cite journal|last=Melander|first=L.A.|title=College students’ perceptions of intimate partner cyber harassment|journal=CyberPsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking|year=2010|volume=13|issue=3|pages=263–268}}</ref> so deleting content it is an arduous process, and it forces us to re-read the content, thus re-creating the memories. This is much more difficult than simply burning or throwing away an entire box of letters, photos, and mementos.<ref>{{cite book|last=Van Dijck|first=Jose|title=Mediated memories in the digital age|year=2007|publisher=Stanford University Press}}</ref> Additionally, this content can still remain online; for example, after you un-tag yourself from a photo, the photo may still remain in a mutual friend’s photo album that is easily accessible. These digital traces make it extremely difficult to forget the relationship and leave it behind. For those who do wish to remove their ex from Facebook without going through the hassle of sifting through their content can turn to the [http://www.killswitchapp.com Killswitch] application, which removes all traces of your relationship with your ex for a fee. This does not ensure the complete removal of your ex from your life though, as 70% of those who deleted their ex still attempted to creep their page in other ways, such as through using a friend’s account.<ref name="Lukacs"/> |
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There are several proposed reasons behind why some individuals choose to keep their ex-partner as a friend on Facebook, such as: it is hard to re-add them later, your ex could be offended, it could be socially awkward if you run into them, it feels very final, you still may hear about your ex through friends, and concerns about what your mutual friends will think.<ref name="Lukacs"/> |
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In her 2012 study, Lukacs suggests there are multiple strategies one can use to cope with a breakup in the age of social media:<ref name="Lukacs"/> |
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* Deleting/blocking one's ex |
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* Unsubscribing from posts by one's ex |
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* Deleting mutual friends |
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* Using self-restraint |
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* Purging old photos from Facebook |
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* Not specifying an individual in one's relationship status |
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* Removing one's relationship status altogether |
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* Staying busy; minimizing computer usage |
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* Changing one's password |
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* Deactivating or deleting one's Facebook account |
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==Investigations== |
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{{main|Use of social network websites in investigations}} |
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Social networking services are increasingly being used in legal and [[criminal investigation]]s. Information posted on sites such as MySpace and Facebook has been used by police ([[forensic profiling]]), probation, and university officials to prosecute users of said sites. In some situations, content posted on MySpace has been used in court.<ref>[http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,,00.html "MySpace exposes sex predators"], use of its content in the courtroom: [[The Herald and Weekly Times Ltd|Herald and Weekly Times (Australia)]] website. Retrieved on January 19, 2008.</ref> |
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Facebook is increasingly being used by school administrations and law enforcement agencies as a source of evidence against student users. This site being the number one online destination for college students, allows users to create profile pages with personal details. These pages can be viewed by other registered users from the same school, which often include resident assistants and campus police who have signed up for the service.<ref>[http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=670380 "Getting booked by Facebook"], courtesy of campus police: [[Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]] website. Retrieved on January 19, 2008.</ref> One [[UK]] police force has sifted pictures from Facebook and arrested some people who had been photographed in a public place holding a weapon such as a knife (having a weapon in a public place is illegal).<ref>[http://www.journal-online.co.uk/article/5410-police-use-facebook-to-identify-weapon-carriers "Police use Facebook to identify weapon carriers"] [[The Journal (Edinburgh)]] website. Retrieved on May 11, 2009</ref> |
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==Application domains== |
==Application domains== |
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===Government applications=== |
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Social networking is more recently being used by various government agencies. Social networking tools serve as a quick and easy way for the government to get the opinion of the public and to keep the public updated on their activity. The [[Centers for Disease Control]] demonstrated the importance of [[vaccinations]] on the popular children's site [[Whyville]] and the [[National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration]] has a virtual island on [[Second Life]] where people can explore underground caves or explore the effects of global warming.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.itbusinessedge.com/topics/reader.aspx?oss=37848 |title=Government Agencies Establishing Presence on Social-Networking Sites |publisher=Itbusinessedge.com |date= |accessdate=2011-03-13}}</ref> Likewise, NASA has taken advantage of a few social networking tools, including [[Twitter]] and [[Flickr]]. They are using these tools to aid the [[Review of United States Human Space Flight Plans Committee|Review of U.S. Human Space Flight Plans Committee]], whose goal it is to ''ensure that the nation is ''on a vigorous and sustainable path to achieving its boldest aspirations in space''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nasa.gov/pdf/358006main_OSTP%20Press%20Release.pdf |title=OSTP Press Release Announcing Review (pdf, 50k) |format=PDF |date= |accessdate=2011-03-13}}</ref> |
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===Business applications=== |
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The use of social networking services in an enterprise context presents the potential of having a major impact on the world of business and work {{Harv|Fraser|Dutta|2008}}. |
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Social networks connect people at low cost; this can be beneficial for [[entrepreneur]]s and [[small business]]es looking to expand their contact bases. These networks often act as a customer relationship management tool for companies selling products and services. Companies can also use social networks for advertising in the form of banners and text ads. Since businesses operate globally, social networks can make it easier to keep in touch with contacts around the world. |
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Applications for social networking sites have extended toward businesses and brands are creating their own, high functioning sites, a sector known as [[brand networking]]. It is the idea that a brand can build its consumer relationship by connecting their consumers to the brand image on a platform that provides them relative content, elements of participation, and a ranking or score system. Brand networking is a new way to capitalize on social trends as a marketing tool. |
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The power of social networks it beginning to permeate into internal culture of businesses where they are finding uses for [[collaboration]], [[file sharing]] and [[knowledge transfer]]. The term [[Enterprise Social Software]] is becoming increasingly popular for these types of applications. |
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===Dating applications=== |
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{{See also|Online dating service}} |
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Many social networks provide an online environment for people to communicate and exchange personal information for dating purposes. Intentions can vary from looking for a one time date, short-term relationships, and long-term relationships.<ref>[http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,396461,00.html ''MySpace, Facebook Add Opportunity for Love, Trouble to Online Dating''], [[Fox News Channel|FoxNews.com]] website.</ref> |
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Most of these social networks, just like online dating services, require users to give out certain pieces of information. This usually includes a user's age, gender, location, interests, and perhaps a picture. Releasing very personal information is usually discouraged for safety reasons.<ref>[http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5336688 ''MySpace Adds a Security Monitor''], [[NPR.com]] website.</ref> This allows other users to search or be searched by some sort of criteria, but at the same time people can maintain a degree of anonymity similar to most online dating services. Online dating sites are similar to social networks in the sense that users create profiles to meet and communicate with others, but their activities on such sites are for the sole purpose of finding a person of interest to date. Social networks do not necessarily have to be for dating; many users simply use it for keeping in touch with friends, and colleagues.<ref>[http://www.internetnews.com/ec-news/article.php/3659911 ''Online Dating: Can Social Networks Cut In?''], [[internetnews.com]] website.</ref> |
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However, an important difference between social networks and online dating services is the fact that online dating sites usually require a fee, where social networks are free.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://localtechwire.com/business/local_tech_wire/opinion/story/2449164/ |title=Online Dating vs. Social Networking – Which Will Emerge as Premier Matchmaker? |publisher=localtechwire.com}}</ref> |
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This difference is one of the reasons the online dating industry is seeing a massive decrease in revenue due to many users opting to use social networking services instead. Many popular online dating services such as [[Match.com]], [[Yahoo Personals]], and [[eHarmony.com]] are seeing a decrease in users, where social networks like [[MySpace]] and [[Facebook]] are experiencing an increase in users.<ref>[http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/story.aspx?guid={4640E6FF-17B8-40D5-901C-098EE74B03DD} ''Social networks vs. dating sites Commentary: Fragmenting may save online dating sites''], [[marketwatch.com]] website.</ref> |
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The number of Internet users in the United States that visit online dating sites has fallen from a peak of 21% in 2003 to 10% in 2006.<ref>[http://www.forbes.com/2007/12/20/online-dating-love-tech-personal-cx_wt_1221dating.html ''Seeking Love Around The Web ''], [[Forbes.com]] website.</ref> Whether its the cost of the services, the variety of users with different intentions, or any other reason, it is undeniable that social networking sites are quickly becoming the new way to find dates online. |
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===Educational applications=== |
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The [[National School Boards Association]] reports that almost 60% of students who use social networking talk about education topics online, and more than 50% talk specifically about schoolwork. Yet the vast majority of school districts have stringent rules against nearly all forms of social networking during the school day—even though students and parents report few problem behaviors online. |
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Social networks focused on supporting relationships between teachers and their students are now used for learning, educator professional development, and content sharing. [[Ning (website)|Ning]] for teachers, [[TermWiki]], Learn Central,<ref>learncentral.org</ref> [[TeachStreet]] and other sites are being built to foster relationships that include educational blogs, eportfolios, formal and ad hoc communities, as well as communication such as chats, discussion threads, and synchronous forums. These sites also have content sharing and rating features. |
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Social networks are also emerging as online [[yearbook]]s, both public and private. One such service is [[MyYearbook]], which allows anyone from the general public to register and connect. A new trend emerging is <!--Predicate agrees in number with its subject.--> private label yearbooks accessible only by students, parents, and teachers of a particular school, similar to [[Facebook]]'s beginning within Harvard.{{citation needed|date=April 2011}} |
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===Finance applications=== |
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The use of [[virtual economy|virtual currency]] systems inside social networks create new opportunities for global finance. [[Hub Culture]] operates a virtual currency [[Ven (currency)|Ven]] used for global transactions among members, product sales<ref>{{cite web|last=Jordan |first=Andy |url=http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2009/09/09/the-currency-revolution/ |title=Wall street journal blog article about Ven |publisher=Blogs.wsj.com |date=2009-09-09 |accessdate=2013-08-07}}</ref> and financial trades in commodities and carbon credits.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.finextra.com/news/fullstory.aspx?newsitemid=22475 |title=finextra.com |publisher=finextra.com |date= |accessdate=2013-08-07}}</ref><ref>[http://blog.americancarbonregistry.org/redd/american-carbon-registry-offsets-retired-ven-carbon-transaction/ blog.americancarbonregistry.org]</ref> In May 2010, Carbon pricing contracts were introduced to the weighted basket of currencies and commodities that determine the floating exchange value of Ven. The introduction of carbon to the calculation price of the currency made Ven the first and only currency that is linked to the environment.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hubculture.com/groups/237/news/486/ |title=hubculture.com |publisher=hubculture.com |date=2010-07-05 |accessdate=2013-08-07}}</ref> |
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===Medical and health applications=== |
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Social networks are beginning to be adopted by healthcare professionals as a means to manage institutional knowledge, disseminate peer to peer knowledge and to highlight individual physicians and institutions. The advantage of using a dedicated medical social networking site is that all the members are screened against the state licensing board list of practitioners.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.primarypsychiatry.com/aspx/articledetail.aspx?articleid=975 |title=Social Networking: Now Professionally Ready |publisher= primarypsychiatry.com }}</ref> |
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A new trend is emerging with social networks created to help its members with various physical and mental ailments.<ref>[http://www.doseofdigital.com/healthcare-pharma-social-media-wiki/ Comprehensive listing of medical applications using social networking] via Dose of Digital</ref> For people suffering from life altering diseases, [[PatientsLikeMe]] offers its members the chance to connect with others dealing with similar issues and research patient data related to their condition. For alcoholics and addicts, SoberCircle gives people in recovery the ability to communicate with one another and strengthen their recovery through the encouragement of others who can relate to their situation. [[DailyStrength]] is also a website that offers support groups for a wide array of topics and conditions, including the support topics offered by [[PatientsLikeMe]] and SoberCircle. |
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Some social networks aim to encourage healthy lifestyles in their users. [[SparkPeople]] offers community and social networking tools for peer support during weight loss. [[Fitocracy]] and [[QUENTIQ]] are focused on exercise, enabling users to share their own workouts and comment on those of other users. |
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===Social and political applications=== |
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Social networking sites have recently showed a value in social and political movements.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1974080 |title= "The Policy Sciences of Social Media". '''39''' |publisher=''[[Policy Studies Journal]]'', '''39''' (4): 709–736|author=[[Matthew Auer|Auer, Matthew R.]] | date= July 17, 2011|accessdate=24 April 2012}}</ref> In the [[2011 Egyptian revolution|Egyptian revolution]], [[Facebook]] and [[Twitter]] both played a pivotal role in keeping people connected to the revolt. [[2011 Egyptian revolution#Online activism and the role of social media|Egyptian activists]] have credited social networking sites with providing a platform for planning protest and sharing news from [[Tahrir Square]] in real time. By presenting a platform for thousands of people to instantaneously share videos of mainly events featuring brutality, social networking proves to be a vital tool in revolutions.<ref name="Sutter, John D. "The faces of Egypt's 'Revolution 2.0'" CNN.com, 21 February 2011">{{cite news|last=Sutter|first=John D.|title=The faces of Egypt's 'Revolution 2.0'|url=http://www.cnn.com/2011/TECH/innovation/02/21/egypt.internet.revolution/index.html|accessdate=13 May 2011|newspaper=[[CNN]]|date=21 Feb 2011}}</ref> |
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==Open source software== |
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There are a number of projects that aim to develop [[free and open source software]] to use for social networking services. The projects include Anahita Social Networking Engine,<ref>{{cite web|author=Anahita Project |url=http://www.anahitapolis.com |title=The Anahita Social Networking Engine|publisher=anahitapolis.com |date= |accessdate=2011-01-18}}</ref> [[Diaspora (software)|Diaspora]], Appleseed Project,<ref>{{cite web|author=The Appleseed Project |url=http://opensource.appleseedproject.org |title=The Appleseed Project - Open Source Social Networking |publisher=Opensource.appleseedproject.org |date= |accessdate=2011-03-13}}</ref> OneSocialWeb,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://onesocialweb.org/ |title=Creating a free, open, and decentralized social networking platform |publisher=OneSocialWeb |date= |accessdate=2011-03-13}}</ref> [[Kune (software)|Kune]], [[Movim]], and [[Friendica]]. These technologies are often referred to as Social engine or Social networking engine software. |
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==Market share== |
==Market share== |
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According to [[ComScore]], up to end of November 2011:<ref>{{cite web |url=http://techcrunch.com/2011/12/22/googlesplus/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Techcrunch+%28TechCrunch%29 |title=ComScore: Google+ Grows Worldwide Users From 65 Million In October To 67 Million In November |date=December 22, 2011}}</ref> |
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{| class="wikitable" |
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|- |
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! Worldwide !! Unique Visitors |
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|- |
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! Facebook.com |
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| 792,999,000 |
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|- |
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! Twitter.com |
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| 167,903,000 |
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|- |
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! LinkedIn.com |
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| 94,823,000 |
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|- |
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! Google+ |
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| 66,756,000 |
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|- |
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! MySpace |
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| 61,037,000 |
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|- |
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! Others |
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| 255,539,000 |
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|} |
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==In the media== |
==In the media== |
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* In December 2010, [[Time Magazine]] named Facebook [[Chief executive officer|CEO]] [[Mark Zuckerberg]] as [[Time Magazine Person of the Year|person of the year]]. |
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* Released in 2010, ''[[The Social Network]]'' is a film dramatizing the origin of Facebook. |
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==See also== |
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{{div col|colwidth=20em}} |
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*[[Collective intelligence]] |
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*[[Comparison of Research Networking Tools and Research Profiling Systems]] |
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*[[Distributed social network]] |
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*[[Enterprise bookmarking]] |
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*[[Gender differences in social network service use]] |
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*[[Geosocial networking]] |
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*[[Internet think tanks]] |
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*[[Lateral diffusion]] |
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*[[List of social networking websites]] |
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*[[List of virtual communities with more than 100 million users]] |
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*[[Mass collaboration]] |
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*[[Mobile social network]] |
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*[[Personal Network]] |
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*[[Professional network service]] |
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*[[Reddit]] |
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*[[Social aspects of television]] |
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*[[Social bookmark link generator]] |
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*[[Social identity]] |
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*[[Social media]] |
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*[[Social network aggregation]] |
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*[[Social software]] |
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*[[Social television]] |
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*[[Virtual community]] |
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{{div col end}} |
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==References== |
==References== |
Revision as of 13:07, 1 February 2014
A social networking service is a platform to build 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 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. Online community services are sometimes considered as a social network service, though in a broader sense, social network service usually means an individual-centered service whereas online community services are group-centered. Social networking sites allow users to share ideas, pictures, posts, activities, events, and interests with people in their network.
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. Popular methods now combine many of these, with American-based services such as Facebook, Google+, Tumblr and Twitter widely used worldwide; Nexopia in Canada;[1] Badoo,[2] Bebo,[3] VKontakte, Delphi (online service) (also called Delphi Forums), Draugiem.lv (mostly in Latvia), Hi5, Hyves (mostly in The Netherlands), iWiW (mostly in Hungary), Nasza-Klasa, Soup (mostly in Poland), Glocals in Switzerland, Skyrock, The Sphere, StudiVZ (mostly in Germany), Tagged, Tuenti (mostly in Spain), and XING[4] in parts of Europe;[5] Hi5 and Orkut in South America and Central America;[6] Mxit in Africa;[7] and Cyworld, Mixi, Orkut, renren, weibo and Wretch in Asia and the Pacific Islands.
There have been attempts to standardize these services to avoid the need to duplicate entries of friends and interests (see the FOAF standard and the Open Source Initiative[clarification needed]). A 2011 survey found that 47% of American adults use a social networking service.[8]
History
The potential for computer networking to facilitate newly improved forms of computer-mediated social interaction was suggested early on.[9] Efforts to support social networks via computer-mediated communication were made in many early online services, including Usenet,[10] 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.[11] Early social networking on the World Wide Web began in the form of generalized online communities such as Theglobe.com (1995),[12] Geocities (1994) and Tripod.com (1995). Many of these early communities focused on bringing people together to interact with each other through chat rooms, and encouraged users to share personal information and ideas via personal webpages by providing easy-to-use publishing tools and free or inexpensive webspace. Some communities - such as Classmates.com - took a different approach by simply having people link to each other via email addresses. In the late 1990s, user profiles became a central feature of social networking sites, allowing users to compile lists of "friends" and search for other users with similar interests. New social networking methods were developed by the end of the 1990s, and many sites began to develop more advanced features for users to find and manage friends.[13] This newer generation of social networking sites began to flourish with the emergence of SixDegrees.com in 1997,[14] followed by Makeoutclub in 2000,[15][16] Hub Culture and Friendster in 2002,[17] 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,[18] launched in 2004, became the largest social networking site in the world[19] in early 2009.[20]
Social impact
Web-based social networking services make it possible to connect people who share interests and activities across political, economic, and geographic borders.[21] Through e-mail and instant messaging, online communities are created where a gift economy and reciprocal altruism are encouraged through cooperation. Information is particularly suited to gift economy, as information is a nonrival good and can be gifted at practically no cost.[22][23]
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,[24] social capital, youth culture, and education.[25]
Several websites are beginning to tap into the power of the social networking model for philanthropy. Such models provide a means for connecting otherwise fragmented industries and small organizations without the resources to reach a broader audience with interested users.[26] Social networks are providing a different way for individuals to communicate digitally. These communities of hypertexts allow for the sharing of information and ideas, an old concept placed in a digital environment.
In 2011, HCL Technologies conducted research that showed that 50% of British employers had banned the use of social networking sites/services during office hours.[27][28]
Features
Typical features
According to Boyd and Ellison's (2007) article, "Why Youth (Heart) Social Network Sites: The Role of Networked Publics in Teenage Social Life", social networking sites share a variety of technical features that allow individuals to: construct a public/semi-public profile, articulate a list of other users that they share a connection with, and view their list of connections within the system. The most basic of these are visible profiles with a list of "friends" who are also users of the site. In an article entitled "Social Network Sites: Definition, History, and Scholarship," Boyd and Ellison adopt Sunden's (2003) description of profiles as unique pages where one can "type oneself into being."[29] A profile is generated from answers to questions, such as age, location, interests, etc. Some sites allow users to upload pictures, add multimedia content or modify the look and feel of the profile. Others, e.g., Facebook, allow users to enhance their profile by adding modules or "Applications."[29] Many sites allow users to post blog entries, search for others with similar interests and compile and share lists of contacts. User profiles often have a section dedicated to comments from friends and other users. To protect user privacy, social networks typically have controls that allow users to choose who can view their profile, contact them, add them to their list of contacts, and so on.
Additional features
Some social networks have additional features, such as the ability to create groups that share common interests or affiliations, upload or stream live videos, and hold discussions in forums. Geosocial networking co-opts Internet mapping services to organize user participation around geographic features and their attributes.
There is a trend towards more interoperability between social networks led by technologies such as OpenID and OpenSocial. In most mobile communities, mobile phone users can now create their own profiles, make friends, participate in chat rooms, create chat rooms, hold private conversations, share photos and videos, and share blogs by using their mobile phone. Some companies provide wireless services that allow their customers to build their own mobile community and brand it; one of the most popular wireless services for social networking in North America is Facebook Mobile.
Emerging trends
The things you share are things that make you look good, things which you are happy to tie into your identity.
While the popularity of social networking consistently rises,[31] new uses for the technology are frequently being observed.
At the forefront of emerging trends in social networking sites is the concept of "real-time web" and "location-based." Real-time allows users to contribute contents, which is then broadcast as it is being uploaded - the concept is analogous to live radio and television broadcasts. Twitter set the trend for "real-time" services, wherein users can broadcast to the world what they are doing, or what is on their minds within a 140-character limit. Facebook followed suit with their "Live Feed" where users' activities are streamed as soon as it happens. While Twitter focuses on words, Clixtr, another real-time service, focuses on group photo sharing wherein users can update their photo streams with photos while at an event. Facebook, however, remains the largest photo sharing site - Facebook application and photo aggregator Pixable estimates that Facebook will have 100 billion photos by Summer 2012 .[32] In April, 2012, the image-based social media network Pinterest had become the third largest social network in the United States.[33]
Companies have begun to merge business technologies and solutions, such as cloud computing, with social networking concepts. Instead of connecting individuals based on social interest, companies are developing interactive communities that connect individuals based on shared business needs or experiences. Many provide specialized networking tools and applications that can be accessed via their websites, such as LinkedIn. Others companies, such as Monster.com, have been steadily developing a more "socialized" feel to their career center sites to harness some of the power of social networking sites. These more business related sites have their own nomenclature for the most part but the most common naming conventions are "Vocational Networking Sites" or "Vocational Media Networks", with the former more closely tied to individual networking relationships based on social networking principles.
Foursquare gained popularity as it allowed for users to "check-in" to places that they are frequenting at that moment. Gowalla is another such service that functions in much the same way that Foursquare does, leveraging the GPS in phones to create a location-based user experience. Clixtr, though in the real-time space, is also a location-based social networking site, since events created by users are automatically geotagged, and users can view events occurring nearby through the Clixtr iPhone app. Recently, Yelp announced its entrance into the location-based social networking space through check-ins with their mobile app; whether or not this becomes detrimental to Foursquare or Gowalla is yet to be seen, as it is still considered a new space in the Internet technology industry.[34]
One popular use for this new technology is social networking between businesses. Companies have found that social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter are great ways to build their brand image. According to Jody Nimetz, author of Marketing Jive,[35] there are five major uses for businesses and social media: to create brand awareness, as an online reputation management tool, for recruiting, to learn about new technologies and competitors, and as a lead generation tool to intercept potential prospects.[35] These companies are able to drive traffic to their own online sites while encouraging their consumers and clients to have discussions on how to improve or change products or services.
Social networking services have also become a mainstream topic of academic study in various disciplines. For example, social networking services are highly relevant to technoself studies which focus on all aspects of human identity in a technological society.
Social networks and science
One other use that is being discussed is the use of social networks in the science communities. Julia Porter Liebeskind et al. have published a study on how new biotechnology firms are using social networking sites to share exchanges in scientific knowledge.[36] They state in their study that by sharing information and knowledge with one another, they are able to "increase both their learning and their flexibility in ways that would not be possible within a self-contained hierarchical organization." Social networking is allowing scientific groups to expand their knowledge base and share ideas, and without these new means of communicating their theories might become "isolated and irrelevant".
Social networks and education
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5f/Two_competitions_for_ESO%27s_50th_anniversary.jpg/220px-Two_competitions_for_ESO%27s_50th_anniversary.jpg)
The advent of social networking platforms may also be impacting the way(s) in which learners engage with technology in general. For a number of years, Prensky's (2001) dichotomy between Digital Natives and Digital Immigrants has been considered a relatively accurate representation of the ease with which people of a certain age range—in particular those born before and after 1980—use technology. Prensky's theory has been largely disproved, however, and not least on account of the burgeoning popularity of social networking sites and other metaphors such as White and Le Cornu's "Visitors" and "Residents" (2011) are greater currency.
The use of online social networks by school libraries is also increasingly prevalent and they are being used to communicate with potential library users, as well as extending the services provided by individual school libraries.
Social networks and their educational uses are of interest to many researchers. According to Livingstone and Brake (2010), “Social networking sites, like much else on the Internet, represent a moving target for researchers and policy makers.”[38] Recent trends indicate that 47% of American adults use a social network.[39] A national survey in 2009 found that 73% of online teenagers use SNS, which is an increase from 55% three years earlier. (Lenhart, Purcell, Smith, & Zickuhr, 2010)[40] Recent studies have shown that social network services provide opportunities within professional education, curriculum education, and learning. However, there are constraints in this area. Researches, especially in Africa, have disclosed that the use of social networks among students have been known to negatively affect their academic life. This is buttressed by the fact that their use constitutes distractions, as well as that the students tend to invest a good deal of time in the use of such technologies.
Professional uses within education
Professional use of social networking services refers to the employment of a network site to connect with other professionals within a given field of interest. SNSs like LinkedIn, a social networking website geared towards companies and industry professionals looking to make new business contacts or keep in touch with previous co-workers, affiliates, and clients. Other network sites are now being used in this manner, Twitter has become [a] mainstay for professional development as well as promotion[41] and online SNSs support both the maintenance of existing social ties and the formation of new connections. Much of the early research on online communities assume that individuals using these systems would be connecting with others outside their preexisting social group or location, liberating them to form communities around shared interests, as opposed to shared geography.[42] Other researchers have suggested that the professional use of network sites produce “social capital.” For individuals, social capital allows a person to draw on resources from other members of the networks to which he or she belongs. These resources can take the form of useful information, personal relationships, or the capacity to organize groups. As well, networks within these services also can be established or built by joining special interest groups that others have made, or creating one and asking others to join.[43]
Curriculum uses within education
According to Doering, Beach and O’Brien, a future English curriculum needs to recognize a major shift in how adolescents are communicating with each other.[44] Curriculum uses of social networking services also can include sharing curriculum-related resources. Educators tap into user-generated content to find and discuss curriculum-related content for students. Responding to the popularity of social networking services among many students, teachers are increasingly using social networks to supplement teaching and learning in traditional classroom environments as they can provide new opportunities for enriching existing curriculum through creative, authentic and/or flexible, non-linear learning experiences.[45] Some social networks, such as English, baby! and LiveMocha, are explicitly education-focused and couple instructional content with an educational peer environment.[46] The new Web 2.0 technologies built into most social networking services promote conferencing, interaction, creation, research on a global scale, enabling educators to share, remix, and repurpose curriculum resources. In short, social networking services can become research networks as well as learning networks.[47]
Learning uses within education
Educators and advocates of new digital literacies are confident that social networking encourages the development of transferable, technical, and social skills of value in formal and informal learning.[48] In a formal learning environment, goals or objectives are determined by an outside department or agency. Tweeting, instant messaging, or blogging enhances student involvement. Students who would not normally participate in class are more apt to partake through social network services. Networking allows participants the opportunity for just-in-time learning and higher levels of engagement.[49] The use of SNSs allow educators to enhance the prescribed curriculum. When learning experiences are infused into a website, students utilize everyday for fun, students realize that learning can and should be a part of everyday life. It does not have to be separate and unattached.[50] Informal learning consists of the learner setting the goals and objectives. It has been claimed that media no longer just influence our culture. They are our culture.[51] With such a high number of users between the ages of 13-18, a number of skills are developed. Participants hone technical skills in choosing to navigate through social networking services. This includes elementary items such as sending an instant message or updating a status. The development of new media skills are paramount in helping youth navigate the digital world with confidence. Social networking services foster learning through what Jenkins (2006) describes as a "Participatory Culture."[52] A participatory culture consists of a space that allows engagement, sharing, mentoring, and an opportunity for social interaction. Participants of social network services avail of this opportunity. Informal learning, in the forms of participatory and social learning online, is an excellent tool for teachers to sneak in material and ideas that students will identify with and therefore, in a secondary manner, students will learn skills that would normally be taught in a formal setting in the more interesting and engaging environment of social learning.[53] Sites like Twitter provide students with the opportunity to converse and collaborate with others in real time. Social networking services provide a virtual “space” for learners. James Gee (2004) suggests that affinity spaces instantiate participation, collaboration, distribution, dispersion of expertise, and relatedness.[54] Registered users share and search for knowledge which contributes to informal learning.
Constraints of social networking services in education
In the past, social networking services were viewed as a distraction and offered no educational benefit. Blocking these social networks was a form of protection for students against wasting time, bullying, and invasions of privacy. In an educational setting, Facebook, for example, is seen by many instructors and educators as a frivolous, time-wasting distraction from schoolwork, and it is not uncommon to be banned in junior high or high school computer labs.[50] Cyberbullying has become an issue of concern with social networking services. According to the UK Children Go Online survey of 9-19 year olds, it was found that a third have received bullying comments online.[55] To avoid this problem, many school districts/boards have blocked access to social networking services such as Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter within the school environment. Social networking services often include a lot of personal information posted publicly, and many believe that sharing personal information is a window into privacy theft. Schools have taken action to protect students from this. It is believed that this outpouring of identifiable information and the easy communication vehicle that social networking services opens the door to sexual predators, cyberbullying, and cyberstalking.[56] In contrast, however, 70% of social media using teens and 85% of adults believe that people are mostly kind to one another on social network sites[40] Recent research suggests that there has been a shift in blocking the use of social networking services. In many cases, the opposite is occurring as the potential of online networking services is being realized. It has been suggested that if schools block them [social networking services], they’re preventing students from learning the skills they need.[41] Banning social networking […] is not only inappropriate but also borderline irresponsible when it comes to providing the best educational experiences for students.[57] Schools and school districts have the option of educating safe media usage as well as incorporating digital media into the classroom experience, thus preparing students for the literacy they will encounter in the future.
Social networks and grassroots organizing
Social networks are being used by activists as a means of low-cost grassroots organizing. Extensive use of an array of social networking sites enabled organizers of the 2009 National Equality March to mobilize an estimated 200,000 participants to march on Washington with a cost savings of up to 85% per participant over previous methods.[58] The August 2011 England riots were similarly considered to have escalated and been fuelled by this type of grassroots organization.
Social networks and employment
A final rise in social network use is being driven by college students using the services to network with professionals for internship and job opportunities. Many studies have been done on the effectiveness of networking online in a college setting, and one notable one is by Phipps Arabie and Yoram Wind published in Advances in Social Network Analysis.[59]
Many schools have implemented online alumni directories which serve as makeshift social networks that current and former students can turn to for career advice. However, these alumni directories tend to suffer from an oversupply of advice-seekers and an undersupply of advice providers. One new social networking service, Ask-a-peer, aims to solve this problem by enabling advice seekers to offer modest compensation to advisers for their time.
Social network hosting service
A social network hosting service is a web hosting service that specifically hosts the user creation of web-based social networking services, alongside related applications. Such services are also known as vertical social networks due to the creation of SNSes that cater to specific user interests and niches; like larger, interest-agnostic SNSes, such niche networking services may also possess the ability to create increasingly niche groups of users.
Social trading networks
A social trading network is a service that allows traders of financial derivatives such as Contracts for Difference or Foreign Exchange Contracts to share their trading activity via trading profiles online. Such services are created by financial brokers.
Business model
Few social networks charge money for membership. In part, this may be because social networking is a relatively new service, and the value of using them has not been firmly established in customers' minds.[citation needed] Companies such as MySpace and Facebook sell online advertising on their site. Their business model is based upon large membership count, and charging for membership would be counterproductive.[60] Some believe that the deeper information that the sites have on each user will allow much better targeted advertising than any other site can currently provide.[61]
Social networks operate under an autonomous business model, in which a social network's members serve dual roles as both the suppliers and the consumers of content. This is in contrast to a traditional business model, where the suppliers and consumers are distinct agents. Revenue is typically gained in the autonomous business model via advertisements, but subscription-based revenue is possible when membership and content levels are sufficiently high.[62]
Social interaction
Put simply, social networking is a way for one person to meet up with other people on the Internet. People use social networking sites for meeting new friends, finding old friends, or locating people who have the same problems or interests they have, called niche networking.
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.[63] One online dating site claims that 2% of all marriages begin at its site, the equivalent of 236 marriages a day. Other sites claim one in five relationships begin online.
Social networking sites play a vital role in this area as well. Being able to meet someone as a "friend" and see what common interests you share and how you have built up your friend base and "likes" you can truly see a fuller picture of the person you are talking with. Most sites are free instead of being pay 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. While not the intended or original use for these social sites, a large area of their current function has stemmed from people wanting to meet other people in person and with the extremely busy schedules of most people, it is a fast, reliable and easy way in which to do so that costs you little time and money (if any). Users do not necessarily share with others the content which is of most interest to them, but rather that which projects a good impression of themselves.[30]
Issues
Privacy
Privacy concerns with social networking services have been raised growing concerns amongst users on the dangers of giving out too much personal information and the threat of sexual predators. Users of these services also need to be aware of data theft or viruses. However, large services, such as MySpace and Netlog, often work with law enforcement to try to prevent such incidents.[citation needed]
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.[64]
In medical and scientific research, asking subjects for information about their behaviors is normally strictly scrutinized by institutional review boards, for example, to ensure that adolescents and their parents have informed consent. It is not clear whether the same rules apply to researchers who collect data from social networking sites. These sites often contain a great deal of data that is hard to obtain via traditional means. Even though the data are public, republishing it in a research paper might be considered invasion of privacy.[65]
Privacy on social networking sites can be undermined by many factors. For example, users may disclose personal information, sites may not take adequate steps to protect user privacy, and third parties frequently use information posted on social networks for a variety of purposes. "For the Net generation, social networking sites have become the preferred forum for social interactions, from posturing and role playing to simply sounding off. However, because such forums are relatively easy to access, posted content can be reviewed by anyone with an interest in the users' personal information".[66][67][68]
Following plans by the UK government to monitor traffic on social networks[69] schemes similar to e-mail jamming have been proposed for networks such as Twitter and Facebook. These would involve "friending" and "following" large numbers of random people to thwart attempts at network analysis.
Privacy concerns have been found to differ between users according to gender and personality. Women are less likely to publish information that reveals methods of contacting them. Personality measures openness, extraversion, and conscientiousness were found to positively affect the willingness to disclose data, while neuroticism decreases the willingness to disclose personal information.[70]
Data mining
Through data mining, companies are able to improve their sales and profitability. With this data, companies create customer profiles that contain customer demographics and online behavior. A recent strategy has been the purchase and production of "network analysis software". This software is able to sort out through the influx of social networking data for any specific company.[71] Facebook has been especially important to marketing strategists. Facebook's controversial "Social Ads" program gives companies access to the millions of profiles in order to tailor their ads to a Facebook user's own interests and hobbies. However, rather than sell actual user information, Facebook sells tracked "social actions". That is, they track the websites a user uses outside of Facebook through a program called Facebook Beacon.[72]
Notifications on websites
There has been a trend for social networking sites to send out only "positive" notifications to users. For example sites such as Bebo, Facebook, and MySpace will not send notifications to users when they are removed from a person's friends list. Likewise, Bebo will send out a notification if a user is moved to the top of another user's friends list but no notification is sent if they are moved down the list.
This allows users to purge undesirables from their list extremely easily and often without confrontation since a user will rarely notice if one person disappears from their friends list. It also enforces the general positive atmosphere of the website without drawing attention to unpleasant happenings such as friends falling out, rejection and failed relationships.
Access to information
Many social networking services, such as Facebook, provide the user with a choice of who can view their profile. This prevents unauthorized user(s) from accessing their information.[73] Parents who want to access their child's MySpace or Facebook account have become a big problem for teenagers who do not want their profile seen by their parents. By making their profile private, teens can select who may see their page, allowing only people added as "friends" to view their profile and preventing unwanted viewing of the profile by parents. Most teens are constantly trying to create a structural barrier between their private life and their parents.[74]
To edit information on a certain social networking service account, the social networking sites require you to login or provide a password. This prevents unauthorized user(s) from adding, changing, or removing personal information, pictures, and/or other data.
See also: Unauthorized access in online social networks
Potential for misuse
The relative freedom afforded by social networking services has caused concern regarding the potential of its misuse by individual patrons. In October 2006, a fake MySpace profile created in the name of Josh Evans by Lori Janine Drew led to the suicide of Megan Meier.[75][failed verification][76] The event incited global concern regarding the use of social networking services for bullying purposes.
In July 2008, a Briton, Grant Raphael, was ordered to pay a total of GBP £22,000 (about USD $44,000) for libel and breach of privacy. Raphael had posted a fake page on Facebook purporting to be that of a former schoolfriend Matthew Firsht, with whom Raphael had fallen out in 2000. The page falsely claimed that Firsht was homosexual and that he was dishonest.[citation needed]
At the same time, genuine use of social networking services has been treated with suspicion on the ground of the services' misuse. In September 2008, the profile of Australian Facebook user Elmo Keep was banned by the site's administrators on the grounds that it violated the site's terms of use. Keep is one of several users of Facebook who were banned from the site on the presumption that their names aren't real, as they bear resemblance to the names of characters like Sesame Street's Elmo.[77]
Unauthorized access
There are different forms where user data in social networks are accessed and updated without a user's permission. One study[78] highlighted that the most common incidents included inappropriate comments posted on social networking sites (43%), messages sent to contacts that were never authored (25%) and change of personal details (24%). The most incidents[79] are carried out by the victim's friends (36%) or partners (21%) and one in ten victims say their ex-partner has logged into their account without prior consent.[80][81] The survey found that online social network accounts had been subject to unauthorised access in 60 million cases in 2011.[82]
Risk for child safety
Citizens and governments have been concerned with misuse by child and teenagers of social networking services, in particular in relation to online sexual predators. Overuse of social networking may also make children more susceptible to depression and anxiety.[83]
A certain number of actions have been engaged by governments to better understand the problem and find some solutions.[specify] A 2008 panel concluded that technological fixes such as age verification and scans are relatively ineffective means of apprehending online predators.[84] In May 2010, a child pornography social networking site with hundreds of members was dismantled by law enforcement. It was deemed "the largest crimes against children case brought anywhere by anyone".[85]
Social networking can also be a risk to child safety in another way; parents can get addicted to games and neglect their children. One instance in South Korea resulted in the death of a child from starvation.[86]
Law enforcement agencies have published articles with their recommendations to parents about their children's use of social networking sites.[87][88]
Trolling
A common misuse of social networking sites such as Facebook is that it is occasionally used to emotionally abuse individuals. Such actions are often referred to as trolling. It is not rare for confrontations in the real world to be translated online. [citation needed] Trolling can occur in many different forms, such as (but not limited to) defacement of deceased person(s) tribute pages, name calling, playing online pranks on volatile individuals and controversial comments with the intention to cause anger and cause arguments. Trolling is not to be confused with cyber-bullying.
Online bullying
Online bullying, also called 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”.[89] danah boyd, a researcher of social networks quotes a teenager in her article, "Why Youth (Heart) Social Network Sites". The teenager expresses frustration towards networking sites like MySpace because it causes drama and too much emotional stress.[90] There are not many limitations as to what individuals can post when online. Individuals are given the power to post offensive remarks or pictures that could potentially cause a great amount of emotional pain for another individual.
Interpersonal communication
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2e/Personality_and_gender_word_cloud_for_social_media.png/220px-Personality_and_gender_word_cloud_for_social_media.png)
Interpersonal communication has been a growing issue as more and more people have turned to social networking as a means of communication. "Benniger (1987) describes how mass media has gradually replaced interpersonal communication as a socializing force. Further, social networking sites have become popular sites for youth culture to explore themselves, relationships, and share cultural artifacts".[91]
Many teens and social networking users may be harming their interpersonal communication by using sites such as Facebook and MySpace. Stated by Baroness Greenfield, an Oxford University neuroscientist, "My fear is that these technologies are infantilizing the brain into the state of small children who are attracted by buzzing noises and bright lights, who have a small attention span and who live for the moment".[92]
The convenience that social network sites give users to communicate with one another can also damage their interpersonal communication. Sherry Turkle, the founder and director of the MIT Initiative on Technology and Self, stated, “Networked, we are together, but so lessened are our expectations of each other that we feel utterly alone. And there is the risk that we come to see others as objects to be accessed--and only for the parts we find useful, comforting, or amusing”.[93] Furthermore, social network sites can create insincere friendships, Turkle also noted, “They nurture friendships on social-networking sites and then wonder if they are among friends. They become confused about companionship”.[94]
Psychological effects of social networking
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.[95] Social networking can also affect the extent to which a person feels lonely. In a Newsweek article, Johannah Cornblatt explains “Social-networking sites like Facebook and MySpace may provide people with a false sense of connection that ultimately increases loneliness in people who feel alone”. John T. Cacioppo, a neuroscientist at the University of Chicago, claims that social networking can foster feelings of sensitivity to disconnection, which can lead to loneliness.[96] However some scholars have expressed that concerns about social networking are often exaggerated and poorly researched .[97]
Patents
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fb/Soc-net-paten-growth-chart.png/300px-Soc-net-paten-growth-chart.png)
There has been rapid growth in the number of U.S. patent applications that cover new technologies related to social networking. The number of published applications has been growing rapidly since 2003. There are now over 3,500 published applications. As many as 7,000 applications may be currently on file including those that haven't been published yet.[98] Only about 400 of these applications have issued as patents,[99] however, due largely to the multi-year backlog in examination of business method patents and the difficulty in getting these patent applications allowed.[100]
It has been reported that social networking patents are important for the establishment of new start-up companies.[101] It has also been reported, however, that social networking patents inhibit innovation.[102] On June 15, 2010, the United States Patent and Trademark Office awarded Amazon.com a patent for a "Social Networking System" based on its ownership of PlanetAll.[103] The patent describes a Social Networking System as
A networked computer system provides various services for assisting users in locating, and establishing contact relationships with, other users. For example, in one embodiment, users can identify other users based on their affiliations with particular schools or other organizations. The system also provides a mechanism for a user to selectively establish contact relationships or connections with other users, and to grant permissions for such other users to view personal information of the user. The system may also include features for enabling users to identify contacts of their respective contacts. In addition, the system may automatically notify users of personal information updates made by their respective contacts.[104]
The patent has garnered attention due to its similarity to the popular social networking site Facebook.[105]
Worker's rights
What types of speech workers are protected from being fired for on social networking websites has been an issue for American companies with over 100 complaints as of 2011 on this topic having been made to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).[106] The National Labor Relations Act protects workers from being fired for "protected concerted activity", which prevents workers from being fired for collective action, while allowing companies the right to fire workers for individual actions they take against the company.[106] Companies are concerned with the potential damage comments online can do to public image due to their visibility and accessibility, but despite over 100 cases being presented thus far to NLRB only one has led to a formal ruling, leaving uncertainty as to the boundaries of what types of speech the NLRB will ultimately put in place.[106]
Decentralized architecture
Most of the existing SNS sites use one or multiple dedicated data centers to serve all its users. Such infrastructure-based systems faces over-provisioning during non-peak hours, while may encounter service outage during peak hours, due to the highly dynamic of SNS users' activities. There are several proposals, leveraging a decentralized architecture to ensure the scalability of SNS sites with low infrastructure cost. These proposals include Fethr[107] uaOSN,[108] and Cuckoo.[109]
Virtual identity suicide
There is a growing number of social network users who decide to quit their user account by committing a so-called virtual identity suicide or Web 2.0 suicide. A 2013 study in the journal CyberPsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking investigated this phenomenon from the perspective of Facebook users. The number one reason for these users was privacy concerns (48%), being followed by a general dissatisfaction with the social networking website (14%), negative aspects regarding social network friends (13%) and the feeling of getting addicted to the social networking website (6%). Facebook quitters were found to be more concerned about privacy, more addicted to the Internet and more conscientious.[110]
Breaking up
Breaking-up with a significant other is never easy to do, and new technologies are starting to make the process easier, but also less personal. Sites such as Facebook are becoming increasingly popular tools for methods of ending relationships, proving that although new media is being used as a tool for connecting with individuals, it is now creating new problems associated with disconnecting from others.[111] Instead of the traditional phone call or face-to-face interaction between individuals, people are now starting to end relationships by simply changing their relationship status, knowing full-well that their significant other will see it shortly. The problem with that is that you are left with no closure and the entire online world now knows you are no longer in a relationship.[112] In a 2010 study conducted online, nearly one-quarter of the 1,000 individuals surveyed found out that their own relationship was over by seeing it on Facebook.[113] New media websites have made our private lives much more public, especially when it comes to breaking up, since updates are able to be immediately viewed by everyone in our networks (which tend to be more people than we would normally tell personally); for example, having friends comment on your newly changed “single” relationship status, and having to explain what happened can be distressing.
This creates further problems, as it is even more crucial to ‘save face’ after one’s relationship has been broken when one is connected to new media technologies. Erving Goffman argues that all social life boils down to face-to-face interactions. These interpersonal interactions are mediated by what Goffman terms as “face-work”, which are the actions undertaken to maintain consistency with one’s face, and to uphold the expressive order of social situations. Individuals attempt to keep a positive image of the self when interacting with others, and in order to do so, they may have to alter their appearance or manner in some way.[114] Such face-work can also be seen in new technologies, especially social media websites such as Facebook. If someone breaks-up with you, you can actively choose what "face" you want to present to your friends, including your ex. You can choose to either post sad updates, which is the most natural thing you would want to do, or you can "save face" by posting happy updates and pictures of you going out with your friends. Even though you may be absolutely heartbroken within, Facebook allows you to hide your true feelings from the online world, and from your ex, by manipulating your profile. New media is being utilized as a tool for helping users present a desirable image of themselves, enabling them to save face in difficult situations. Nearly 35% of respondents in a study admitted to using their Facebook status to make someone think that they had plans, even if they did not.[113]
Many people find that the only way to really move on from a past relationship is to cut the person out of their life completely. Social media has made this process much more complicated and difficult. In a 2012 study, 48% of the participants stated they had remained friends with their ex on Facebook, and of these people, 88% stated they ‘creeped’ their ex after the breakup.[115] Keeping your ex on Facebook can cause much distress, as you are forced to see what they are doing (and often, it can be with a new partner). Moreover, the fact that Facebook acts as a digital archive can also make it difficult to move on after a breakup, as re-reading and over-analyzing old messages and wall posts, and looking through tagged photos with an ex can be a major source of distress. This is due to the fact it often causes one to remember the good parts of a relationship, leading to feelings of confusion about the breakup.[115] These digital social networking sites leave behind a trail of one’s interactions,[116] so deleting content it is an arduous process, and it forces us to re-read the content, thus re-creating the memories. This is much more difficult than simply burning or throwing away an entire box of letters, photos, and mementos.[117] Additionally, this content can still remain online; for example, after you un-tag yourself from a photo, the photo may still remain in a mutual friend’s photo album that is easily accessible. These digital traces make it extremely difficult to forget the relationship and leave it behind. For those who do wish to remove their ex from Facebook without going through the hassle of sifting through their content can turn to the Killswitch application, which removes all traces of your relationship with your ex for a fee. This does not ensure the complete removal of your ex from your life though, as 70% of those who deleted their ex still attempted to creep their page in other ways, such as through using a friend’s account.[115]
There are several proposed reasons behind why some individuals choose to keep their ex-partner as a friend on Facebook, such as: it is hard to re-add them later, your ex could be offended, it could be socially awkward if you run into them, it feels very final, you still may hear about your ex through friends, and concerns about what your mutual friends will think.[115]
In her 2012 study, Lukacs suggests there are multiple strategies one can use to cope with a breakup in the age of social media:[115]
- Deleting/blocking one's ex
- Unsubscribing from posts by one's ex
- Deleting mutual friends
- Using self-restraint
- Purging old photos from Facebook
- Not specifying an individual in one's relationship status
- Removing one's relationship status altogether
- Staying busy; minimizing computer usage
- Changing one's password
- Deactivating or deleting one's Facebook account
Investigations
Social networking services are increasingly being used in legal and criminal investigations. Information posted on sites such as MySpace and Facebook has been used by police (forensic profiling), probation, and university officials to prosecute users of said sites. In some situations, content posted on MySpace has been used in court.[118]
Facebook is increasingly being used by school administrations and law enforcement agencies as a source of evidence against student users. This site being the number one online destination for college students, allows users to create profile pages with personal details. These pages can be viewed by other registered users from the same school, which often include resident assistants and campus police who have signed up for the service.[119] One UK police force has sifted pictures from Facebook and arrested some people who had been photographed in a public place holding a weapon such as a knife (having a weapon in a public place is illegal).[120]
Application domains
Government applications
Social networking is more recently being used by various government agencies. Social networking tools serve as a quick and easy way for the government to get the opinion of the public and to keep the public updated on their activity. The Centers for Disease Control demonstrated the importance of vaccinations on the popular children's site Whyville and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has a virtual island on Second Life where people can explore underground caves or explore the effects of global warming.[121] Likewise, NASA has taken advantage of a few social networking tools, including Twitter and Flickr. They are using these tools to aid the Review of U.S. Human Space Flight Plans Committee, whose goal it is to ensure that the nation is on a vigorous and sustainable path to achieving its boldest aspirations in space.[122]
Business applications
The use of social networking services in an enterprise context presents the potential of having a major impact on the world of business and work (Fraser & Dutta 2008) .
Social networks connect people at low cost; this can be beneficial for entrepreneurs and small businesses looking to expand their contact bases. These networks often act as a customer relationship management tool for companies selling products and services. Companies can also use social networks for advertising in the form of banners and text ads. Since businesses operate globally, social networks can make it easier to keep in touch with contacts around the world.
Applications for social networking sites have extended toward businesses and brands are creating their own, high functioning sites, a sector known as brand networking. It is the idea that a brand can build its consumer relationship by connecting their consumers to the brand image on a platform that provides them relative content, elements of participation, and a ranking or score system. Brand networking is a new way to capitalize on social trends as a marketing tool.
The power of social networks it beginning to permeate into internal culture of businesses where they are finding uses for collaboration, file sharing and knowledge transfer. The term Enterprise Social Software is becoming increasingly popular for these types of applications.
Dating applications
Many social networks provide an online environment for people to communicate and exchange personal information for dating purposes. Intentions can vary from looking for a one time date, short-term relationships, and long-term relationships.[123]
Most of these social networks, just like online dating services, require users to give out certain pieces of information. This usually includes a user's age, gender, location, interests, and perhaps a picture. Releasing very personal information is usually discouraged for safety reasons.[124] This allows other users to search or be searched by some sort of criteria, but at the same time people can maintain a degree of anonymity similar to most online dating services. Online dating sites are similar to social networks in the sense that users create profiles to meet and communicate with others, but their activities on such sites are for the sole purpose of finding a person of interest to date. Social networks do not necessarily have to be for dating; many users simply use it for keeping in touch with friends, and colleagues.[125]
However, an important difference between social networks and online dating services is the fact that online dating sites usually require a fee, where social networks are free.[126] This difference is one of the reasons the online dating industry is seeing a massive decrease in revenue due to many users opting to use social networking services instead. Many popular online dating services such as Match.com, Yahoo Personals, and eHarmony.com are seeing a decrease in users, where social networks like MySpace and Facebook are experiencing an increase in users.[127]
The number of Internet users in the United States that visit online dating sites has fallen from a peak of 21% in 2003 to 10% in 2006.[128] Whether its the cost of the services, the variety of users with different intentions, or any other reason, it is undeniable that social networking sites are quickly becoming the new way to find dates online.
Educational applications
The National School Boards Association reports that almost 60% of students who use social networking talk about education topics online, and more than 50% talk specifically about schoolwork. Yet the vast majority of school districts have stringent rules against nearly all forms of social networking during the school day—even though students and parents report few problem behaviors online.
Social networks focused on supporting relationships between teachers and their students are now used for learning, educator professional development, and content sharing. Ning for teachers, TermWiki, Learn Central,[129] TeachStreet and other sites are being built to foster relationships that include educational blogs, eportfolios, formal and ad hoc communities, as well as communication such as chats, discussion threads, and synchronous forums. These sites also have content sharing and rating features.
Social networks are also emerging as online yearbooks, both public and private. One such service is MyYearbook, which allows anyone from the general public to register and connect. A new trend emerging is private label yearbooks accessible only by students, parents, and teachers of a particular school, similar to Facebook's beginning within Harvard.[citation needed]
Finance applications
The use of virtual currency systems inside social networks create new opportunities for global finance. Hub Culture operates a virtual currency Ven used for global transactions among members, product sales[130] and financial trades in commodities and carbon credits.[131][132] In May 2010, Carbon pricing contracts were introduced to the weighted basket of currencies and commodities that determine the floating exchange value of Ven. The introduction of carbon to the calculation price of the currency made Ven the first and only currency that is linked to the environment.[133]
Medical and health applications
Social networks are beginning to be adopted by healthcare professionals as a means to manage institutional knowledge, disseminate peer to peer knowledge and to highlight individual physicians and institutions. The advantage of using a dedicated medical social networking site is that all the members are screened against the state licensing board list of practitioners.[134]
A new trend is emerging with social networks created to help its members with various physical and mental ailments.[135] For people suffering from life altering diseases, PatientsLikeMe offers its members the chance to connect with others dealing with similar issues and research patient data related to their condition. For alcoholics and addicts, SoberCircle gives people in recovery the ability to communicate with one another and strengthen their recovery through the encouragement of others who can relate to their situation. DailyStrength is also a website that offers support groups for a wide array of topics and conditions, including the support topics offered by PatientsLikeMe and SoberCircle.
Some social networks aim to encourage healthy lifestyles in their users. SparkPeople offers community and social networking tools for peer support during weight loss. Fitocracy and QUENTIQ are focused on exercise, enabling users to share their own workouts and comment on those of other users.
Social and political applications
Social networking sites have recently showed a value in social and political movements.[136] In the Egyptian revolution, Facebook and Twitter both played a pivotal role in keeping people connected to the revolt. Egyptian activists have credited social networking sites with providing a platform for planning protest and sharing news from Tahrir Square in real time. By presenting a platform for thousands of people to instantaneously share videos of mainly events featuring brutality, social networking proves to be a vital tool in revolutions.Cite error: The <ref>
tag has too many names (see the help page).
Open source software
There are a number of projects that aim to develop free and open source software to use for social networking services. The projects include Anahita Social Networking Engine,[137] Diaspora, Appleseed Project,[138] OneSocialWeb,[139] Kune, Movim, and Friendica. These technologies are often referred to as Social engine or Social networking engine software.
Market share
According to ComScore, up to end of November 2011:[140]
Worldwide | Unique Visitors |
---|---|
Facebook.com | 792,999,000 |
Twitter.com | 167,903,000 |
LinkedIn.com | 94,823,000 |
Google+ | 66,756,000 |
MySpace | 61,037,000 |
Others | 255,539,000 |
In the media
- In December 2010, Time Magazine named Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg as person of the year.
- Released in 2010, The Social Network is a film dramatizing the origin of Facebook.
See also
- Collective intelligence
- Comparison of Research Networking Tools and Research Profiling Systems
- Distributed social network
- Enterprise bookmarking
- Gender differences in social network service use
- Geosocial networking
- Internet think tanks
- Lateral diffusion
- List of social networking websites
- List of virtual communities with more than 100 million users
- Mass collaboration
- Mobile social network
- Personal Network
- Professional network service
- Social aspects of television
- Social bookmark link generator
- Social identity
- Social media
- Social network aggregation
- Social software
- Social television
- Virtual community
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Further reading
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
- Alemán, Ana M. Martínez; Wartman, Katherine Lynk, "Online social networking on campus: understanding what matters in student culture", New York and London : Routledge, 1st edition, 2009. ISBN 0-415-99019-X
- Barham, Nick, Disconnected: Why our kids are turning their backs on everything we thought we knew, 1st ed., Ebury Press, 2004. ISBN 0-09-189586-3
- Baron, Naomi S., Always on : language in an online and mobile world, Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, 2008. ISBN 978-0-19-531305-5
- Cockrell, Cathy, "Plumbing the mysterious practices of 'digital youth': In first public report from a 'seminal' study, UC Berkeley scholars shed light on kids' use of Web 2.0 tools", UC Berkeley News, University of California, Berkeley, NewsCenter, 28 April 2008
- Kelsey, Todd (2010), Social Networking Spaces: From Facebook to Twitter and Everything In Between, Springer-Verlag, ISBN 978-1-4302-2596-6
{{citation}}
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(help) - Davis, Donald Carrington, "MySpace Isn't Your Space: Expanding the Fair Credit Reporting Act to Ensure Accountability and Fairness in Employer Searches of Online Social Networking Services", 16 Kan. J.L. & Pub. Pol'y 237 (2007).
- Else, Liz; Turkle, Sherry. "Living online: I'll have to ask my friends", New Scientist, issue 2569, 20 September 2006. (interview)
- Glaser, Mark, Your Guide to Social Networking Online," PBS MediaShift, August 2007
- Powers, William, Hamlet’s Blackberry : a practical philosophy for building a good life in the digital age, 1st ed., New York : Harper, 2010. ISBN 978-0-06-168716-7
- Video on the History of social networks by WikiLecture
- C. Infant Louis Richards , "Advanced Techniques to overcome privacy issues and SNS threats" [3] October, 2011