Social Networking

In 1954, the sociologist A. J. Barnes first used the term ‘social network’ in describing the ways people interacted with each other in the real world. The term described the patterns in how people interacted with each other. He and other social scientists explored those patterns and attempted mapping out how people interacted. Over time, the term he first coined changed into way of thinking. His idea grew into a whole new way of looking at the world. What once described mapping of social patterns is now a new paradigm. This new paradigm or way of looking at how people socialize gained notoriety as people attempted to understand and describe what people were doing on the internet.

With the increasing use of the internet, researches began taking a new look at Barnes’ work when attempting to understand how people link and connect with each other. Questions arose as to “How do they communicate?” “Who do they communicate with?” From such questions, websites were developed that allowed people to interact and communicate. These new websites were referred to as “social network sites”. Some generational differences began showing up on the internet as well. The 35 year old and younger crowd gravitated toward social networking sites for their interacting, where as the older group persisted in using e-mail as the dominant means of communicating. The sociologists research became the way to understand and describe the new way people dealt with each other.

Social networking sites have become a popular phenomena on the internet with millions of users world wide. The site MySpace.com reported 114 million visitors in June of 2007. These numbers indicate how popular Social Network Sites are. This trend toward using social networking sites (SNS) is occurring world wide. Sites like Badoo in Europe (12 million), Cyworld in South Korea (21 million users), Hyves in the Netherland (3 million) Orkut (Owned by Google and popular in Brazil and India-67million)and Mixi in Japan (9 million) indicate SNS are global in scope.

Some of the other Social Networking Sites (SNS) include: 43 Things, Advogato, AllBusiness,Ashley Madison, Chechens, Bebo, Black Planet, Buzznet, Classmates, Del.icico.us, Flixter, Friendster, Fruhstucks, Grupthink, Lunar Storm, Monster.com. MyFamily, Plaxo Plus, SimplyHired, Sphere, and Virb. Some of these sites are open, while others are by invitation only. Each of the sites has a unique focus, function and audience.

These sites have also been collectively referred to as “Web 2.0”. The term itself was first used by Tim O’Reilly in describing what was occurring on the internet in 2004[1]. His comments were made during a conference on the use of media on the internet. He said, "Web 2.0 is the business revolution in the computer industry caused by the move to the internet as platform, and an attempt to understand the rules for success on that new platform." Like the internet itself, the term ‘Web 2.0’ continues evolving and now means using social networking sites, blogs, wikis, podcasts and rss feeds as a platform for sending a message to the public.

The social networking sites have experienced phenomenal growth (Facebook experienced 300% growth in 2006) both in terms of numbers of users and the rate of growth. Having monthly traffic in the millions is significant. Such large numbers have attracted the attention of businesses seeking ways of capturing the attention of the potential customers. As larger numbers of people are spending more time on their computers than in front of the television, the attention of the audience of consumers is no longer focused on the television or main stream media outlets. The audience is now focused on the computer, and visiting social network sites.

[1] Tim O’Reilly has attempted trademarking the term “web 2.0” since his catchword caught on in usage. His lawyers have aggressively pursued those using the term as a copyright infringement, especially the group that originally hosted the meeting where the term “Web 2.0” came into existence.

Not everyone has welcomed social networking. Although the youth have gravitated toward its use, schools and some members fo the business community have expressed reservations about this trend. Given the popularity and size of the social network sites, there is little likelihood that it is going away.

Some individuals have exploited social network sites in unsavory ways. MySpace and other networks have taken steps to prevent the exploitation of their users from predators and other unsavory types. Like many new technologies, there are risks and applications that need to be worked out.