Social Networking Sites

Social Media is a new twist on an old behavior. As a society, we love to share information, from news to weather, gossip and important updates. We send pictures; we call each other on the phone. Some of us still send letters in the post. We go for coffee. What we are doing differently now, is adding more time from our day into our social networks, built online, using technology provided free, available to anyone.

The ultimate goal of social media is to connect and to share, gathering what we like and need and sharing what we value and have mastered. They are a big buzzword in the world of Internet, and it is already such a big part of the Internet culture.

Due to the importance of social media and social networking sites, this report is for:

 Defining what a social networking site is?

 The history of social networking sites

 The roles and uses of this social networking sites

 The effect of social networking sites on our life

1. Definition:

We define social network sites as web-based services that allow individuals to construct a public or semi-public profile within a bounded system, articulate a list of other users with whom they share a connection, and view and traverse their list of connections and those made by others within the system. The nature and nomenclature of these connections may vary from site to site.

Social networking sites are an online service we can also say a “platform” that focuses on facilitating the building of social networks or social relations among people. Social networking sites allow users to share ideas, activities, events, and interests within their individual networks. We can say that social networking sites are a virtual environment where they share stories, pictures, videos, and participate in chat rooms with friends.

Social networks are relatively new aspect to the web that are really taking off. Many businesses, organizations, communities and families to promote themselves, communicate better with others, and to engage with their audience.

Types of social networking sites:

 Social networking: FB, Twitter, Myspace, Hi5, Bebo…

 Professional networks: LinkedIn, Plaxo, Spoke, Zoominfo…

 Social bookmarking: sites, which allow users to remember and organize Web sites and pages to return to later. The most popular websites are Digg, Delicious, Bookmarks…

 Forums: Meet up,

 Photo, video sharing: Youtube, Filckr

2. History:

After the wave of traditional sites and applications like (Windows live, Ebuddy…) which allowed users to create profiles, list their Friends, but although those Friends were not visible to others, the first recognizable social network site Named “SixDegrees.com” was in 1997. It was followed in 2002 by Friendster and MySpace a year later. Facebook came out in 2004 targeting college students, but when it opened to everyone, it grew exponentially to become the top social site. Two years later, Twitter was launched, and although a different approach, it created its own revolution within a short time.

3. Social Networking Sites uses:

a. For business

When we talk about technology and business, one major idea which comes into our mind is the use of social networking sites. Even before the Internet, social networking existed. In a nutshell, social networking is when a person uses already existing contacts to meet new people as potential social or business links. Such links, in turn, will help expand future connections. Small and local businesses can even do this simply by attending community events or participating in trade shows. Anything that gets the company name out there, or connects your company to helpful resources, is considered networking. Technology now makes this possible to do online, and not just face-to-face.

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