Human kind has always been known to be a social being. It is not surprising that he finds ways of making his life more fun-filled and enjoyable through interactions. Even with new developments in the way of doing things, for example, because of advancement in technology, the social man is not left behind. He is also dynamic and keeps changing with the changing world. It is with this background that mankind has taken social interactions to a completely newer level; to the internet. This is the most hyped topic in today’s world, and everyone is excited about social networking.
Through this topic I intend to inform my readers about the opportunities available in social networking. It should help them form an informed decision with regard to their perception about the internet and its influence on their social lives. Social networking refers to the interaction with other people and groups in an online social set up through a website. As an online service, it focuses on building social relationships among individuals with similar interests, backgrounds and who may wish to share interests. Facebook is one of the major social networking sites; others include MySpace, LinkedIn, Twitter among others. These websites give users a platform to interact and network by sharing interests, ideas, events and activities.
Facebook, with a population of about 845 million users all over the world currently represents the largest social networking site in the world. Mark Zuckerberg is the brain behind this popular website. He created it in the year 2004 as a student in Harvard for students. It later grew to the extent where people were able to sell movies and vehicles, lobby for votes in presidential elections and get together for protest movements. Most businesses have been able to advertise their goods and services on a global scale except in China where it has not been permitted.
Because of this large population and its ability to pass information very fast and easily and thus its use in advertising, this social network was deemed profitable. In February this year Facebook took a bold step to become an incorporated public company and filed for the sale of its shares on the stock market. It has been seen as a viable venture and follows the likes of Google and Netscape in the category of the largest ever known internet initial public offers.
Facebook engages in building tools to enable large numbers of users to connect, share, discover and communicate with one another. Developers as well are able to create social applications on this site and to integrate other websites with Facebook. All this is for purposes of enabling marketers and advertisers to network and interact with the potential consumers of their products. Menlo Park in California is where the Company’s headquarters are.
Its operation is simple; users are allowed to choose networks to which they wish to belong, for example a college or high school, a company or a geographical location. Every user has a profile which he maintains; this is a web page that contains such basic information as the user’s hometown, date of graduation and personal information like the user’s name, date of birth, and whether the user is in a relationship or not. At the top of the profile is a section where the user can update what they are doing. This is conveyed to other users who are connected with this user and can interact by commenting on it.
Users are free to interact with whomever they want through an icon designated as friends. A user who is invited by another user to be his or her friend is free to accept or reject the invite and thus controls who makes it to his or her friends’ list. There is a section named privacy settings, and this gives the user power to control the extent of information to be posted and also who views it. Through this particular feature, the user can as well grant limited access to certain sections of his or her profile to other people. There are also virtual photo albums that give users the chance to upload photos. One can tag others in the pictures, and their names made to appear as a link to their profiles. Other people can view the picture and as well comment on it; these comments appear under the picture. Users can also upload videos or links to videos.
Users have diverse communication options. There is an icon labeled inbox that stores received messages and through it one can also send messages. Friends can write messages on each others’ walls- these appear on the other user’s profile on the personal messages’ board. There are also Groups where users can make communications too. Groups can be formed by the users and joined by others. Events that are yet to take place can be facilitated by sending invites and notifications to friends after it has been created on Facebook. Users may also write notes and have them posted on their profiles on certain blog-like items. Another feature is newsfeed which is a section that gives a series of things that friends had done in the recent period. On one’s profile, there’s also a mini-feed which gives a timeline of activities engaged in by the user.
Not only is Facebook the social networking site with the most active users, it is also the most visited. Facebook can also be accessed through mobile phones. Facebook can be accessed in various languages of the world. It is because of these and ease of navigation and its simplicity that make it as popular as it is. It provides an avenue to create friends and also keep in touch with former schoolmates, course mates and people one is acquainted to. The young generation is fond of visiting the site to exchange ideas; it has even been turned into a knowledge base of information for all. The young generation enjoys uploading photos, chatting and generally having fun that is presented by this site. I am personally into social networks. I interact, I share ideas and interests, create new friends and use Facebook as an interesting pastime. I view social networking as revolutionizing the world.
Social networking sites are contributing lots and lots to people’s daily lives. The amount of time people spend on these sites is unimaginably great. These sites in my view are changing the world slowly by slowly into a global village and those who haven’t yet bothered to conform to this new trend should be urged to do so. I chose this topic because I believe in social networks; they play an essential role in the maintenance of social relations. I believe that interactions and networking play a very vital role in mankind’s happiness and fulfillment of the purpose of human existence, and should therefore be encouraged.
