Social Networking Sites - Essay Example

Social Networking Sites Social networking sites have taken the world by storm ever since the start of the 21st century. There has been stone age andindustrial age in the past. If modern times were to be defined similarly, today’s would be social networking age. Social networking sites have had massive influence on the way people live, interact with one another, and their outlook on the life in general. Defining social networking sites, (Varnali and Toker) state, “SNS are differentiated from other online social platforms in that they are egocentric networks with an individual at the center of his or her community” (Varnali and Toker 1). These sites have helped people grow and expand their social circles and display whatever aspects of their lives they want to people. I like Facebook the most because of its user-friendly features, my positive experiences with it, and the privacy it helps me maintain. Social networking sites have not only helped me maintain ties with my current friends, but also locate my lost friends. I cannot be with my friends as often as I would like to. I need to be in contact with them at different times throughout the day so that I can discuss assignments with them, conduct group study, and generally chat with them. Facebook remains my first choice in this regard because I can talk to them at their convenience. If I have to talk to them on Skype, I first need to decide the time whereas on Facebook, I can talk to them at their convenience or when they are online. Also, I lost contact with many of my close friends after high school. We became so busy in our lives that despite my wish, I could not find the drive and motivation to go that extra mile to visit them or hang out with them. Years later, I searched for them over Facebook and added them as friends on Facebook. This is how I got to learn what they are doing now, where they are, and how far have they gone in life. My personal experience with Facebook has been very nice. I had to sell my car, so I put its pictures on Facebook so that all my friends and family members could know that the car was on sale. Some of my friends asked for the price and I inboxed them the price. The car was sold in a day. Facebook has also helped me establish my own photography business. I have created a personal page of photography. It was so easy and convenient for me to convince my friends and family members to like that page. Within few days of creating my personal page of photography, it received thousands of likes and now I get requests from the friends of my friends asking me to render my photography services to make their parties and occasions special. Facebook is nothing less than a blessing since we do not even have to pay anything for establishing or growing our businesses. There are many social networking sites like Facebook including Twitter and Orkut, but Facebook has been my favorite. I find Facebook much more focused on privacy than other social networking sites. In addition, Facebook is equipped with a wider variety of features and functions compared to other social networking sites. For example, people post photos and videos on Twitter and tweet; that is almost all they do on Twitter. On the other hand, people not only upload photos and videos on Facebook, but they also make posts, share posts, chat, create personal pages, create and join pages and campaigns. Secondly, Twitter is mostly used by celebrities or famous people for fan following. In the digital and print media, it is more common to hear about some politician or celebrity having tweeted something rather than posted something on Facebook. “Facebook gives you friends, while Twitter gives you followers. With Facebook, you often need some sort of approval to contact another user while Twitter does not require the same type of approval.” (Tagtmeier 8). Common people generally prefer Facebook over Twitter for sharing and following posts because of the additional privacy offered by Facebook. Facebook is more common because more people can relate to it, and establish their own identity so that they can introduce themselves to others the way they would like to. An average person, regardless of age or gender, is more likely to create an account on Facebook than Twitter. Social networking sites will continue to influence people and their lifestyles all over the world. Their influence is only likely to increase over the passage of time as more features will be added to the social networking sites and more people will join them. While there are a lot of benefits offered by the social networking sites, yet their overuse makes people totally dependent upon them. Many people have become addicted to Facebook to the extent that the last thing they do before going to sleep is check who has commented on their post and it also happens to be the first thing they do when they wake up. In fact, many people keep checking the latest updates during different stages of their sleep as their cellphones instantly notify them whenever there is an update. Facebook has not only become ingrained in people’s lifestyles but also in their psychology. In order to derive optimal benefit from the use of social networking sites, it is critically important that we draw a line somewhere. Excess of anything is bad and the same principle applies on the use of social networking sites. To conclude, the importance of social networking sites in the present age cannot be overemphasized. Facebook is my favorite social networking site because it is user-friendly. I have had very good experiences with Facebook with respect to sales, staying connected with my friends, and exposure of my photography skills to the public at large. I prefer using Facebook over other social networking sites because of its variety of features and its focus on privacy. Works Cited: Tagtmeier, Curt. “Facebook vs. twitter.” Computers in Libraries. 1 Sep. 2010. Web. 17 April 2015. . Varnali, Kaan, and Toker, Aysegul. “Self-disclosure on social networking sites.” Social Behavior and Personality. 43.1 (2015): 1-14. Read More