A Social Network: Socializing People With the Outside World - Research Paper Example

This report describes what an online social network is, why do people prefer using online social websites to socialize and how they you them. A list of some of the various active online social networks is given, classified according to their functionalities they provide to the users. Then, in order to have an in-depth knowledge of the topic, some of the social networks have been explained to make clear how they are used and what functionalities they offer to the internet users. Explained networks include Facebook, Twitter and You Tube. Their screenshots have also been provided in order to get a better view of how their interfaces look like. Keywords: online social network, website, socialize, internet, friends, share Social Networks – An Introduction What is a social network? A social network, more precisely, an online social network is a website that functions like an online community of people who use the internet. There are a lot of online social websites which allow the internet users to take their membership for free and socialize with other members regarding hobbies, career, religion, fashion, politics etcetera. The users read the profile pages of other members, share views and ideas, give comments and contact them via their profiles. In short, a social networking website is a great means of bringing people of same wave length together and socializing with the outside world. Why do people use online social networks? J. G. Ballard says: People nowadays like to be together not in the old-fashioned way of, say, mingling on the piazza of an Italian Renaissance city, but, instead, huddled together in traffic jams, bus queues, on escalators and so on. Its a new kind of togetherness which may seem totally alien, but its the togetherness of modern technology. (2008) Man is a social animal. But as lives have become busier, one gets little time to meet face-to-face with relatives, old friends, classmates and even neighbors. Online social networking saves time as one can always catch up with others whenever one wants. People find new friends who share common interests. They learn about different cultures and languages, share photo albums, let others view their videos and have a chat session. Companies use online social networks for advertisements. Lisa Mullins (2009) regards online social networking as “an important marketing tool for many businesses”. Classification of Social Networks There is a great number of online social networking websites of which some are listed below, classified according to their functionalities. Education Networks WikiEducator - site for developing education projects H2O Playlist – list of intellectual readings GreatSchools.net – contains schools’ reviews Health Networks RadRounds – for radiologists Who Is Sick? – all about illness. Teenagers Networks Nick.com – fun for kids and teens. VMK – stands for Virtual Magic Kingdom Club Penguin Photo-sharing Networks Flickr Fotolog Video-sharing Networks You Tube, Spout, Viddler Niche Networks boompa – for people interested in cars catster – for those interested in cats dogster – for those interested in dogs Dating Match.com, date.com, eHarmony, chemistry.com Travel Networks Travellerspoint, Tripup, Wikitravel General Social Networks Facebook, Twitter, Orkut, MySpace, Pownce, Squirl Now we explain in detail the functionalities of three active social communities namely Facebook, Twitter and YouTop. Facebook Facebook is an environment that connects people through a social networking platform. When Facebook was first introduced, it was meant only for college students, but then it grew swiftly and became so well-known that it got users from every age group, from college students to old people. What does Facebook offer: Users seem addicted to it. The main reason for this is that in addition to its pleasant interface (see Figure 1), Facebook offers such a wide variety of applications that it is just able to engage its users finding old friends, making new ones, sharing views and ideas. People let their friends view their photo albums and get comments on them. They share videos relating to their interests, pets, members of family, and get responses from their friends. They chat with their online friends through the chat application, can play games with friends, take online personality tests and get their results there and then and Figure 1. Facebook Interface. This figure shows how the website looks like publish them on their profile. They can poke their friends, write on their wall, view their friends’ friends so that they can enlarge their circle of socializing. They can send invitations to their old or new friends to join Facebook, and if they accept it, they can view their profiles and get connected with them for the rest of their lives no matter in what part of the world they live in. In short, once you are on Facebook, you get a sense of belonging to the world. Facebook has a lot to offer: chat from the chat panel, photo and video upload through simple uploader, friend finder tool to find friends, engaging personality quizzes like what does your name mean, interesting games like Farmville and Scramble, visual bookshelf, pet society, group buying applications like Twangu, entertainment applications like Bumpersticker, and a lot more. Noah Brier (2007) states about Facebook, “Unlike what seems to be the rest of the natural world, Im not totally sold.” How can a new user use Facebook? A new user has to sign up for an account so that he can create his profile on Facebook. He can also upload a picture of him which gives the profile a better look plus others can recognize him easily. Then he will be required to put in his profile information. After the profile is complete, he can start adding his friends who have an email account or can search his already existing friends on facebook via the friend finder tool where he is required to put in the other person’s name or email address. He can import his friends’ list from his address book from the chat messenger and send virtual gifts to them. The profile lets him update his status whenever he wants to and lets him view the status of others. He can then browse through to get access to interesting applications. Twitter Twitter is a mini-blogging website that allows the users to send short messages called Tweets to their friends or the whole community at web. It’s fun. Twitter was first introduced in 2006. Snitter is a desktop application that supports Twitter. What does Twitter offer? Apart from its cool interface (see Figure 2), Twitter has got a lot to offer to its users like instant updates, news feeds from different news agencies, applications like micro- blogs that help you keep your friends and relatives informed what you have been doing. One can have posts, updates and newsfeeds sent to one’s mobile device. One can choose which group of friends he would like to follow and can search for new and old Figure 2. Twitter Interface. This figure shows how the website looks like. friends through people search or twitter search application, or can import his friends’ list from the chat messengers. Twitter Search lets you find people of specific interest. One can always update his group of friends. There are trending topics always available such as SuperBowl, iPhone etcetera. One can translate messages of languages not known to him in English. Advanced Search lets you find a more refined search. Companies use Twitter as an intranet that connect employees together. A Twitter Feed can be updated to let the customers know when a new product arrives. People regard it as a nice way to get connected and fight off boredom. In short, Twitter is a blend of short messaging service (140 characters or less), blogs and social networking. Like Facebook, it’s all about socializing. One thing that Twitter does not offer is that unlike Facebook, there is not an option for companies to advertise. How can a new user use Twitter? A new user has to sign-up for an account first of all. Then, He can upload his picture as an avatar. He can search friends, send requests to other users to follow their updates and can create his followers list of common interests. He can send and receive tweets on updates. In short, after one sign up, one enters a new world of mini-blogging. You Tube You Tube is a social website where one can upload and share videos. It was developed in 2005 by Paypal employees but is now operated by Google. What does You Tube offer? In addition to its pleasant interface (see Figure 3), You Tube offers a wide variety of user-created videos, movie clips, cartoon movies, music videos, TV clippings and video blogging, most of which is uploaded by individuals. There are two types of users to it: registered and unregistered. Registered users can upload and share their videos while unregistered users can just view and enjoy them. How can a new user use You Tube? It depends whether the user wants to get registered or not depending upon what does he want to use You Tube. Just viewing videos does not require registration or having an account. One can just go to the website and start browsing for the videos and clips of the area he is interested in like cooking, fashion, sports, politics, kids, health, and there is an unlimited list of areas. One can also download the videos using You Tube Downloader and can share them with others on other social websites like Facebook. Figure 3. You Tube Interface. This figure shows how the website looks like. Discussion After reading this paper, we come to know that today we are always connected to the people we know, whether we are sitting on our couch or we are out of town. We are all the time getting updates from our friends, relatives and classmates, so we do not have to schedule face-to-face meetings in order to stay in each others’ lives. And all this has been possible thanks to the online social networking websites which offer great fun and mind-engaging applications in addition to letting us find people of our own interests and hobbies. Online networking is a big step towards making the world a global village. Networks like Facebook, Twitter and You Tube are a proof of that socializing has been made much easier by technology. References Ballard, J. G. (2008). Socializing and socialism. Cybernation.com. Retrieved October 15, 2009, from Cyber Nation International, Inc. Website: http://www.cybernation.com/quotationcenter/quoteshow.html Brier, Noah. (2007). What do you think about facebook. NoahBrier.com. Retrieved October 15, 2009, from Noah Brier Website: http://www.noahbrier.com/archives/2007/08/what_do_you_think_of_facebook.php.html Mullins, Lisa. (2009, October 13). Stimulate Your Market. Retrieved October 15, 2009, from http://ezinearticles.com/?Stimulate-Your-Market&id=2093844 Read More