Lions and Tigers and Social Networks, Oh My!

My group did a presentation on social networking and, through it, I learned of the many different ways in which social networking could be used. Of course, the obvious social network sites exist, such as Facebook and Myspace. However, during the course of our research, we also discovered sites like Friendster, SecondLife, and Last.Fm which are all used in interesting ways. SecondLife is more of a virtual world, where people can create avatars and talk. Last.fm is a music orientated social networking site in which a person can "scrobble" their songs and Last.fm will then make recommendations based on what other users who listen to the same songs as you do also listened to. I also learned about the history of social networking and the ways in which social networks could connect people. It was also interesting to discover the ways in which social networking sites could use your personal information in ways you may not have wanted. Below is the presentation my group made for this assignment:






Social networks are important to understand/use because they will, in the future, become even more vital than they are now. Social networking, in its most basic form, is a way to connect people who may not know each other or who may not have seen each other in a while. To that end, all social networks provide ways for a person to make "friends" on the site, either through matching the people directly through shared likes or providing ways for people to chance upon each other. Social networks also provide ways to instantaneously communicate, such as status updates, or more private avenues of communication such as e-mail built directly into the website. These skills will be needed in the coming years because people will need to know how to communicate with those they may not know quickly and efficiently and to find those they need to find.

The common theme that ties the different projects together (social networks, social bookmarking, wikis, and RSS feeds) is the fact that the user, the individual is now in charge of the information they view and consume. In days past, the news agency or company presented the information to the viewer and the viewer could then choose which of that information they wanted to read. There was some form of choice in this, but not much. The technological age brought about a deluge of information where people have so much information that news agencies are now catering to the individual. The person can now choose not only what they want to read, but when they want to read it (by using archives) and who they want to read it from. It the New York Times does not have the information a person wants, they can be at the Washington Post's homepage in less than ten seconds. The power of knowledge is now in the hands of the people. Let's hope we can figure out what to do with it before we self-destruct.

A Plea

Hahaha, score one for the techies. A recent study claims that the Internet and social networking do not, in fact, encourage anti-social behavior. The study actually claims that there is a correlation between those who use Web 2.0 technology/social networking and positive, social interactions. As the study states: "frequent internet users, and those who maintain a blog are much more likely to confide in someone who is of another race" and "most internet activities have little or a positive relationship to local activity." What does this mean for the future? Hopefully it'll lead to the abolition of the image of pale, nerdy, anti-social teenagers sitting hunched in front of their computers, screaming in agony if a concerned parent flicks on the light. Let's face it; there is a stigma attached to being someone interested in technology/computers. It is true that obsessions are not healthy, but is a fascination with computers, something that will be important in the future, any worse than a sports' fanatic, staying glued to the TV for hours on end to watch a ball get thrown around?

(Rant mode activate.)

But, no. Sports fans are accepted by society, lauded even. Watching sports, in my opinion, is a complete waste of time. Playing/participating in a sports activity I can see; that's a healthy form of exercise. However, sitting on your butt watching a televised game for hours just doesn't do it for me. I don't get it. Computers, though, are fascinating. You can connect with so many people online, either through social networking (see, social is right in the title!), forums (connecting with real people on the interwebz!), or simply online shopping (where you can interact with the machine, Amazon recommending you stuff, or with a person by reading reviews.) Anything you can do on the Internet (OK, maybe with the exception of MLIA, but that's just funny) is an education process. As you are using the Internet, you are learning important tools for the ever-changing world and...the future! (That was corny. So sue me)

The study goes on to mention that the amount of adults who do not have any serious confidants in their lives remains unchanged (about 6%) since 1985, and that social networking users are actually more likely to visit with neighbors or go to cafes/bars/social activities. Just because you enjoy technology does not make you a misanthropic, indignant, freak. It just makes you someone who enjoys computers.

I am not disillusioned enough to believe that there will be any radical changes in thinking due to this study, but I do think it is the first step on a large path towards acceptance, one the entire world will eventually have to tread. Computers (or some advanced form of our desktop entities) are the future, and those who know how to use them will have an advantage. Those who wasted their time watching 333 hours of football...not so much.