An insight into the digital communication age of today. Social networking sites are embodied by several technological applications that shape them. See why social networking has become such a major part of our lives.

1. DANIELLE RICHARDS 3078031

3. Social
Networking
Sites
What are they? What do
they do? How many people
use them?
SOCIAL NETWORKING WEBSITES
ALLOW PEOPLE TO SOCIALLY
INTERACT WITH OTHER PEOPLE
ONLINE.
THEY HAVE SWEPT SOCIETY
OVER WITH THEIR EASY ACCESS
AND ABILITY TO COMMUNICATE
FREELY.
UP TO 500,000,000 people use
Facebook. Social Networking
sites are now used by
businesses, celebrities and
many more.

4. TWITTER, MYSPACE AND
FACEBOOK ALLOWS ME TO…
 1. GAIN A CERTAIN NUMBER OF “FRIENDS”
 2. CATEGORISE MY “FRIENDS” LIST.
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFKHaFJzUb
4
 3. KEEP IN CONSTANT CONTACT WITH MY
“FRIENDS.”
 4. MAKE EVENTS TO INVITE MY FRIENDS TO.
 5.UPLOAD PHOTOS AND COMMENT ON MY
FRIENDS’.
 6. UPLOAD MUSIC AND CREATE A FAN PAGE FOR
MY BAND/BUSINESS/GROUP.

5. PRESENT YOURSELF
 Social Networking sites such as Facebook allow
anyone to express themselves over a public profile
that they can design themselves (Bellamy 2010,
p.13).
 They also can express thoughts, feelings, activities
etc. over their profile via updating their status.
 You can stylise your own profile, which allows you
to express your identity. For example you can
include pictures from your favourite movie or
interests and hobbies (Thelwall 2007, p. 6)
 Keeping in contact with your friends is always
controlled by you.

7. WHY ARE SOCIAL
NETWORKING SITES SO
POPULAR?
“BECAUSE THEY HAVE COOL APPLICATIONS LIKE CHAT
AND FACEBOOK MESSAGING. I CAN CONTACT MY
FRIENDS WHENEVER I WANT.”-YAZMIN (AGE 14)
(PERSONAL CONTACT)
“THEY HAVE APPLICATIONS WHICH LET ME UPLOAD MY
WRITTEN SONGS ONTO MY FAN PAGE.”-KYLE (AGE 23
PERSONAL CONTACT)
-”I HAVE BEEN FORTUNATE ENOUGH TO MAKE A FAN
PAGE FOR MY BUSINESS WHICH HAS KICK STARTED
EVERYTHING. I AM ABLE TO UPDATE ALL MY NEWCASTLE
FASHION WEEK FANS ON IMPORTANT INFORMATION.”-
LOUISE (AGE 24) PERSONAL CONTACT.

9. STUDY SHOWS
THAT SOCIAL
NETWORKING IS
THE NEW AGE
OF DIGITAL
COMMUNICATI
ON BECAUSE…

10.  Common features of
social networking sites
such as commenting
and messaging,
differentiate social
networking sites from
other internet mediated
forms of
communication. What
makes these social
networking applications
significant is that it
happens in a public,
but personal domain.
ACCORDING
TO BOYD…
(2007, p.7)

11.  In this study by Liccoppe & Smoredda (2005) they
found that new patterns in technologic
communication (such as commenting,
messaging and status updating) constitute for a
new connected presence even when people are
physically distant (Licoppe & Smoredda 2005,
p.319)
 WHICH…helps people gain a sense of
COMMUNITY.
 Social networking sites let you sustain a variety of
friendship circles .
 Deciding what not to say about yourself online is
for many teenagers, an resolving act to protect
their identity and their spaces of intimacy.
 Privacy is controlled by the user.

13. ARE FORMS OF MICROBLOGGING WHICH
ALLOWS A PERSON TO WRITE A SHORT
SENTENCE FRAGMENT THAT IS
PUBLISHED TO THEIR PROFILE.
-N.B. TWEET’S PUBLISHED ON TWITTER
ARE UP TO 14O WORDS MAX AND THEY
ARE DELIVERED TO THEIR “FOLLOWERS”
-FACEBOOK, TWITTER, GOOGLE BUZZ-

14. WHEN YOU COMMENT SOMEONE IT IS
OTHERWISE KNOWN AS “WRITING ON THEIR
WALL, WRITING ON THEIR PAGE.” IT IS KNOWN
AS VIRTUALLY KEEPING IN CONSTANT PUBLIC
CONTACT WITH SOMEONE.
N.B MESSAGING IS GENERALLY A PRIVATE
FORM OF INTERNET COMMUNICATION.
MYSPACE, FACEBOOK, BEBO, WACKWALL

15. PEOPLE CAN FREELY UPLOAD VIDEOS, PHOTOS,
MUSIC AND/OR BLOGS TO THEIR PROFILE PAGE.
SOCIAL SHARING WEBSITES SUCH AS YOUTUBE
AND SLIDESHARE ALLOW USERS TO UPLOAD
CONTENT TO SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES SUCH
AS TWITTER AND FACEBOOK AS THEY PLEASE.
ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS BECOME A USER,
MAKE A PROFILE AND START UPLOADING!!!
USERS FEEL AS THOUGH THEY ARE SHARING A
PART OF THEMSELVES WITH THE WORLD.
FACEBOOK, MYSPACE, GOOGLEBUZZ

16. http://www.youtube.com/watch
?v=bZ1PAHihvlE
-Slideshare offers users to privately or
publically upload power point
presentations, word documents and or
Adobe PDF documents.

17. Social Networking sites such as Facebook
also let you send your “friends” virtual
presents, music, and pokes.
EVEN FROM YOUR MOBILE PHONE!

18. THEREFORE
It is evident to
suggest that….

19.  Such online
communicative
applications allow
people in society
to constantly
control what they
share with other
people. Their level
of intimacy is
limited by them. In
contrast to
physically
interacting with
someone.
(BOYD 2007,
p.12)

21. SOCIAL NETWORKING… A WHOLE NEW
WORLD OF COMMUNICATION….
Pempek, Yevdokiya, Yermolayeva & Calvert (2009,
p. 236) found that social networking applications
such as commenting, status updating etc are used
to facilitate and mediate social relationships. A
major part of these applications is that it allows our
youth to represent their identity. Gathering
recognition from commenting and photo
uploading contributes to the shaping of ones
identity.

22. CONT…
The new age of digital communication has allowed
youth to control the relationships they build with a less
physical approach. This has been reported to be easier
and less confronting for youths who may have self
esteem issues.
In conclusion it is evident that social networking
sites have allowed youth to have more venues to
communicate and to find their own identity. Their
applications have given users freedom and public
control of how they communicate with one another.
Researchers have now found that not only
ideologies, romantic relationships but also does the
digital age. Social networking has now swept over
modern society and will continue to do so (Pempek,
Yevdokiya, Yermolayeva & Calvert (2009, p. 236-238).

23. 1.Bellamy, D 2010, ‘Social networking For Idiots,’
www.socialnetworkingforidiots.com, viewed October 16,
2010.
2.Boyd, D 2007, ‘Why Youth (Heart) Social Network Sites: The
Role of Networked Publics in Teenage Social Life,’
MacArthur Foundation Series on Digital Learning – Youth, Identity,
and Digital Media, Volume (ed. David Buckingham). Cambridge,
MA: MIT Press.
3 .Licoppea C & Smoredab Z 2005, ‘Are social
networks technologically embedded? How networks are
changing today with changes in communication technology,’,
Social Networks, 27, pp.317–335 .
-> CONT….

24. 4.Pempeka T.A, Yermolayeva Y.A & Calvert S.L 2009, ‘College
students' social networking experiences on Facebook,’
Journal of Applied Developmental Pyschology, vol. 30, no. 3,
May-June 2009, pp. 227-238.
5. Personal Contacts, (Yazmin-school student, Kyle-
University friend, Louise-Work Colleague).
6, Thelwall, M 2007, ‘Social Networks, Gender, and Friending: An
Analysis of MySpace MemberProfiles,’ Journal of the
American Society for Information Science and Technology, vol.
59, no.8, pp.1321-1330.
-> CONT…

25. 7.Youtube 2010,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZ1PAHihvlE, viewed
October 4, 2010.
8. Youtube 2010,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFKHaFJzUb4,
viewed October 28, 2010.