2. LEARNING OBJECTIVE:
• Define the meaning of “social networking”
• Understand the purpose of social networking
• Discuss the history of social networking
• Discuss the advantage and disadvantages of social networking
3. LEARNING CONTENT
In this lesson, we will be going over the basics of
using the Internet to connect with friends, colleagues,
and acquaintances through social networking sites. We’ll
discuss the evolution of social networking at the very
beginning. And, we’ll learn how to safely create an
online presence, communicate with other people online,
and choose the appropriate type of social networking
site for your needs.
4. What is Social Networking?
Social Networking involves the use of the internet to connect
users with their friends, family and acquaintances. Social
networking websites are not necessarily about meeting new people
online, although this does happen. Instead, they are primarily about
connecting with friends, family and acquaintances you already have
in real life. The most well-known social networking sites are
Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. These sites allow you to share
photos, videos and information, organize events, and chat.
5. • Online social networks are virtual communities that allow
individuals to interact with one another. Many social networks
revolve around interests, activities, and hobbies; however, the
most prominent online social networks (Facebook, Twitter, and
LinkedIn) have a more general focus.
• Social networks provide a variety of ways for you to interact with
existing friends and family, make new “friends,” or make contacts
to build your professional network. These types of sites can be
great ways to reconnect with old friends and colleagues, to share
photos and information with friends, and catch up on relevant
news quickly.
6. This online social network is very useful in
spreading information, pictures and videos. For
example, you can easily set up a web page with
details and pictures of an event you might be
planning, such as a school fete. The site allows you
to easily send out invitations to other users of the
social networking site. Then, if given the option by
the host, those who are invited can send out more
invites to their friends who might like to attend –
hence, the network.
7. History of Social Networking
• 1971: First email is sent by Ray Tomlinson from one computer to another over a system of computers
ARPANET that was a precursor to the Internet.
• 1978: BBS (Bulletin Board System) is used to exchange data over phone lines with other users.
• 1980: Usenet is founded. Users read and post messages (called articles or posts, and collectively
termed news) to one or more categories, known as newsgroup. This is an early form of a forum. This
was the birthplace of flame wars and trolling.
• 1994: Geocities is founded. Allowing users to create their own website and be categorized by one of
six ‘cities’ known for certain characteristics.
• 1995: THEGLOBE.com Gave users the freedom to make their online experience more personalized by
publishing their own content and interacting with users of similar interests.
• 1997: Aol Instant Messenger is launched. Making instant messaging more popular.
• 1997: SixDegrees.com launches allowing users to create a profile and have listings of friends
• 2000: The .com bubble bursts sending the stock markets crashing and web entrepreneurs back to the
drawing boards.
8. • 2002: Friendster is launched connecting real world friends over the internet. Friendster grows to 3 million users in
the first three months.
• 2003: Myspace is Launched by an Internet marketing firm. Myspace was created as a clone to Friendster; the first
version was coded in 10 days.
• 2003: LinkedIn is launched and is a social networking site for more professional business related social networking.
• 2004: Flickr is launched as an Image and Video hosting site by Ludicorp and later acquired by Yahoo. In September
2010, it reported that it was hosting more than 5 billion images.
• 2004: Facebook is launched as a way of connecting U.S college student originally at Harvard College. More than half
of the 19,500 were a part of Facebook by the first month.
• 2005: Bebo (Blog early, Blog often) is founded. Users receive a personal profile page where they can post blogs,
photographs, music, videos and questionnaires to which other users may answer much like Facebook.
• 2006: Twitter is Launched allowing users to ‘tweet’ a status to all users following that user.
• 2008: Facebook overtakes Myspace as the leading social networking site.
• 2010: After Japan beat Denmark at the world cup, a record 3283 tweets per second were sent out.
• 2011: 18 million people in one week saw 13 y.o. Rebecca Black’s video on Youtube and agreed it was horrible. The
song became a hit, confirming the power of social media.
9. Types of Social Networking
The different types of social networks come in two main
categories - online and offline. Online social networks are the ones
that we maintain on the internet. When we talk about offline social
networks, they are maintained in person and happen face to face.
1. Online Social Networks
• These social networks can be any website or application that lets people
communicate with friends, family, and associates. They allow people to set
up a profile with their names, pictures, interests, and other information.
After setting up a profile, a person can start connecting with people by
sending them messages or friend requests.
10. 2. Offline Social Networks
• These social networks happen in person and usually
involve one-on-one interactions rather than large
crowds like in an online setting.
11. What is the purpose of social networking?
Social networking fulfills the following four main objectives:
• Sharing. Friends or family members who are geographically
dispersed can connect remotely and share information, updates,
photos and videos. Social networking also enables individuals to
meet other people with similar interests or to expand their current
social networks.
• Learning. Social networks serve as great learning platforms.
Consumers can instantly receive breaking news, get updates
regarding friends and family, or learn about what's happening in
their community.
12. •Interacting. Social networking enhances user
interactions by breaking the barriers of time and
distance. With cloud-based video communication
technologies such as WhatsApp or Instagram Live,
people can talk face to face with anyone in the world.
•Marketing. Companies may tap into social networking
services to enhance brand awareness with the
platform's users, improve customer retention and
conversion rates, and promote brand and voice
identity.
13. Disadvantages of Social Networking
• Opens up the possibility for hackers to commit fraud and launch
spam and virus attacks.
• One of the major disadvantages of using social networking
websites are the students get addicted to it.
• They used to spend hours in those social networking sites which
can obviously degrade the student’s academic performance.
14. Benefits of Social Networking
• Social networking can provide opportunities for new relationships
as well as strengthening existing relationships, whether your kids’
friends are close to home or across the world.
• Online communities can be very diverse and expose your child to
many new viewpoints, ideas, and opinions that she may not be
familiar with.
15. Best Practices
• Be careful when clicking on links. You may receive e-mails with links to social networking
sites such as Facebook, but do not click on the links; always navigate to the site by typing in
the site’s address. Sometimes links can take you to fraudulent websites that ask for your
personal information. Also, if you get a message (e.g., within Facebook, you can send
messages similar to e-mail messages) from someone you don’t know, or a strange message
from someone you do know, don’t click on it. Contact the person via e-mail, phone, or in-
person to verify if the message is real.
• Don’t share your address book with the social network site. When you create an account,
social networking sites often ask if it is okay to scan your e-mail address book in order to find
people you may already know on the site. The site could use this information to send
everyone in your address book unsolicited messages. You would never give a stranger access
to your personal address book, so don’t do this online either.
• Be careful about who you accept as a friend. Friends can see your profile and contact you
through the site. Sometimes, criminals create fake profiles in order to obtain personal
information. Only accept friend requests from people you know.
16. • Be sure to read the privacy policy. This policy tells you what information the
website will share about you. It will also tell you what is okay to post on the site.
In general, you should assume that whatever you write or post on the site
(including photos) is permanent, even if you decide to delete your account.
• Be careful about installing third-party applications on your profile. Companies,
criminals, and the website itself might use these applications to collect
information about you. Third-party applications are games or other add-ons that
are written by someone other than the social networking site, which you can
choose to sign up for (e.g., Farmville on Facebook). Do not ever provide sensitive
personal or financial information to these third-party applications, and always
read their privacy statements before adding them—their privacy statements will
not be the same as that of the social networking site.
• Make use of the privacy settings on social networking sites to control what people
can and cannot see. Potential employers often check Facebook, MySpace, Twitter,
etc. when considering a job candidate. If you wouldn’t want your employer to see
or read something on your profile, make sure it’s private (or don’t put it up at all)
