Social networking sites allow individuals to connect with others who share common interests. Some early sites from the 1990s included Classmates.com and SixDegrees.com, while today popular sites include Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and LinkedIn. These sites facilitate communication and relationship building between users through features like profiles, messaging, sharing photos and videos. However, privacy is a concern as information shared is usually publicly visible.

1. Social Networking

2. Introduction
• A social network is a social structure made of
individuals (or organizations) called "nodes," which
are tied or connected by one or more specific types
of interdependency, such as friendship, kinship,
financial exchange, dislike or relationships of beliefs,
knowledge or prestige. (Wikipedia)
• Social networking is the grouping of individuals into
specific groups, like small rural communities or a
neighborhood subdivision.
• Social Networking sites offer a way for people with
common interest to interact with one another.

3. • They include services such as chats, e-mails, video
chats, and instant messaging.
• Information posted on the sites is free for all to view
(unless you make profiles private)
• Messages sent by users of some social networking
sites such as MySpace have been used in court as
evidence against its users
• School officials have recently begun using sites such
as Facebook to make sure their students are acting
appropriately and not harassing each other.
• Official updates are also now given on social sites.

4. Origin
• Attempts to make social networking sites began in
the early 90s
• Some of the first popular sites were classmates.com
(1995) and sixdegrees.com (1997)
• Today, there are hundreds of social networking sites,
ranging from dating sites to the friendship based
sites, such as Facebook and Myspace.

5. • Social network sites (SNSs) such as such as
Friendster, CyWorld, and MySpace allow individuals
to present themselves, articulate their social
networks, and establish or maintain connections
with others.
• These sites can be oriented towards work-related
contexts (e.g., LinkedIn.com), romantic relationship
initiation (the original goal of Friendster.com),
connecting those with shared interests such as music
or politics (e.g., MySpace.com), or the college
student population (the original incarnation of
Facebook.com).

6. Popular Social Sites
• MySpace
• Facebook
• Tweeter
• LinkedIn
• Youtube
• Xanga
• Friendster

7. MySpace
• Created by Chris DeWolf and Tom Anderson in 2003
• Began as a community web site
• Initially catered to local actors, musicians and artists
in Southern California
• Local bands (particularly rock bands) created profiles
and quickly became MySpace’s primary marketing
tool
• Eight months after its initial launch, MySpace
experienced the “network effect,” an exponential
growth of people adding “friends”.

8. Facebook
• Founded by Mark Zuckerberg while studing at
Harvard
• Named for facebook used in some colleges to get
acquainted
• Originally called thefacebook.com
• A hobby project became a Harvard, Stanford and Yale
phenomenon within months, in high schools the
following year, available to general internet public
(13+) the following year
• Renamed FaceBook in 2005
• Targeted students and young generation.

9. Youtube
• Founded by Chad Hurley, Steven Chen, and Jawed
Karim
• First registered domain name, then developed site in
a garage
• "Broadcast Yourself”
• Business model is based on traditional banner
advertising, sponsorships, partnerships and
promotions
• Generated early interest with a contest to win an
iPod Nano.

10. Other Social Sites
Friendster
• Created in 2002 by Jonathan Abrams
• Friends based community initiation.
Classmates.com
• Over 40 million users when popular
• Created in 1995, one of the first social networking
sites though the term did not exist when it was
created

11. Xanga.com
• Blog based social networking site
LinkedIn
• Professional website.
• Still common
Tweeter
• Social website
• Popular nowadays but less then facebook

12. Characteristics of Social Sites
• User based
• Interactive
• Relationship Oriented
• Emotional Content
• Accessibility
• Communication
• Knowledge and Skills

13. User Based
• Users submit and organize information
• Direction of content can be determined by any user –
no one person dictates the current topic
• Freeform/unstructured

14. Interactive
• Not just a collection of chat rooms and forums
• Users can play games, take fun quizzes, share photos
and ideas with friends
• A way to connect and have fun with friends

15. Relationship Oriented
• Social networks are driven by the number of
relationships between its members
• With no control on your settings, information will be
dispersed to your friends, their friends, and so on…

16. Emotional Content
• In the past, web content was primarily information
• Social networks allow people to communicate needs
within a community of friends and receive
immediate responses

17. Accessibility
• Social networking sites are easily accessible
• Low-income students have access to technology in
order to use social networking sites
• Over 90 percent of students have internet access and
over 70 percent have profiles

18. Communication
• Helps encourage communication and keep people
connected
• Social networking sites makes it easier to keep in
contact with others
• Allows for sharing of information and creativity, such
as images, writing, etc.

19. Knowledge and Skills
• Users learn basic and some advanced technological
skills
• People learn how to develop customized content and
people learn more about online design
• Users are able to keep up with new operations and
uses for the internet
• Project sharing and media literacy increases

20. Types of Social Networkers
• Alpha Socialisers – (a minority) people who used sites
in intense short bursts to flirt,meet new people, and
be entertained.
• Attention Seekers – (some) people who craved
attention and comments from others,often by
posting photos and customising their profiles.
• Followers – (many) people who joined sites to keep
up with what their peers were doing.

21. • Faithfuls – (many) people who typically used social
networking sites to rekindle old friendships, often
from school or university.
• Functionals – (a minority) people who tended to be
single-minded in using sites for a particular purpose.

22. Pros and Cons
Pros:
• Allows you to stay connected with friends easily
• Meet new people
• Find old friends
Cons:
• Privacy issues
• Potential for misuse
Overall:
Social networking sites are a good thing if used
carefully.