The first social networking site was Six Degrees, created in 1997. It allowed users to create profiles and list friends. Facebook is currently the most popular site with over 750 million users. Twitter has 200 million users and is used for microblogging. MySpace now has 50 million users and Flickr has 32 million users who share photos. Social networking has become integrated into everyday life through smartphone apps. Cyberbullying, sexual abuse, and privacy issues pose dangers on social networking sites.

1. SUBJECT MATTER

2. WHAT WAS THE FIRST SOCIAL NETWORKING
SITE?
 The first social networking site was
called Six Degrees and was
created in 1997.
 It was very basic and only allowed
users to create profiles and list their
friends.
 Described itself as 'a tool to help
people connect with and send
messages to others.' It only lasted
a few years and ended in 2001.
 To the right is a screenshot of what
Six Degrees looked like. As you
can see it was very basic and
wouldn't have been able to
compete with the competition in
today's market. (JCMA)

3. WHO ARE THE MAJOR SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES?
HOW MANY USERS DOES EACH OF THESE SITES
HAVE AND WHICH ONE IS THE MOST POPULAR?
 The most popular social
networking site is FaceBook.
Even though it is the subject to
the media a lot because of
legal speculation, and their
sometimes absurd ideas, it
has 750 million users
worldwide. It has even had a
film made about its creator,
Mark Zuckerberg, and how he
created it. (Telegraph, 2011)

4.  Twitter is the second most popular social
networking site as it has 200 million users. It is
used for micro blogging and following celebrities
and friends. It has also become a useful tool for
businesses as they can market their product to
worldwide audiences. (Telegraph, 2011)

5.  MySpace has 50 million users worldwide. The site
used to have a lot more users but as social trends
changed people moved from MySpace onto more
sophisticated networking sites. It is now mostly
used by bands and artists who want to be noticed
by potential fans and record labels. (Telegraph,
2011)

6.  Lastly, Flickr has 32 million users. This site is used
by photographers to share their photos with the
world. Bloggers also use this site to host pictures
they want to embed in their blogs. (Telegraph,
2011)

7. HOW HAS SOCIAL NETWORKING BECOME A
PART OF EVERYDAY LIFE?
 Social networking sites have
converged onto other Internet
based platforms, like apps on
smart phones and music
devices.
 For instance, Blackberry, iPhone
and HTC smart phones all have
social networking sites like
FaceBook and Twitter available
via a free downloadable app.
 This means that the user can
connect to these sites virtually
anywhere they go.
 They then become addictive with
the user checking the sites
regularly throughout the day.

8. WHAT ARE THE DANGERS OF SOCIAL
NETWORKING SITES?
The main dangers of social networking sites are:
 Cyber bullying
 Sexual abuse
 Privacy

9. CYBER BULLYING
 Cyber bullying has become more common as social
networking sites, like FaceBook and Twitter, have
become more and more popular among children
and young adults.
 Bullies create fake accounts, leave abusive
message and emails, spread rumours and upload
nasty photos. These things can leave the victim
feeling lonely and scared. The Internet gives the
bullies lots of confidence as they aren't face to face
with the victim.

10.  A survey carried out by the
National Crime Prevention
Centre, found that over 40% of
teenagers have reported being
bullied online (Cyber Bully
Alert, 2008.)
 However, there are many more
who don't report cases of
cyber bullying.
 In a recent incident an adult
was found guilty of writing
abusive comments on
memorial pages for young girls
who had recently died. As his
posts were hurting the feelings
of the friends and family
members of the young girls;
the man, called Sean Duffy,
was jailed for 18 weeks. (BBC,
2011)

11. SEXUAL ABUSE
 As social networking isn't face to face interaction, many
people pretend to be someone else. They can gain their trust
and then encourage the child to talk and met up with them.
 Any inappropriate sexual interaction between an adult and a
child is called, 'sexual grooming.' In 2006 the Child
Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP) was set up
to help protect children from online sex offenders.
 In 2009 they passed a rule that stated that every social
networking site and online chat room should display a CEOP
report button on their website. This is so children can report
sexual or abusive behaviour to the police. However,
FaceBook opted out of this scheme. (The Register, 2009)

12. PRIVACY
 25% of the world population has access to the
Internet and this means a lot of people can access
the information you put on it.
 Personal information and inappropriate pictures
should not be put onto any social networking site as
it can be easy for someone to take your pictures
and collect your personal information. If any of
these fall into the wrong hands it can have
disastrous consequences.
 Some of these consequences can be seen in this
CEOP video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-
VCX7Sr-2c