Social Networking

We have always tried to find better ways to connect to one another. At one time, it was through telegraphs and letters, then the telephone, then email. As technology advances, so does our desire to find new and different ways to keep in touch with out friends. This is called social networking; something that has grown exponentially in the past decade. While there are many different forms of social networking out there, three of them have made an extreme impact on society, especially ages 13+.

The first social networking site that seemed to explode onto the scene was called MySpace. MySpace was founded in 2003 by Chris DeWolf and Tom Anderson, two friends who were inspired by one of the earliest social networking sites, Friendster. When MySpace first started out, bands became the predominant members, trying to get their music out to the masses. MySpace came with the idea of having “friends”, or people who can become “friends” with your profile, much like cyber fans. MySpace took off and companies took notice. Many companies looked to buy MySpace, most notably of which was News Corp Fox Interactive. However, MySpace slowly developed into a breeding ground for sexual predators and overexposure for some teens. As soon as these concerns arose, other social networking sites jumped in to take the reigns.

Facebook became the next big phenomenon, boasting to be the “world’s largest social network”, with over 400 million users. Facebook was originally only started to be a social networking site for colleges (first was Harvard University), and was founded by Mark Zuckerberg in 2004. Facebook became the seemingly safer alternative to MySpace, making it more exclusive with greater privacy settings (when I first joined, I had to be invited on by someone in my network!). As Facebook grew in popularity, the founder began to extend the networking site to High School students, complete with newly established photo-sharing features. Eventually, in 2006, Facebook opened up to anyone that had an email address, whether in middle school or middle aged. It continues to grow and change, much to some people’s dismay, constantly, with new applications being created everyday. It has become the ultimate way to not only reconnect and stay in touch with friends, but to spend your time playing games or looking through photos.

Although Facebook is still considered the most popular social networking site, a new site has become very popular recently. This newly developing phenomenon is called Twitter, a social networking site where people can post up to 140 characters at a time. Although it was developed in 2006 by Jack Dorsey, it is only recently that is has gained extreme popularity. Twitter became the most popular way for celebrities and other social figures to connect with fans and update on their daily life. Just like MySpace and Facebook, a person can have “followers”, or people that subscribe to see every “tweet”, or post, done by a certain person. It is incredibly popular among celebrities (though there are some reports that twitter is losing its edge among social figures) and is spreading throughout the world.

As technology grows and develops, there will always be the next new social phenomenon. As a culture, we are so obsessed with staying connected, though ironically, all the connection has become extremely depersonalized – go figure. These sites have many pros, especially according to the teenage age group, but also some cons. With any social networking site, or rather, with any website, there is always a chance for danger. It seems that as our desire to connect grows, so does our desire to retain our privacy.

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