For class, Tech 621, we were required to do some readings defining social networking sites (SNSs) and find 20 new SNSs that we didn't know existed. Completing this assignment I realized there are hundreds of thousands of SNSs out there! I knew that there were a lot, however, I never realized the vast quantity out there! I urge readers to simply Google "social networking sites", and you too will see the wide array of SNSs. Anything you can imagine (ex: sports, photographs, countries, music, games, etc, etc...) has a SNS. There are even sites to help you build your own SNS!! As I look through the list of SNSs that my classmates had found, along with what I had found, I started to think, what are the three broad umbrellas that these sites can fall under? I came up with:
Professional
Friendship
Common Interest
By professional, I mean that these are sites which the goal is to help people to find jobs, network with professional people in their field, and to explore careers. However, I think a lot of times people find their "friends' and network with them on these sites.
Friendship, is just that. I mean that these sites are revolved around maintaining friendship. Also, I believe dating would fall into these sites. You are meeting people for a variety of reasons, and using the sites to learn more about others, to talk about who you are, and explore what you enjoy.
Common Interest, I believe that this would be sites such as photograph sites, or music, or games, sports, etc. The list can go on. These are sites where you don't necessarily know the other people, or may never know these people, but that is OK. You are free to talk about your passions. However, sometimes these sites can form legitimate friendships, lead to dating, etc.
I strongly believe that defining these sites, and placing them under umbrellas is not black and white. SNSs can fall under multiple categories. During the readings, they attempted to define these sites. I personally think the best definition is that SNSs are a platform for people to accomplish their goal, whether their goal is to meet professionals, make friends, maintain friendships, or to explore their passions and interests. The great thing about the Internet, is that you can define YOURSELF however you desire (though this can also be a scary thing, when it comes to criminals looking to exploit others). In the real world, people can see who someone is as they walk by. For instance, if someone saw me, they would know that I am tall, have long blonde hair, enjoy the color pink, and other information about me based on what setting they see me in. Online, you don't have that opportunity, since "you" are a profile page. These sites allow you to depict yourself virtually. You can say "I am tall, I like the color pink, I like this band, I like that band" etc.
I think that SNSs are a great thing!...as long as people are safe on them, of course! :)
Interesting, so it's the type of relationship that you use as the main criterion to classify the sites. I was going to ask you what about X or Y site, but after thinking about it for a second, I see it would fall under one of your categories. Pretty cool! Of course, the site's intended purpose and the purpose people actually use it for can be different, but that's not something we can control.
ReplyDeleteIt's somewhat fearsome just how much sites can be bent toward a different use than they were intended for...
ReplyDeleteA note toward the last few sentences with regards to 'online presence'. After a certain point of talking to someone online, I like to think that you generally get a feel for who and what they are like in real life. Online, it's not so much a matter of what they look like, but rather a matter of what they -think- like. Perhaps that's part of the reason why more and more people have met their dating partners online...