Social Networking

Social Networking
Kristie Morton
Ashford University

INF103: Computer Literacy (ABD1248A)
Instructor: Kim Marshall
January 12, 2013

When you say the word social web most of us know what you are referring to but if you lived under a rock for last 10 years I will explain it. Social web is a means for individuals to socialize or interact with each other through the internet. It is a way for companies or groups to promote their business or interest. Social web has increased ways that families, friends, schools and companies all interact with each other. Social networking websites allow people to create profiles that are public or semipublic for people to view. There are several ways for individuals to interact on social networking websites. Below is a list of the ways one might interact. * Messaging * Email * Blogging * Sharing files * Chat * Video * Voice * Discussion groups The birth of social web did not start with MySpace, Facebook or Twitter it began several years ago in the 1970’s with CompuServe, as a business-oriented mainframe computer communication solution, but expanded into the public domain in the late 1980s. Not only did the members of CompuServe share company files and new it also started to use email to communicate with others. Since the 1970’s we have expanded to what we have now in the 21st century of Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.

With all the social networking websites that are available, they are free for the user to add/change information that they would like to share with the public. You can say that each user is their own author and is making their own story by sharing it on these social network websites. Another way that social networking is taking off is with mobile devices. Below is a chart to show the top social network websites along with the growing numbers for mobile devices.

Looking more closely at who uses these social networking website it is found that women are more likely to use social networking websites then men since 2009. Below is a graph to show the difference in gender, race, household income and education level.

Social networking it not just for young adults anymore the average age is 35. The below websites will show the age of people that interact on these websites. * 55% of Twitter users are 35 or older. * 63% of Pinterest users are 35 or older. * 65% of Facebook users are 35 or older. * 79% of LinkedIn users are 35 or older.

With using social networking there are always pros and cons that come with these sites. The pro’s for using a social networking website are information is spread faster, improving relationships, helps employers find employees, and companies are able to promote their business. The con’s that come with these websites are gossips happens more, relationships can be changed for the worse, lack of privacy and it causes people to spend less face-to-face time.

In conclusion we can all see that social networking is becoming more and more part of our lives. Companies are using social networking to promote their business and showcase the type of work they do. As you can see from the information stated below social networking is not only for the young and for personal information to be passed along it is also for the older adults.

References http://www.digitaltrends.com/features/the-history-of-social-networking/#ixzz2HiEmmG1h http://www.mediabistro.com/alltwitter/history-social-media_b12770 http://www.idownloadblog.com/2012/12/03/mobile-driving-social-media/ http://pewinternet.org/Commentary/2012/March/Pew-Internet-Social-Networking-full-detail.aspx http://royal.pingdom.com/2012/08/21/report-social-network-demographics-in-2012/

References: http://www.digitaltrends.com/features/the-history-of-social-networking/#ixzz2HiEmmG1h http://www.mediabistro.com/alltwitter/history-social-media_b12770 http://www.idownloadblog.com/2012/12/03/mobile-driving-social-media/ http://pewinternet.org/Commentary/2012/March/Pew-Internet-Social-Networking-full-detail.aspx http://royal.pingdom.com/2012/08/21/report-social-network-demographics-in-2012/