Social Networking
An Essay Social Networking –a Paradox- Success or Failure
Introduction ---Teenagers will freely give up personal information to join social networks on the Internet. Afterwards, they are surprised when their parents read their journals. Communities are outraged by the personal information posted by young people online and colleges keep track of student activities on and off campus. The posting of personal information by teens and students has consequences. I will discuss the uproar over privacy issues in social networks by describing a privacy paradox.
Social networking is successful because of its Viral Nature-They key to social networks quickly moving up in size is their viral nature. Because people who get on those need to expand their network, they invite their friends. And those friends, in turn, invite their friends. The viral nature of a new social network is an important part to making it succeed.Some networks have taken the model one step further by being "by invitation only". Initially, this represents a certain level of exclusivity, with people then trying to get in. This exclusivity breaks down, though, if the social networks do not have a mechanism to slow down or limit the number of new invitations going out. All it takes to tear down that sense of exclusivity is for one person to start inviting hordes of people. Online Identity-Not everyone has a personal website. It may come as a shock to most of my readers but, for some people, social networks personal pages are the only place where people maintain an identity. Some, like MySpace, have capitalized on that effect by providing tools that allow to enhance those profiles in ways that make them indistinct from personal sites, beyond the fact that the URL is on the service instead of being a personal one.Enhanced Knowledge-When used properly, social networks can be a great way to enhance knowledge. Tapping into one's social network can allow for people to fill an information gap if members of their
Introduction ---Teenagers will freely give up personal information to join social networks on the Internet. Afterwards, they are surprised when their parents read their journals. Communities are outraged by the personal information posted by young people online and colleges keep track of student activities on and off campus. The posting of personal information by teens and students has consequences. I will discuss the uproar over privacy issues in social networks by describing a privacy paradox.
Social networking is successful because of its Viral Nature-They key to social networks quickly moving up in size is their viral nature. Because people who get on those need to expand their network, they invite their friends. And those friends, in turn, invite their friends. The viral nature of a new social network is an important part to making it succeed.Some networks have taken the model one step further by being "by invitation only". Initially, this represents a certain level of exclusivity, with people then trying to get in. This exclusivity breaks down, though, if the social networks do not have a mechanism to slow down or limit the number of new invitations going out. All it takes to tear down that sense of exclusivity is for one person to start inviting hordes of people. Online Identity-Not everyone has a personal website. It may come as a shock to most of my readers but, for some people, social networks personal pages are the only place where people maintain an identity. Some, like MySpace, have capitalized on that effect by providing tools that allow to enhance those profiles in ways that make them indistinct from personal sites, beyond the fact that the URL is on the service instead of being a personal one.Enhanced Knowledge-When used properly, social networks can be a great way to enhance knowledge. Tapping into one's social network can allow for people to fill an information gap if members of their