President's Notes (09/07)
President's Message
Social Networking--What is it, really?
by Phil Sorrentino
Member of the Sarasota Personal Computer Users Group, Inc.
Social Networking is all over the news.
mySpacebook, LinkedIn
and Twitter are the ones that get the most play. So, what are they,
really? Well, they’re Websites that provide another way of keeping in
touch with friends, family and associates. What are some older social
networking methods. Maybe, the Telegram, the Telephone, Visiting on
Sunday, Writing Letters. These are all ways of keeping in touch with
your family and/or circle of friends. Yesterday we had these less
technical ways of keeping in touch. Today we have the computer to help
us keep in touch, via email, instant messaging, Voice Over Internet
Protocol (VOIP) telephone, and social networking. Social networking has
encouraged new ways to communicate and share information. Social
networking Websites are being used regularly by millions of people, and
it now seems that social networking will become a regular part of
everyday computer life.
Social Networking is probably the newest technology and revolves around
an internet Website that provides social networking services. How about
this for a definition of a Social Network… A site that allows
individuals to construct a public or semi-public profile within a
bounded system; to create a list of other users with whom they share a
connection; and to view their list of connections and those made by
others within the system. With that in mind, a social network focuses on
building online communities of people who share interests and/or
activities. Most social network services are web based and provide a
variety of ways for users to interact, such as e-mail and instant
messaging.
On many of the large Social Networking Sites, participants are not
necessarily “networking” or looking to meet new people; instead, they
are primarily communicating with people who are already a part of their
extended social network, such as on Facebook and Twitter.
While it could be said that email and regular websites have most of the
essential elements of social networks, the social networking sites make
it easy to use. Here’s a look at some of the more popular sites.
LinkedIn (www.linkedin.com) – LinkedIn is mostly for business people and
professionals. People use it to maintain contacts and to develop new
business opportunities. To use LinkedIn, you create a profile where you
describe yourself, listing work and education history, skills,
specialties, etc. Just like a resume. Once you have your profile, you
start connecting to others. That’s the driving force behind LinkedIn.
You use your connections to promote yourself and build relationships.
Twitter (www.twitter.com) – Twitter is a micro blogging service. When it
started out, people used it to tell others what they were doing at
various times during the day. Now it has evolved into a way to tell
people about your activities and then provide a link to further details.
SPCUG as a group could have its own Twitter account. Once we had it,
interested members could “follow” it and receive our group information
known as “tweets” delivered to them. A Twitter “tweet” has a limit of
140 characters. This may possibly be a substitute for our use of
Constant Contact to contact the membership for changes in educational
class schedules.
Facebook (www.facebook.com) – Facebook is sort of a cross between
LinkedIn and Twitter. Facebook used to be mainly for students, but has
become more mainstream. Like LinkedIn, you build a profile of yourself,
where you talk about what your interests and hobbies are. Like Twitter,
you can do micro blogging about things you want people to know. In
Facebook, you have friends as opposed to connections or followers.
Users of Social Networks in general can upload a picture of themselves,
create their ‘profile’ and can often be “friends” with other users. In
most social networks, both users must confirm that they are friends
before they are linked. For example, if Alice lists Bob as a friend,
then Bob would have to approve Alice’s friend request before they are
listed as friends. Some social networking sites have a “favorites”
feature that does not need approval from the other user. Social networks
usually have privacy controls that allow the user to choose who can view
their profile or contact them, etc.
Privacy on Social Networks is a big concern. On large social networks,
there have been growing concerns about users giving out too much
personal information and the threat of sexual predators. Users of these
networks need to be aware of data theft and viruses. However, large
networks often work with law enforcement to try to prevent such
incidents.
Access to one’s information is also of great concern. Many social
networks such as Facebook, provide the user the choice of who can view
their profile. This prevents unauthorized user(s) from accessing their
information. To edit information on a social network account, the site
usually requires you to login or provide an access code. This prevents
unauthorized user(s) from editing an account such as posting pictures or
changing personal information.
Social Networking is a promising new technology for staying in touch.
Give it a try, there must be some group of people you would like to keep
in touch with. Maybe we’ll meet in the future on Facebook or Twitter or
some now unknown social network. And for those of you who would like to
keep in touch with other SPCUG members, right now, there is the “Yahoo
Group”. If you still haven’t joined the Yahoo Group, go to our website
and click on the “Yahoo Group, Join Now!” button. I’m sure you’ll enjoy
the interaction and information available there. :
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Copyright 2009. This article is from the July 2009 issue of the
Sarasota PC Monitor, the official monthly publication of the Sarasota
Personal Computer Users Group, Inc., P.O. Box 15889, Sarasota, FL
34277-1889. Permission to reprint is granted only to other non-profit
computer user groups, provided proper credit is given to the author and
our publication. We would appreciate receiving a copy of the publication
the reprint appears in, please send to above address, Attn: Editor. For
further information about our group, email:
admin@spcug.org/ Web:
http://www.spcug.org/
The Sarasota Personal Computer Users Group, Inc. has 1,100+ members
and was established in 1982. We are members of the Assoc. of PC User
Groups (APCUG), the Florida Assoc. of PC Users Groups, Inc., and we are
members of the America Online Ambassador Program.
See http://www.spcug.org for all reviews from the Sarasota PC
Monitor, go to the Newsletter Section.