Social Networking Services
Social Networking Services are online services used to connect people in online communities. These services are powered through websites with free registration to allow for the greatest availability to their respective target audiences. Users of social networking services can find and add their friends, family, and even total strangers based on user inputted requests and recommender systems provided by the social networking site. (Back to index)
Contents
History of Specific Sites
SixDegrees.com: The first social networking site was SixDegrees, founded in 1997. This site attempted to connect with and send messages to others. The website allowed you to confirm a relationship without joining the website SixDegrees failed because there were not enough "friends" online yet and there was not enough of a social aspect to this networking site. The site is in a restructuring period where only previous users and invited users can access SixDegrees but it is supposed to open to the public once the restructuring is complete [1]
Ryze.com: Launched in 2001, Ryze was meant to helped people with business networks much like LinkedIn does today. Its audience was largely entrepreneurs and aimed to connect them with potential investors. Failed because it never gained enough members to promote interaction but it is still an active website. [2]
Friendster.com: A social complement to Ryze, Friendster was designed to compete with Match.com. It was designed to help friends-of-friends meet and interact. Its initial popularity was with three groups: bloggers, gay men and attendees of the Burning Man arts festival. Failed because of its exponential growth. Friendster had several servers fail consistently and could not keep up with the technology needed to maintain an active website.
Myspace.com: Originally designed to attract estranged Friendster users, Myspace gained popularity through indie-rock bands who promoted their music through the website. Myspace allows users to personalize their pages by utilizing HTML code and adding songs from bands Myspace pages. Myspace was purchased by NewsCorp in 2005 for $580 million and has been plagued by safety issues like cyber-bullying, pedophiles and misrepresentation of users. Its downfall by its emphasis on entertainment and music rather than social networking and by its site design and excessive advertising. It is still an active website today, but has veered to music discovery unit.
Facebook.com: Founded in 2004, Facebook is designed to give people the power to share and make the world more open and connected. Originally it was only designed to support college networks but has since extended its reach to high school, locations and employment networks. Facebook has clean profiles that are consistent across the website. It generates revenue through advertising and is free to the public. In 2007, Microsoft purchased a 1.6% share for $240 million.[3]
Twitter: A micro-blogging site that speaks in 140 characters or less, Twitter allows you to “follow” people from many different circles. It provides access to celebrities and companies that previously was unavailable. Founded in 2006, Twitter began its popularity at the South by Southwest technology conference and is still tweeting strong today.
Yammer: An enterprise social network that is company-specific. Each separate network requires a company email to join. The Yammer networks are meant to facilitate collaboration, active feedback and a connection between coworkers in a private and secure setting. [4]
LinkedIn: Founded in 2002, LinkedIn is a professional network where users can find past and present colleagues. Additionally, users can find inside connections in the professional world they otherwise would not. [5]
Google+: A social network launched and powered by Google on June 28, 2011 to compete with other social networking sites. It allows users to group their friends in "circles" and post information to a certain group. The layout is similar to Facebook's interface, but a user cannot post information on another person's wall. Google+ also created controversy over the inability to alter ones name.
Key Features of Social Networking Services
Profiles are unique pages where you can “type yourself into being.” You choose what information is portrayed to the general public and determine your own online identity. Profiles also have a social element with people writing on walls, releasing control of your online personality to the outside world. From pictures to wall posts, these sites bring the real world into the online world. It brings your social life together all in one place.
Privacy is an always-controversial feature of Social Networking Services. It is based on user discretion or site terms, but sites give default and recommended settings that are often much more relaxed than people are aware of when they sign up for the site. While you are able to delete posts that are written on your profile, people are still able to write things about you without needing your approval. Social networks also display all of your connections, breaking down barriers between social circles that you may have. This aspect of privacy reduces the likelihood of having two separate identities between social circles. Facebook has had many changes in its privacy settings as new features have developed and each time people threaten to quit the site if their privacy is not respected. This will be an interesting feature when Facebook releases its new “Timeline” feature.
Identifying “friends” is the essential component to the social aspect of any Social Networking Service. The bi-directional confirmation of friendship means that you cannot be known as someone’s friend without the acknowledgment of this as a real life connection or at least recognition that you would like to be associated with this person. By identifying your friends, you are creating a network of connections to people who can hold you accountable for what you post on these sites and the person you attempt to portray yourself as. Two types of friends exist, those that you have strong ties with and those you only know in a particular context and have weak ties with. Social Networking Services bring these two together. No one can have over 1,000 close friends, but the sites provide an outlet for the strong ties and the weak ties to intermingle. By identifying these friends, you are confirming that you accept these people as those.
Ethical Implications of Social Networking Services
Privacy: There are several concerns about the ethics of the invasion of privacy that is prevalent in Social Networking Services. Several Social Networking Services employ data mining to gain information on their users and then use that information to sell advertisements to companies. The creation of the "News Feed" function on Facebook was controversial because it allowed people to see information in a central place rather than searching out that information on each individual page.
