Over recent years the world’s media has been full of outlandish stories about internet millionaires and billionaires.Most of these stories are also accompanied by details about how quickly the fortune was amassed. Along with the glut of stories on these topics various buzz words have been used like “Facebook”, “Twitter”, “MySpace” and many more.
If you don’t spend a lot of time on the internet, or only use it for shopping on Amazon for example, then most likely the names of websites like those previously mentioned will not mean very much to you, but they are all very successful social networking sites that have made their owners many millions of dollars.
At its most basic social networking is the formation of social groups by individuals agreeing to associate together. Due to the internet being an almost completely global phenomenon these links formed between individuals are much easier to keep alive and active. Social networking sites enable a user to easily find and then keep in touch with school friends, workmates or expand their circle of friends by joining new groups arranged by interest.
This last category, groups formed by interest, has recently led to some real political change and interesting local events. An example of this recently was when a Facebook member organised 15,000 bikers to ride through Wootton Bassett, England, in order to support a charity for British troops.
The impact of social networking on political life even led British Prime Minister Gordon Brown to open a Facebook page of his own. This was received badly by the general public and led to many spoof sites also claiming to be the “real” Gordon Brown.
Safety and Security Concerns
Due to the massive popularity of social networking sites it is impossible to reserve a name as your own. This fact has unfortunately led to a large number of spoof sites, such as what happened with the British Prime Minister. This lack of authentication has caused a number of concerns, not least the care and protection of children from the interests of predatory paedophiles. It is entirely possible that the person you think you are talking to is someone else entirely.
Providing users are aware of the possible risks there should be no problem however. For the vast majority of member’s networking sites like Twitter and Facebook are a great source of fun and new friends.
Leading Social Networking Sites….
Facebook is currently the number one social networking site in the world with an estimated 400 million users. Facebook has shown year on year growth of over 100 percent with that growth currently showing little sign of coming to a halt. It is one of the longest established networking sites.
Twitter is a relative newcomer on the social networking scene but has acquired many millions of users. Twtter has grown by over 900% per annum recently and so may well come to overtake Facebook in terms of absolute numbers of users eventually, but it appears that over 40% of new Twitter accounts fall into disuse and so the growth may slow due to abandonment of accounts.
Some of the advantages of using social networking sites for all age groups.
3. Sending personal messages within seconds to the person sitting at distant places
4. Creating and sharing online collages with friends and family via social sites
5. Creating blogs to track the record of good or bad moments
6. Sharing the same blogs with relatives and friends by providing links to them
7. Companies use these social sites for publicity and promotion.
8. News channels update the public by providing recent and up-to-date information about events.
The social networking sites are open to all and therefore, it can put you in danger if used incorrectly. Few of the disadvantages are listed below of social networking sites.
These are:
1. Sometimes, sharing personal information with others can put you at risk
2. Availability of private information can lead to stolen identity
3. Stalkers and sexual offenders can trouble you by using the information available on your profile.
4. Fake advertisements can invite unwanted viruses and spywares to your computer
5. Professional companies can refer your online profile while judging you at the time of the interview.
This post has been written by Gurvinder Pal Singh who is an Internet marketing expert and is currently working with a UK website hosting company
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Last Updated: February 11, 2012
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{ 13 comments… read them below or add one }
The Internet has evolved a lot in the present days and in fact has turned into an online collaborative of sharing knowledge, information. Social Media i.e. Social Networking has been an integral catalyst in bringing this change. For those who does not use social media at this age, they are certainly outdated since barring few of the disadvantages, Social Media does surely hold a lof of advantages as mentioned
Social media is an important part of today’s life. As you mentioned people not using it are outdated!
Social networking is undoubtedly important for every blog. Gone were the days when search engines were the only source for generating traffic. Now you can also use the power of social media to get handsome traffic for your blog.
Social Media act like instant traffic generators! If you have something new and good, you are bound to get good traffic.
Social networking sites are great!! It has lots of benefits but also be careful because it also comes with drawbacks. Thanks for this article and for the heads up!.
Social networking has a few drawbacks like privacy, etc. So use those sites with caution!
And this phenomenon is something that has been helping so many bloggers ticking their blog in terms of getting exposure and publicity. Social networking is a powerful tool and if used cautiously can yield great results.
Agree! A lot of people will use this sites just to post their blogs or the latest craze in their lives. Simply amazing!
Social Networking has become the new bandwagon for businesses hoping to generate new sales leads. If you don’t have a Facebook page and a Twitter account, you may as well not exist in the minds of a large portion of your intended audience.
Social Networking also gives companies an opportunity to find out what customers really think about their products and services.
Thanks for the great read once again!
Exactly, no Twitter and FB on site means the site is almost dead!
Networking sites are helpful and at the same time entertaining especially when you get to meet friends that you haven’t heard for a while.. However, I must say that sites like this comes with responsibility….
Beind responsible is very important on Social Networking sites. Use them safely and share our information wisely.
As long as you have an internet, you can surely find for an income. Online jobs are rampant now-a-days. You just need to be knowledgeable enough and being an internet savvy could help you gain profits. About social networking sites, learn how to find ways to gain benefits from them and vice versa.