Social Networking sites
Social networking sites such as facebook,myspace and bebo have become very popular around the world they are free to join, with members having their own home page with some basic personal information like your age, gender and birthdate etc. There is a section where you can write about yourselfs and your interests. Memebrs can register with each other as friends, a status which allows them certain means of communication and gives access to more private content (e.g pictures) on each others site. You can all communicate with your friends by writing public messages on the wall of their profile.
http://newsletter.alt.ac.uk/e_article000993849.cfm
Facebook i would say is more popular amongts university and college students and mysapce has more users overall i know the main networking site that i use regularly is facebook (http://www.facebook.com/) .I started using this when i first came to university and didnt really no what it was untill then whereas now i am on it everyday and find it hard to even go on a computer without browsing on facebook. I do have an acount with myspace but never really go on it.
What i like about facebook is the fact that you can get back in conatct with friends who you havnt spoke to or seen for a long time by either searching for them on the friend finder or through a friend who is also friends with them. I have got back in touch with people i went to primary school with and can message them whenver i want even though we are at opposite ends of the country. As i am at university and i go out a lot there are many pictures been takin by me and my friends and facebook allows us to share them with everyone as you can tag people on them so the pictures will also come up on their profile aswell. I think the security setting is imporatnt on facebook as you can have the option of blocking people from seeing certain things on your profile that you dont want them to see and can also stop people who arnt friends with you from been able to access you profile. My profile is set so only my friends can see it as i dont want people i dont no been able to look at my profile and find things out about me that are personal.
I dont think these networking sites are dangerous for young people like chatrooms as you always no exactly who you are talking to as you have added them as friends. You cant really meet people you don't no and think they are somebody they arnt as you wouldn't add people who you dont know. I have had people who have sent me a friend request and i dont no who they are as they havnt had a picture of themselves and i didnt recognise the name there for i havnt added them.
I know people may not like the fact that with facebook and many of the other sites people can always know what you are doing by looking at your photographs and reading your status and conversations that you have had with people on each others walls. For this reason if i want to send a message and have a converstaion with somebody i will write it so it appears in their inbox so only they can see it as other people do not have access to this. People can find out who you are and arn't friends with and as soon as people log on things will come up on their news feed informing you of peoples latest updates. There seems to be no privacy for anybody on these sites as all your friends can see things before you do if they have looked on your profile a while before you have and something new has been posted they can read it.
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6 comments:
Helen,
You write knowledgably on social networking sites, with much praise for Facebook. The positive aspects of facebook are convincingly put accross. I think the comments you make about security are sensible. Your final comments on the 'lack of privacy' are interesting, as often new media is seen as creating a sense of isolation from real interaction amongst friends, yet here there seems to be much sharing of information.
All the best
Emma
i agree with OMYGOSH THE EARTHQUAKE JUST HAPPENED!!!!!!!!!!
sorry for the interuption...earthquake.....bad times!!
Anywayyyyy.....I agree with what Golder says in the article you posted about how students will participate in social networking sites while they are working. Becuase when Im writing essays or even blogging I will usually have my facebook open in another window.
yeh i think its great to keep in touch with people who have gone to different unis or whatever. And i like how you're in control of who u accept and who u speak 2 etc, so basically the user can create their own profile.
The fact that privacy settings can be adjusted proves that users can make their Facebook whatever they want it to be, keep it as private as possible with just close friends being able to see your profile or as public as possible if meeting lots of randoms online was your goal!!!
facebook is the definatly a great way of communicating with people, but it is also one of the biggest distractions in my life. as Alyson said i always have it open when i am doing essays etc and whenever i log on to the internet the first thing i check is facebook.
The fact that facebook is so popular now you can even get tshirts from this website- http://www.facebooktshirts.co.uk/ this shows how much of phenomenon it has become and how many people are actually addicted to it.
i am still unsure whetehr this is a positive or a negaive thing, because of the way it has taken over my life, but i dont really want to do anything to stop it taking over my life, lol
i really wouldn't say it has taken over my life, but it has without a doubt become a part of my life!
I mean, sometimes theres absolutely nothing happening on Facebook so u can literally sign in then out, but on days when a lots happening or you're having wall conversations or whatever, it's hard to sign off becuase you know there will be another update alert in a second so I think 'o well, i may as well stay signed in'.
Does anyone else find this is the case?
sorry, i posted the same thing twice there so had to delete it once! sorry
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