Influence of Digital Social Networks

Social networking sites (referred to more broadly as social media) are a collection of websites and applications that enable users to swap ideas, post updates and comments, and participate in activities and events while sharing their interests with other users. From general chit-chat to propagating breaking news, scheduling a date to following election results, gentle humor to serious research, social networking sites are used for a variety of reasons by various user communities. Nowadays, nearly every person who has access to a computer and Internet indulges in some kind of social networking on a daily basis. The introduction of social media has changed the entire dynamics of our lifestyles: the ways we live, work, and maintain our friendships. Despite its numerous advantages, social media does yield some negative effects. However, the benefits of social media greatly outweigh its negative effects.

The introduction and the spread of the Internet have revolutionized the way individuals communicate and interact with each other. According to Van and Thomas, propagation of this medium of interaction or communication makes it unimaginable to remember that only a few decades back when people had to wait for days, weeks or even months to receive letters from their friends, relatives, or various agencies (3). Today, the internet has made communication quick and cost-effective for most of the people. The latest innovation or by-product from the web is social media. There are various social media platforms, which individuals find new friends, keep

The company might decide to use social networking to increase boost customer base, sales and productivity through the creation of a virtual community where all its stakeholders interact easily regardless of the distance between them (Settle-Murphy, 2012). The use of social networking will

Kenneth Partridge, editor of The Reference Shelf presents social networking as a whole. " The book in the series contains several articles addressing current social trends and their issues " according to (Partridge, 2011). Thus networking, business, societies take, fundamentals, dangers and the social networking phenomenon overall. Each chapter is devoted to provide background information, single subject, and discussion from several points of view.

With technology growing at an exponential rate it has become nearly impossible to escape the digital era. The internet has been around for over two decades, the first website was launched in 1991(Schroeder). Within these years there have been millions of website creations, all with a slightly different intended purpose or audience. One of the biggest and expansive subgroups of the internet is social networking. Social Networking is defined as, “Forms of electronic communication (as Web sites for social networking and microblogging) through which users create online communities to share information, ideas, personal messages, and other content,” (Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary). Social networking has taken over the world, but ?

Social communication has always been a vital need to humanity. At its core, social communication did not change. People still exchange thoughts, feelings and news; however, the ways they socially communicate have radically changed. Online social networking is a recent form of social communication conducted over the internet. It witnessed a huge growth since 1997 with the first social networking website SixDegrees.com (“Boyd”). Social networking websites provide a great socializing capability for their members. Primarily, they aim at connecting people with their acquaintances from all places, at all times. Such websites attract more than 1 billion users around the globe (“List of social networking

Technology has had a great impact on the way the world communicates. Access to technology has become an integral part of education, socialization and industry related requirements, and accordingly Internet usage is evolving and growing rapidly. MySpace, Twitter, Skype, and Facebook are some of the online connections people use today to stay in contact with friends, coworkers, and family. Communicating in today’s society has become a lot easier with social networking sites allowing us to communicate with people with a simple click of the mouse. In this paper, I will address the strengths and limitations of social networking. I will look at the ways that social network can impact the social world of people and communities, especially those

Social Media has become a part of the digital world and has changed the world globally in the “online world” in which the way people live and interact with each other and businesses. Social Networks such as Facebook in particular facilitates social interaction and sharing and as a result, face-to-face interaction has been replaced with interaction on social media with both “Facebook and Twitter”. Social networks have allowed people to extend their existing networks in real life as well as digital. Thus Twitter is a place where emphasis is not just on sharing but also receiving updates and snippets from interesting people and organizations. Picture number 2 demonstrates how people connect with like-minded people that would on the contrary never come across each other in real life. In terms of job opportunities, networking is now being done online. LinkedIn a professional networking site has emphasized the importance of building up contacts in your field of work and beyond. New job opportunities and vacant positions are spread through the web rapidly than the old days “by word of mouth” and equally important by trailing the right people in your professional network to be the first to hear about important information. Social networks are about being and staying connected.

In recent years social networks has evolved from niche phenomenon to mass adoption. After the arrival of the internet, it has seen a viral growth and commercial interest. Social Media Networks continues to multiply with around 10% of the world’s population currently on one of hundreds of Social Networks. Few are extremely famous with hundreds of millions of users. Social networks are diverse and has different categories such as business, common interests, dating, face to face facilitation, friends, pets, and photos.

In the Business environment, Social networking plays a huge role throughout the world. When it comes to the business or enterprise, social networking allows employees to share ideas and collaborate more effectively than professional tools like email, facilitating well-informed as well as faster decision-making and also helps to improve productivity. Social networking sites where people interact freely, sharing and discussing information about each other and their personal life using conversations, images, videos and audio. These social media data in different forms such as blogs, forums and Chat box, social networks, Wikipedia, virtual world, tagging & news, digital storytelling and scrapbooking, and data, content, pictures and video sharing, podcast portals, and collective intelligence, social bookmarking, microblogging. There are lots popular social networking sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube.

Over the years there has been a dramatic increase in the use of social networking sites such as: MySpace, Twitter, Facebook and many more. “Starting out as an easy way of communication, social networks have accelerated their pace towards transforming our lives.” (Livingstone, S. 2008)

Nowadays, companies and organizations are using social networks as a tool of success for their business. However, those companies and organizations are more directed

Social networks permit one to discover and connect with people they know and people they do not know. It has altered the way individuals communicate with one another. Looking through social networks, such as Twitter and Facebook, can cause a person to feel connected to a greater number of people within society. Social networks have become a part of people’s daily lifestyles. People do not think anything of it due to numerous individuals having social networks, such as Facebook and Twitter, that are checked and updated every day. Those who live their lives on these and other networks do not recognize the fact that their communications with the world is fading. Today, a position on the internet is more significant, and communication blossoms

With the introduction of social media, nearly all aspects of human life were affected, ranging from people personal lives to professional lives. To be more specific, now days it appears to be a bit abnormal for an individual or an organization to operate with at least one active Facebook account. ”The Facebook” allows organizations and individuals to post news about events, personal life experiences, products, or any other piece of information that might appear pertinent to the followers of that account. From its simple starting point as a way of one-to-one communication among the Harvard college students, Facebook has grown to its current position with more than 900 million active monthly users (Richards). For organizations, Facebook plays a huge role with connecting firms with their clients and other stakeholders, while individual users connect with friends through the Facebook handle. In essence, Facebook has many benefits to the individual as well as corporate users, but there are some drawbacks associated with its use in the contemporary society.

Human beings are social in nature and as thus possess an inherent need to share and connect one with another. In time past, geographical separation between individuals limited connections between people making communication very difficult. The need to bridge the gap between persons who are geographically separated necessitated research into ways that will remedy this situation. The advent of the social media networks came to offer a much-needed solution to the gap in communication. A social network comprises a pool of interdependent individuals who share some commonality (Boyd, & Ellison, 2008).