The popularity of Social Networking Sites

(Image by Frank Da Silva: http://www.flickr.com/photos/crystaleagle/2386230724/)


There are around 100 million people around the world who are regular social networking site users. We've become a generation of social networking addicts, desperate for our fix of virtual interaction. User generated content (UGC) has become the norm, with millions of us regularly publishing blogs and posting masses of photographs online.

The incredible statistics speak for themselves...



(Music - "I kno u want it" by Soft Toy Emergency. Check out their Myspace page here)

Facebook entrepreneur Mark Zuckerberg talks about how it all started on the BBC's website.

Generating Talent

A Myspace music party (image by Brian Solis: http://www.flickr.com/photos/briansolis/3010383123/)

One of the biggest and best functions of social networking sites, is innovating new talent. The Murdoch owned Myspace, which helped to boost the careers of Lily Allen and the Arctic Monkeys, launched its own record label - Myspace Records, in 2005.

Lily Allen (image by neil365 - http://www.flickr.com/photos/musiclikedirt/193298748/)

Aspiring artists can simply create a profile and upload their songs onto it enabling millions of people around the world to listen to what they have to offer.


Katie and the Questions, an unsigned band from York, are one of millions of artists broadcasting their music to the public through Myspace.

They describe their style as 'powerpop, pop punk and new wave' and hope that putting their music out there will put them onto the path to success. I asked them a few questions about the influence Myspace has had on their music:


Since you showcased your music online, what type of feedback have you had?
99 per cent positive. Quite a few of our gig contacts started out by listening to us on Myspace. We do use software to keep fans informed by posting comments on their Myspace, we have about 40 listens per day to the songs on there and add about 15 to 20 new friends every other day although we are selective, we dont want clothing companys in the USA and sites like that, we want fans of the music.

What have you achieved so far that perhaps wouldn't have been possible without sites like Myspace?
To be able to get our music heard to a wider audience. Because of Myspace, we are getting played on college radio in the USA and are getting featured in podcasts and on local radio in other areas of the UK.


Have you had any interest from any record labels?
Not real record companies, only ones wanting us to pay for recording upfront and then distribute with no advertising budget - we can do a better job at that ourselves. Our main piority is to get a permanent manager as Jane who currently helps us out is finding it hard to devote the time needed. We want to build a decent following and then showcase ourselves to record companies.
You can check out the bands music by clicking here.

Despite critics saying that people are tiring of social networks, they're certainly not on their way out any time soon. Baywatch star, David Hasselhoff decided to launch his own social networking site called Hoff Space because he was tired of people setting up accounts in his name. It has more than 8,000 members proving that people continue to be fascinated by this online phenomena.

If you're dying to check out Hoff Space, which I'm sure you are - click here.

The art of conversation dead? Networking's effect on offline relationships.

A recent survey carried out on ask500people.com suggested that social networking sites are causing a decline in face-to-face communication.

It appears that the Internet is creating a lazy world where it is easier for us to switch on a computer or mobile phone to converse with friends as opposed to visiting them in person.

The Telegraph reported in September this year that a book called 'Debrett's definitive guide to etiquette since 1996' warns that sites like Facebook can ruin people's social lives:

Social networking is meant to complement and enhance your existing life, not completely obliterate it.

Read more here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TF24nQ01890

Dr Will Reader, a lecturer in psychology at Sheffield Hallam University, specialises in relationships and social networks. He and a team of researchers carried out a survey in 2007 using over 200 people to study how social networking sites are changing the nature of friendship networks. They found that:

• Weak ties among people around the planet are rising exponentially


• Social Networking Sites allow people to broaden their list of nodding acquaintances because staying in touch online is easy


• SNS's decrease the cost of maintaining and forming friendships because we can post information to multiple people


• Face-to-face contact is invaluable for the longevity of friendship - "it is very easy to be deceptive on the Internet"
  
  
  I asked Dr Reader if the rise in online interaction is something to be concerned about:

I don’t see it as negative, I think these technologies are fulfilling a basic human need to make contact with others. Many of the people being contacted are face-to-face friends too, so I don’t think it is leading (yet, anyway) to a decrease in high-intimacy friendships. I don’t think that what slips is face-to-face contact. If it means that people watch less television it could be a good thing! Where social networking sites in particular might have a negative effect is in narrowing down the kinds of people we interact with.

Strengthening existing ties

'Dosh dosh today' wrote that social networking may be less personal but it is by no means less legitimate. Social networks are great for strengthening social ties when it comes to friendships that have already been established offline. We can communicate with our pals here, there and everywhere.

However, online interaction is not the key to a long and lasting friendship. As Dr Reader said, it's important that we invest time and effort into our relationships which, if the results of the survey are anything to go by, we don't appear to be doing at the moment...

Privacy Concerns

The more information we place online, the more vulnerable we are to privacy intrusion. A lot of this information we disclose can be seen on social networking sites. As privacymaven.com put it, "the walls that separate parts of a person's life can be knocked down in the emerging world of online social networking."

A growing problem is identity fraud. This occurs when fraudsters take down personal details such as a person's name, date of birth and address from their social networking profiles and use them to take out a credit card in their name.




(Video by Riccardo Boleto http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YHzMzdIESbg)

Another area of concern is protecting the privacy of children. The Times reported in April this year that two and a half million children aged between 8 and 17 have created profiles on social networking sites. This means that around four in ten personal pages are open for anyone to look at.

Robin Blake, head of media literacy at Ofcom told the BBC:

Parents who are allowing their children to go online without supervision or support...need to recognise that their children are potentially at risk.

Not only are they an easy target for online marketing but also for paedophiles. These online predators take advantage of the anonymity to lure children into a false sense of security. According to the UK police organisation, the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP), offenders will typically make contact in a chat area and then try to get a child into an e-mail or other one-on-one arena. Read more on this here.

To find out more about staying safe online visit the following sites:

• Bebo's Safety centre
• Myspace's safety tips
• Facebook's privacy and security advice

Method of snooping

It has become common knowledge that employers looking to hire people often come to a decision by looking on their Facebook profiles. All those drunken snaps of yourself you thought showed how much of a laugh you are could actually hinder your chances of bagging that dream job.

Furthermore, those already working for a company are also under surveillance as, according to the Irish Examiner, bosses check the profiles of people who have rang in sick to make sure there's nothing incriminating on there that would suggest otherwise.

More information on this can be found on the BBC's website.

Last month the BBC reported that a new privacy forum has been developed to address the concerns associated with online safety. The Forum's co-chairman Jules Polonetsky said, "we are at a vital crossroads for improving consumer control over online data." Read the full article by clicking here.

A survey carried out on ask500people.com confirms that people continue to be concerned by their privacy online.