I've always found social networking to be a bit... well weird, and I take part in it myself! Whether you love to update statuses, tweet, nudge, blog and/or stay linked in, the concept of social media is the idea of telling the entire world about something (usually personal) and having the world talk back to you. Some people use it for entirely inane reasons (500 friends don't really need to see what you're having for dinner unless it's something wildly unique) while others use it for business and often there is a combination of both. No matter what the use happens to be, the one thing every social outlet has is that it's, well, social.
The ramifications of this can be really surprising and heartening for some people. For example, when we share news about an illness in the family or difficulty coping with a disability, the outpouring of support and compassion can really help you get through a hard time. Sharing stories about how others got through what you're going through now can be incredibly helpful; therapists have known for a long, long time that sharing is caring. And social networks themselves are coming to grips with the fact that interaction needs to be as close knit as possible, even when people live far away. For example, Path has a 'nudge' feature where you can nudge someone over the network and ask them something like what they are doing or to take a photo. Even inviting people to join can be personalized. Facebook has the ability to allow friends to tag you in photos so that you and everyone around you can see where you've been even if you didn't take the photo. And Pintrest is all about sharing a huge range of interests with others and finding social contacts that way.
It could be argued that all social networks have to do now is keep personalizing the internet; keep making it easy for people to not only customize their corner of the internet but also make it easier and more friendly to reach out to others. Path is considered an innovator in this field. It is a mobile only social network that encourages photo sharing and sharing about what you're doing (like Facebook+Instagram on your phone), but it's improving. The nudge feature could be a game changer; it's like getting poked on Facebook only instead of the poker giggling and running away, actually asking you how you're doing. This sort of addition to the social media field could change up the way we do things, making every contact we have feel more personal without forcing people to take a lot of time to do it. The invitation note is also more personalized; you can record a message or simply write a more personal message to others. Obviously both the nudge and invitation are geared as ways the company can have its users bring in more users, but it works well too.
Of course social networking isn't all fun and games and someone can get hurt. There is such a thing as sharing too much after all and the problem with the internet is that nothing truly goes away. Problems with oversharing include:
- Distraction. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, Pintrest, blogging... sure they're all fantastic ways to get connected. But it's all too easy to get caught up in the farm animals, silly photos, interesting pictures, and other peoples' blogs. And even if you behave yourself, a personal blog can become an obsession, particularly if you try to answer every comment you get and try to update lots. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it can all too easily become a problem.
- Your reputation could take a hit: Some peoples' reputations will improve; after all, it's nice to be known for being the mastermind behind such and such a blog. But it only takes a few wild nights posted on Facebook to label you as a partier and from there, have trouble in work and in professional relationships. And since what happens on the internet is there for everyone to see, fixing the damage takes a lot of work.
- Privacy issues: I sometimes think that people should have to take a basic course on security before going onto social networks because there are too many people who don't know how to turn on their privacy settings and get into trouble. But sometime's it's the company's fault too, such as the Sony hack in that had many PS3 users running scared or the Path 2.0 privacy breach that had the company scrambling. No matter how you look at it, you have to be sensible about what you post and how secure your line is so that the whole world doesn't literally see every detail about you.
- Cyber bullying: Sad, but true: when you have a bunch of people get together, you're going to have at least one jerk. Cyber bullying refers to the practice of someone getting bullied, teased, 'trolled' or otherwise picked on over the internet. These bullies use the anonymity of the internet to pick on others with near impunity. It's considered a particular problem for school age children, but adults can be victims too.
Still, even with these problems, the fact is that social networking in one form or another is growing in strength and you'd be hard pressed to find someone not at least loosely involved in one network of some sort. The lure of finding like-minded folk from all over the world is simply too tempting to resist and for many; why even bother trying? After all, think of the thousands of people who could learn that your cat Mittens just got stuck in a closet.