Social Networking

Social Networking can be used in many different ways. One important point is the ability to share information with a whole network of individuals immediately. This can be very useful for corporations that want to advertise their service or products to a large group of people. Also it can be used to find other people that have similar tastes or interests. Lastly, another good way it can be used is as a database of job applicants if you are looking for someone to fill a job position at your company.

The benefits of social networking are huge. It helps connect people around the world and keep old contacts close. It also allows information to be shared with others in record time. In the article "How Obama Tapped Into Social Networks' Power" in the New York Times, Obama mentioned social networking benefits as having "tremendous communication capabilities and aggressive database development".

Unfortunately, social networking does have a "dark side". A negative aspect of it is that whatever is shared with others has a chance of coming back and hurting your reputation later. And also, the large amounts of time spent on it, decreases our social skills when talking to people in person. In the article "Is MySpace Good for Society? A Freakonomics Quorum" in the New York Times, it says that social networks "offered them only a way to disclose information they shouldn’t disclose, collect hundreds of “friends” they didn’t know, and waste time better spent studying". There is good and bad to social networking. Also, it can become addictive to the point that more time is spent on it than conversing with others in real life.

In the future, I can see social networking as ascending from just a webpage or broadcasts on a cellphone. People will be able to send live holograms of themselves and sit down and have coffee with people across the globe.