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A Brief Overview of Social Network Sites
By Henry Matthew Williams
Social
network sites have nearly become an integral part of the regular human
life. This sites have even attracted attention of the academic and
industry researchers intrigued by their affordances and reach. This
computer mediated communication has also enabled business professionals
to serve their purpose of business networking.
The
web based platform-otherwise called social network sites facilitates
the exchange of thoughts, views thereby forming communities of like-
minded individuals. Through social network sites individuals can create
profiles which may be either private or public. Connecting individuals
within a bounded system makes the world really look small. Business
professionals can also make their presence count globally with some
popular business networking sites. The sites allow individuals to
browse through each other's profiles and can even act as a communal
force for shaping public opinion.
The
number of business networking sites as well as social networking sites
have increased enormously over the last few years .But potential
threats to privacy of such social networking sites are yet to be
secured completely. The information often found in profiles such as
hometown ,date of birth or some other personal information have been
used illegally without users' consent.
This
sites are proliferating and growing in popularity worldwide. With the
associated feature of business networking, the business professionals
can use the social networking sites as a platform for their business
promotion. The global exposure that the networking sides provide, keeps
it ahead of any other media. The interactive and easy maintenance
features have earned global acceptance of the social network sites.
In
the beginning the social networking sites only focused in building
niche communities. But now they have expanded their boundaries enabling
individuals to fulfill their specific needs whether it is for dating,
academics , business networking for business professional or even for
simply friend-making. Studies reveal that social networking sites
primarily support pre-existing relations, but this is not where the
purpose of this sites end, often users engage in searching for people
with whom they have an offline connection thereby bridging online and
offline social networks.
This
sites are even worthy for industry researchers. Researchers have been
able to gather important information regarding the behavior of the
individuals associated in any community. There have been instances of
individuals faking their identities. It has been found that individuals
are concerned in keeping or renewing their past contacts and are only
centered on any particular group rather than making new friends.
Profile and linkage information from any social networking site can be
gathered through the use of automated collection techniques, which
enables network analysis researchers to explore friending patterns,
usage and other important factors.
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About the Author:
Henry Williams is the contributing writer of Profiles-connectdirector.com. He is specialized in writing articles about business blog.
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