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I was listening to a friend talk a week ago about how much he hated online social networking. I asked if he wouldn’t mind writing down his thoughts so that I could publish them here. He gladly obliged, and so here they are for you to read. Feel free to openly agree or disagree, I look forward to the discussion that follows.
It used to be that the term “social networking” was defined as the activity of social interaction in a personal and intimate setting. Social networking played a big part one getting where they wanted to go, and getting what they wanted to get. Social networking was a valuable time where people interacted and got to know each other on a more personal level.
Social Networking has a new face now. Say social networking in public and 9.9 out of 10 people’s minds will immediately shoot off in the direction of the internet and popular sites like MySpace, FaceBook, bebo, Hi5 - the list really is endless. Due to these new trends and fads, social networking has turned into an informal and sloppy system of constant communication. Intimate and personal interaction has been traded for whole lives being exposed online. Rather than using social networking as a way to promote oneself, we have all seen the stories of how “social networking” has ruined people’s reputations and lives. Personal meetings have been traded for (semi)transparent lives open and ready to be stalked by whoever might send the next friends request. As an aside - I may be making this to sound completely dismal, because it is - yet things of this nature are becoming necessary. These networks have become so integrated into society that it is actually possible to miss out on events and interactions if not connected (which in many less words means that I have a profile at a few of the aforementioned websites…)
Despite this rather dismal rant, redemption is near. As the major social networking websites user registration begins to level people will realize the need for a refined place of gathering online. Hence, we shall see the rise of niche social networks. The niche network rise to power has already begun with concepts such as ning. In addition to ning.com there are also social networks for techies, artists, kids, etc… Niche networking is the savior of social networking. Niche networks will allow the user to return the roots of social networking for a purpose. The networks will once again be smaller, and more focused - fostering personal and intimate interaction with all parties involved. With the advent of niche networks, the inter-web and world as a whole can expect better collaboration, resulting in the reality of things that were once dreams.
Meh. Just a few thoughts really. I much prefer to do some old fashioned face to face social networking over a milkshake. Just let me know when you are free and we’ll shoot out to the nearest diner for one.
Once again, thanks to Z. Grant for letting us all read your thoughts.
Social networking is helpful because:
-- It allows people to enter into an interaction more prepared than ever before. This cuts both ways as it can be used by a well-intentioned person to cater the needs, wants, and desires of others or it can be used to unwittingly manipulate people by created staged shared experiences and interests.
Social Networking is harmful because:
-- Assuming that the goal of most people’s lives is to develop robust and genuine personal relationships, then internet engenders a “paradox of choice” effect among its participants. Faced with so many options, it is difficult to choose just one.
-- Knowing about people leads one to create a artificial picture about someone without taking into account any nuance that may otherwise change your assessment about them.
-- Social networking forces the group acceptance of potential friends and mates. Rare is the person who is willing to win-over not only you but all of your friends as well. And what about the person who only has three online friends? Are they a pariah? In another time and place, this person may have been your future spouse.
-- Social networking gives one the illusion of interaction. It is anything but. It hold people back from overcoming their own social awkwardness that is the hallmark of entry into adulthood.
I hate social networking. All it seems to be is an electronic outlet for the terminally bored to inflict their boredom on everyone else, or an easy way to pander for attention by being electronically exhibitionistic.
It seems that everyone defines socisl networking differently. Personally, I thing that web social netowrking sites, such as myspace and FaceBook and LinkedIn are what you make of them.
You may use them as a means to accumulate as many connections as possible.
Or you might use them to make very personal connections in your own little area of interest (my preference).
It's a tool, like everything else. It's all how you use it.
I don't think social networking sucks completely. Sure there are aspects of it that could be improved. I agree with the poster that social networking could be made so much better with a purpose. Facebook, for instance, doesn't meet any professional purpose...but it can be what you make of it. Facebook is a great way to keep in touch with friends and network with colleagues and so on...but it can also be very time consuming and can easily suck up your time.
Social networking, for me, is problematic because it can take up so much time. I end up wasting so much more time due to social networking and social media in general. But I think here is where we come in to make the most of it. If I increased my focus on my work and prioritized, and simply used social networking to keep in touch with people and make connections, it would be much more beneficial than the wasteful way I'm using it now. The difficulty is in actually doing this.
@Akhila: Of course, one way to avoid the time-sucking issues of Facebook is to simply have no friends... like me!
I have 3 'friends' on FaceBook. Makes it much faster to check it in the morning!
Although I agree with the typical assertions that social networking is a serious time-sucker, essentially trivial and meaningless and taking away from the potential for human interaction, I also think it's completely understandable that social networking is "all the rage" these days.
We spend so much time on the internet, in cubicles, at desks. I know that I feel much more distanced from people now, versus when I was a student.
I think Twitter is, indeed, mind-numbing, and I'm going to add networks like Facebook to that, too.
However, I also think that it serves a purpose, depending on how one uses it. There is room to create meaningful connections, or to meaningfully interact with others. There is possibility to feel less isolated. And I think that is an extremely powerful mechanism that, although it has its drawbacks, is still something to appreciate (again, depending on how it is used).
I think the main problem which the author kind of raises here is that social networking and many of our other technological inventions have the potential to completely take us away from personal , physical connections. Today with the ubiquity of cell phones and other devices we can be better friends with someone three thousand miles away than our neighbor, and unfortunately I think this can really hamper a young professional's development as they adjust to post-college/high school life. Also, when it really comes down to it, does social networking deliver on what Mark Zuckerberg promised: an incredible social, interconnected graph or are we really just developing meaningless connections that we can never possibly utilize??
I agree that the saving grace of social networking may be niche networks. Instead of the clearing houses like Facebook or MySpace, niche networks can be localized, and develop a targeted platform which provides much more intimacy and value. I do not think that Facebook or MySpace have no place in the world, but I think that niche sites can provide a level of service that the mega sites never can.
Don’t judge based on popularity or blind reciprocity, instead make sure they “get it” and just as importantly, that their followers “get it”. More...
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