What are your opinions on SOCIAL NETWORKING and describe them in your own words? (ICT c/w)?

What is a social network and how do they help you to keep in contact (meet your needs)

What are your opinions on SOCIAL NETWORKING and describe them in your own words? (ICT c/w)?
Social Networking in the context of IT may be referred to as a social network service. Here's my take on Internet Social Networking.





Internet Social Networking has been around for more than 2 decades now. It's just that before, the ones using it are what we refer to as "geeks." Since the time that TCP/IP was invented, computer enthusiasts have already been communicating. Bulletin Board Systems or BBSes such as FidoNet or CompuServe have allowed thousands, or even millions of users to talk about topics in their areas of interest. Two notable contributions of BBSes were "ASCII art" and conversational acronyms such as LOL, BRB, etc.





In the late 1990's, Internet social networking has once again evolved into messageboards. Messageboards are different from BBSes in that the former is based on the World Wide Web, using a technology called CGI or Common Gateway Interface while the latter needs a BBS software. Either way, both need a modem and a phone line to be able to connect. Another form of internet social networking in this period is chatting (using Internet Relay Chat or IRC). IRC has also become popular among certain groups of people.





In early 2000, Internet social networking has already evolved into what we call "online communities," which is one characteristic of "Web 2.0." This time, online communities have become mainstream, thanks to websites such as MySpace and Friendster, to name a few.





The reason why modern online community websites have become so successful is because they are USEFUL. People now have the reason to come back because they are able to tweak something based on their preferences. In addtion, people are able to interact using interfaces that are easier to learn (low learning curve). Behind the scenes, the technology used in making these online community websites (such as AJAX, PHP and MySQL, ASP.NET and MS SQL, Wordpress, etc.), and the support of modern Web browsers such as Firefox 2.0, Internet Exporer 7, Opera 9.10 and Safari, have made it much easier for Web developers implement it.





Today, when we talk about social networking, we think of MySpace, Friendster, Skype, PHP-based forums, photo-sharing and blogs. Conversing (or communicating) with anyone in the world, regardless of race, status, class, etc. has never been as easy and accessible as before.





This is now, as what O'Reilly would term, the "Web 2.0" world.
Reply:I don't find anything social about them. Sorry, to me, "social" is face to face contact.