Social Networking

Social networks can be used to communicate with those you already know, to build relationships, to express a distinct view or voice, to share information (a news source), to promote a brand/product/company/person, to maintain a space for a group to easily function, to express oneself artistically or emotionally, and so on. It is a blank slate of sorts-- a new way to communicate above all else. Today, the uses of the different networks is becoming blended, as well, showing that the networks are versatile and constantly changing in purpose. "The line between professional networking on a site such as LinkedIn", an originally "professional network", "and social networking on sites such as Facebook, has become become very thin" according to Lance Hoffman, a GWU computer science professor.

The benefits are a convergence of ideas, the ease of networking for the better of one's professional and social circles, platforms to more effectively communicate with the younger generation, an opportunity for more efficient target marketing, an environmental shift away further away from paper, and so forth. The New York Times published a piece discussing Obama's positive use of social media in his campaigning. Social networks allowed him to "create an unforeseen force to raise money, organize locally, fight smear campaigns and get out the vote" as well as instantly engage millions of supporters. The "dark side" of social networking is a lack of privacy, an increase in recklessness and sharing too much personal information which can open us up to more dangers, an immobile society who sits at computers for too much of the day, an abandonment of traditional socializing which in turn will detract from society's ability to interact face-to-face, the ability for personalized manipulation through marketing, an increase in internet bullying, and so forth. On the topic of privacy and recklessness, as noted in a speech at Wharton, those on social networks are increasingly "casually posting accounts of their lives for their friends — and the world — to see." These networks create records and a new sort of fingerprint.

This issue-- of long-term documentation of our every personal move-- is being examined, and the examining of this issue is being capitalized on as we speak-- by companies like Frankly and then the better-known Snapchat. These companies are producing products that offer ephemeral socialization-- messages that disappear after seen. This is meant to erase the fingerprint. Google is allowing users to remove their pasts from the search engine as well. Ephemerality is where social networking is headed. This is beneficial to us in some ways, but probably not quite as beneficial as most think-- the messages aren't disappearing 100%, and the platforms will soon move toward increased hosting of advertisements. It's yet to come to a magical resolution, and probably never will. But, for now, we have to keep playing their game in order to stay in the overall game-- in which we must maintain our social lives and maintain aptitude for the demands of our jobs.