Why climb aborb:

Social Networks – Why is everyone climbing aboard:?
Social Networks – Why are so many people and organizations now using Face book, Twitter, etc. to communicate?
Social networking is rapidly transforming the way millions of people worldwide connect with each other. By using websites like Face book, MySpace, Twitter Flicker and more, people can share experiences, media and information through these electronic social networks and who knows what other new ways of communicating with other will develop in the future. I am starting this blog because I have seen a number of my friend joining Face book, therefore, I had to join myself in order to keep up with everyone that I want to keep in contact with. Web 2.0 is a term used widely to describe the “renaissance” of the Internet to its original roots as a place to connect individuals and share resources online. Within the scope of Web 2.0 is social networking, a term used widely to describe websites that use public or semi-private profiles to connect users with like interests. Millions of people use social networking websites to connect with colleagues, friends, relatives and even strangers everyday. In addition, many organizations are now widely using social networking websites to attract and analyze customers to glean information about spending habits, brand preference and trends.
Social networking websites (SNW) require members to create profiles to gain entrance to the website where they can connect you’re your friends. User profiles can be public or semi-public and allow the user to view profiles of others on the SNW. While the word “networking” usually implies creating relationships between strangers, social networking strives to make visible the already created relationships between people. Many websites have default restrictions on who can see your personal page. MySpace and LinkedIn allow users to choose whether or not they want their website to be public to the world or just to “friends.” Facebook on the other hand, allows only users in a “network” to view and recall other users in the “network”. Within these websites, users have the right to change default settings and even deny access to those within their “network” These sites provide users with an informal yet important approach to creating and solidifying relationships online and off.
To build relationships you must join a SNW, and users are prompted to find other “friends”. These relationships may not constitute friendship in the traditional sense since users have various reasons for connecting with people they may not consider offline friends. Once users have started building their contacts on the “network,” approved connections are listed on the site for other “friends” to view or search for someone you may know. These websites usually mine data from existing email accounts by downloading contacts to the site. Once the information is transferred, the “network” notifies you which of your contacts are members of the site (usually by displaying an icon) and those who are not. You are then given the option of sending invitations to any and all of these contacts or even searching for new contacts throughout the “network.” This can be fun but, I have noticed that you are prompted to look for other people on the SNW that it thinks you may have common interest that may also be a possible friend. This can be annoying at times because I usually do not know any of these people.