A social networking site is an online platform that allows users to create a public profile
and interact with other users on the website. Social networking sites usually have a new
user input a list of people with whom they share a connection and then allow the people
on the list to confirm or deny the connection. After connections are established, the new
user can search the networks of connections to make more connections.
A social networking site is also known as a social networking website or social website.
Social networking sites have different rules for establishing connections, but they often
allow users to view the connections of a confirmed connection and even suggest further
connections based on a person’s established network. Some social networking
websites like LinkedIn are used for establishing professional connections, while sites
like Facebook straddle the line between private and professional. There are also many
networks that are built for a specific user base, such as cultural or political groups within
a given area or even traders in financial markets.
Social networking websites are easy to confuse with social media sites. A social
networking site is any site that has a public or semi-public profile page, including dating
sites, fan sites and so on. A social media site has profiles and connections, combined
with the tools to easily share online content of all types.
1. SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
2. Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004. Facebook was
founded by Mark Zuckerberg. A January 2009 Complete.com study ranked Facebook as the most used
social networking service by worldwide monthly active users. Facebook launched a high-school version
in September 2005. Facebook later expanded membership eligibility to employees of several companies,
including Apple.inc. and Microsoft. Facebook was then opened on September 26, 2006, to everyone of
age 13 and older with a valid email address. On October 24, 2007, Microsoft announced that it had
purchased a 1.6% share of Facebook for $240 million, giving Facebook a total implied value of around
$15 billion. In September 2009, Facebook said that it had turned cash-flow positive for the first time. In
early 2011, Facebook announced plans to move to its new headquarters, the former Sun Microsystems
campus in Menlo Park.California.
3. Dorsey introduced the idea of an individual using an SMS service to communicate with a small group.
The original project code name for the service was twttr. Work on the project started on March 21,
2006, when Dorsey published the first Twitter message. In October 2006, Biz Stone, Evan Williums,
Dorsey, and other members of Odeo formed Obvious Corporation and acquired Odeo and all of its
assets–including Odeo.com and Twitter.com–from the investors and. In June 2008, Twitter launched a
verification program, allowing celebrities to get their accounts verified. On September 7, 20011, Twitter
announces that it has 100 million active users logging in at least once a month and 50 million active
users everyday.
4. Google+ is a social networking and identity service owned and operated by Google Inc. It is the
second-largest social networking site in the world, having surpassed Twitter in January 2013. It has
approximately 359 million active users. As of May 2013, it had a total of 500 million registered users, of
whom 235 million are active in a given month. Google has described Google+ as a "social layer" that
enhances many of its online properties, unlike conventional social networks generally accessed through
a single website.
5. Social networking sites, over the past few years, have increased in popularity so much that many are
wondering why???
6. FREE OF COST They do not charge a single penny to create an account, update status or to upload
pictures and videos
7. MAKE NEW FRIENDS
8. EASY TO USE
9. LOTS OF FEATURES Uploading videos, sharing photos, playing games, chat with friends etc…
10. Social networking sites help you get in touch with those people whom you no longer meet in your
everyday life such as buddies from school, colleges or work…
11. COMMERCIAL USE • Most of the companies are turning towards these sites for advertisement
purpose. • Ads targeted for people belonging to certain area have ultimately helped the companies in
maximizing profit. • Use of these sites for the purpose of targeted ads and publicity. • The geographical
information about a person is known. • Marketing: moreover, it helps in spreading the word all over the
world
12. Youngsters often call their friends ‘un cool’ if they don’t have a face book account (or social
networking sites). It’s pretty much a basic requirement, these days, if you want to get on with people.
There have been several reports regarding sexual predators and safety issues due to which, many of the
social networking sites have tightened their policy and security guidelines. Still, social networking sites
can reach to huge number of people with varied interests. As a result, Social networking sites continue
to rise in popularity….
13. D A N G E R S
14. PHISHING Phishing is the attempt to obtain confidential user information by camouflaging as a
trustworthy entity in an electronic communication, usually in the form of an e-mail or instant
messenger. This is where URL spoofing comes into play. Electric communications substituting as
messages sent from companies such as eBay, PayPal, Youtube and online banks are a common
camouflage for scam artists. The infected e-mails or messages usually direct a user to enter confidential
information into an illegitimate website, where the attacker can easily gain access the users details.
15. CYBER STALKING Cyber stalking is literally harassing and following another person online. Social
networking sites open up many doors for cyber stalking.
16. URL SPOOFING URL spoofing is when one website poses as another website for malicious reasons.
This assail involves the cloning of a legitimate web page, such as a bank site. The cloned site is created
on another server under the control of the scam artist and is created to deceive users into believing they
are on a trusted site. Users then proceed using passwords or account details on this cloned website,
allowing the attacker to happily steal and utilize the information for illicit reasons.
17. PRECAUTIONS
18. •Guard your financial and other sensitive information •Picture social networking sites as billboards
in cyberspace •Be cautious about meeting your new cyber friends in person •Think twice before clicking
on links or downloading attachments in emails. •Protect your computer •Beware of con artists
The history of social networks: how it all began
1. 1. The history of social networks: how it all began
2. 2. With the popularization of the Internet from the 2000s, other type of communication
service and entertainment started to gain momentum: social networks. Currently, the range
of products in this market is huge, also presenting categories with well-targeted public
3. 3. With alternatives that go far beyond just Facebook, Twitter, Orkut and MySpace, we have
more and more time spent our day interacting with others through social networks. To give
you an idea of what we're talking about, a survey by ComScore, held this year, revealed that
nearly 1 billion users of the network Mark Zuckerberg spend 405 minutes per month
watching their profiles.
4. 4. The first reports of services that have characteristics of socialize data appears in 1969,
with the development of dial-up technology and the release of CompuServe - a commercial
service Internet connection at the international level very spread in the US. Getting Started
5. 5. Another important step in this evolution was the sending of the first mail in 1971, followed
seven years later by the creation of Bulletin Board System (BBS), a system created by two
enthusiasts Chicago to invite your friends to events and take personal ads. This technology
used telephone lines and a modem for transmitting data.
6. 6. The following years, until the early 90's were marked by a major breakthrough in the
infrastructure of communication resources. For example, in 1984 when a service called
Prodigy to debunk the CompuServe - feat achieved a decade later. Approaching the one we
know today
7. 7. However, the most important event of this period was when America Online (AOL) in
1985, started to provide tools so that people would create virtual profiles in which they could
describe themselves and create communities for information exchange and discussions on
the most varied subjects. Years later (more precisely 1997), the company implemented an
instant messaging system, the pioneer among chats and the inspiration of "menssengers"
we use now.
8. 8. The year 1994 marks the shift in paradigm and show the world the first traces of social
networks with the launch of GeoCities. The concept of this service was to provide resources
so that people could create their own web pages, and categorized according to their location.
He came to have 38 million users, was acquired by Yahoo! five years later and was closed in
2009. Finally, social networks ...
9. 9. By the 2000s, the internet has greatly expanded presence at work and in people's homes.
In 2002, born Fotolog and Friendster. The Fototlog consisted of publications based on
photographs accompanied by ideas, feelings or whatever else came to mind of the Internet.
In turn, Friendster was the first service to receive the status of "social network". Its functions
allowed the real-world friendships were transported to the virtual space.
10. 10. Then, during 2003, were launched LinkedIn (profesional contacts) and MySpace (which
was considered a copy of Friendster). Both are still in the air and with an excellent
reputation.
11. 11. Behold, we come to the time when social networks fell in like the Internet and became
money machines. 2004 is considered the year of social networks, for in that period were
created Flickr, Orkut and Facebook - some of the most popular social networks, including
most of all today.
12. 12. Search withdrawing Tecmundo.com.br site (Team Baixaki) - Images under copyright,
taken from google.com.br (Google)
1997: The Birth of Social Media
The first social media site that everyone can agree actually was social media was a website called
Six Degrees. It was named after the ‘six degrees of separation’ theory and lasted from 1997 to
2001. Six Degrees allowed users to create a profile and then friend other users. Six Degrees even
allowed those who didn’t register as users to confirm friendships and connected quite a few
people this way.
From Six Degrees, the internet moved into the era of blogging and instant messaging. Although
blogging may not seem like social media precisely, the term fits because people were suddenly
able to communicate with a blog other instantly as well as other readers. The term “blog” is a
form of the phrase “Weblog” which was coined by Jorn Barger, an early blogger that was the
editor of the site “Robot Wisdom.”
From there, ICQ was born and most members of Generation X remember ICQ and the service
that was created shortly thereafter, America Online, with AOL’s instant messenger especially
prominent in the social media lineup.
2000: The Internet is Everywhere
By the year 2000, around 100 million people had access to the internet, and it became quite
common for people to be engaged socially online. Of course, then it was looked at as an odd
hobby at best. Still, more and more people began to utilize chat rooms for making friends, dating
and discussing topics that they wanted to talk about. But the huge boom of social media was still
to come.
2003: The First Social Media Surge
Although the younger generation of today might not know about it, back in the early 2000’s the
website MySpace was the popular place to set up a profile and make friends. MySpace was the
original social media profile website, leading into and inspiring websites like Facebook.
But even though MySpace has a very small user base today compared to Facebook and Twitter,
there are musicians who have used MySpace to promote their music and even be heard by record
producers and other artists. Colbie Caillat is an example.
Another website that was one of the beginning social media websites was LinkedIn, still a social
media website today, geared specifically towards professionals who want to network with each
other.
In fact, most of the social media websites we have today are similar to LinkedIn, in that they are
specifically about one particular thing, or they have some kind of unique quality that has made
them popular. While MySpace was a general social media site, LinkedIn was, and is still is,
meant for professional businesspeople to connect with each other to network, find jobs and
socialize.
2005: Facebook and Twitter
In 2004, Mark Zuckerberg launched what would soon become the social media giant that would
set the bar for all other social media services. Facebook is the number one social media website
today and it currently boasts over a billion users.
However, back in 2004, Facebook (TheFacebook.com then) was launched just for Harvard
students. Zuckerberg saw the potential and released the service to the world at the website
facebook.com.
In 2006, the popularity of text messaging or SMS inspired Jack Dorsey, Biz Stone, Noah Glass
and Evan Williams to create Twitter, a service that had the unique distinction of allowing users
to send “tweets” of 140 characters or less. Today, Twitter has over 500 million users.
Around 2010: The Rest of the Pack
Before long, there were dozens of other websites providing social media services of some kind.
Flickr was one of the earliest and still is one of themost popular photo sharing sites, but others
include Photobucket and Instagram, with Instagram gaining popularity today as one of the top
social media sites to include on business cards and other media.
Tumblr, a microblogging website started in 2007by David Karp and now owned by Yahoo, is
one of the sites that could be seen sprouting up in the late 2000s. Foursquare was quite a popular
website for a while, particularly with smartphones being used so extensively, and then there is
Pinterest, Spotify, and many others. Some of the most popular social media platforms in the late
2000’s included: Google Buzz, Loopt, Blippy, and Groupon.
One of the things that started happening right in this time period is that social media not only
became widely used, it also became widespread in business.
Websites were starting to list their social media addresses, businesses would include Facebook
and Twitter addresses on their television commercials and many tools were being built to include
social media on websites – for example: WordPress plugins that would allow users to include not
only links to their social media websites, but also to include their latest social media posts
directly on their websites.
Social media icons were seen everywhere and it became almost unusual to see businesses or
brands without them.
In addition, social media began to be one of the ways in which internet marketers and website
owners would boost the visibility of their websites. The benefits of social media marketing for
business began to become quite clear to business owners large and small. Social media
bookmarking became quite popular and there were services that would bookmark a post or a
website across dozens or even hundreds of social media services.
Social Media Today
Social media today consists of thousands of social media platforms, all serving the same – but
slightly different purpose. Of course, some social media platforms are more popular than others,
but even the smaller ones get used by a portion of the population because each one caters to a
very different type of person.
For example: Instagram caters to the kind of person that communicates through photographs
best, and other platforms such as Twitter are perfect for those who communicate in short bursts
of information. As mentioned, businesses are using social media to promote their products and
services in a brand new way and so each form of social media serves a purpose that the others
available may not.
The Future of Social Media
Although it is impossible to know what the future of social media holds, it is clear that it will
continue. Humans are social animals and the more ability to communicate with each other on the
level that each person likes best, the more prevalent social media will become. With new and
exciting technologies just around the corner, social media will be interesting to see in the coming
decades.
1 – Facebook
This is easily the largest social networking site in the world and one of the most
widely used. And, Facebook was perhaps the first that surpassed the landmark of
1 billion user accounts.
Apart from the ability to network with friends and relatives, you can also access
different Facebook apps to sell online and you can even market or promote your
business, brand and products by using paid Facebook ads.
Recently Facebook has lost the trust of millions of its users by allowing 3rd
parties to access over 87 million users’ personal data. This is a massive breech of
trust and has created a feeling of unrest amongst the social media platform’s
audience. So much so that there is now a #deletefacebook campaign where
people are completely removing themselves from Facebook and using other
networks instead. If you’re concerned about what Facebook is doing with your
data, then why not check out my guide on alternatives to Facebook, and see if
there’s a better place for you to interact with family and friends.
Number of active users per month: 1.59 billion approximately
2 – WhatsApp
Despite having been acquired by Facebook in 2014, this instant messaging
platform exists as an independent entity.
It arrived on the scene much later than Facebook, but has been able to capture
the imagination of millions of people across the world by giving them the ability
to communicate and share instantly with individuals and groups. The WhatsApp
call feature is just the icing on the cake!
Number of active users per month: 1 billion approximately
3- QQ
Tencent QQ (more popularly known as QQ) is an instant messaging (chat-based)
social media platform. It became international (with more than 80 countries using
it), after it was launched in China.
It can be used to stay in touch with friends through texts, video calls and voice
chats. It even has a built-in translator to translate your chats. To find out more,
head over to our Chinese Social Media stats page.
Number of active users per month: 853 million approximately
4 – WeChat
This is an all-in-one communications app for messaging and calling (similar to
WhatsApp) that enables you to connect with the people of your choice. It was
also developed by Tencent in China and can easily work alongside QQ. As
per the BI intelligence report, the number of WeChat users are fast catching up
with the number of WhatsApp users.
Related article: WeChat keyboard shortcuts
Number of active users per month: 697 million approximately
5 – QZone
Like QQ and WeChat, QZone is yet another social networking service developed
by Tencent. It enables you to share photos, watch videos, listen to songs, write
blogs, maintain diaries and so on. It also empowers you to choose the accessories
and customize the look and feel of your QZone webpages.
Number of active users per month: 640 million approximately
6 – Tumblr
Having been owned by Yahoo since 2013, Tumblr serves as a social media cum
micro blogging platform that can be used to find and follow things that you like.
You can also use it to post anything, including multimedia, to a short-form blog.
Moreover, it gives you the flexibility to customize almost everything.
Number of active users per month: 555 million approximately
7 – Instagram
Instagram was launched as a unique social networking platform that was
completely based on sharing photos and videos. This photo sharing social
networking app thus enables you to capture the best moments of your life, with
your phone’s camera or any other camera, and convert them into works of art.
This is possible because Instagram allows you to apply multiple filters to your
photos and you can easily post them to other popular social networking sites,
such as Facebook and Twitter. It is now part of the Facebook empire. Learn how
to grow your Instagram audience.
Read more on Instagram Tools to help you increase social engagement and
audience numbers.
Number of active users per month: 400 million approximately
8 – Twitter
This social networking site enables you to post short text messages (called
tweets), containing a limited number of characters (up to 140), to convey your
message to the world. With the growing craze for online shopping, Twitter also
makes it possible to promote your businesses and even shop directly through
tweets. Learn how to create the perfect Twitter profile.
Number of active users per month: 320 million approximately
9 – Google+
Owned by the tech giant Alphabet (Google), this interest-based social networking
platform enables you to stay in touch with people by sharing messages, photos,
videos, useful links to sites and so on. It also extends support for video
conferencing through Hangouts and allows businesses to promote their brands
and products through Google+ business pages.
Number of active users: 300 million approximately
10 – Baidu Tieba
Offered by Baidu of China, a search engine company, Baidu Tieba (known as
Postbar internationally) is a social forum network based on the keyword searches
in the Baidu search engine. This discussion forum works on the unique concept of
allowing you to create a social network group for a specific topic, using the
search, or even to join an existing online social group.
