SOCIAL NETWORKING
Social networks are more than just platforms to connect you
with your friends including relatives. Recent study in US indicated that more
than 75 Per
Cent of internet users
divulge personal information e.g. email addresses, date of birth in their
profiles The page containing the
identity details of a user is accessible to anyone who is the friend of user.
Any person could just sign up and get hold of user’s identity information by
adding him / her as a friend
Social networking enables customer service and marketing
which also create forum for peer to peer discussions or for recruitments. Experts of all topics can
divulge their knowledge and narrate their experience in the forum. e.g. When Microsoft and Yahoo deal was taking
place, Microsoft had opened the discussion forum in Facebook, one of the popular social networks where the topic was discussed very actively
by users including some senior management personnel of Microsoft. It had a lot
of credibility to it as it was very informal.
Social networking sites are getting more and more popularity
mostly among internet users including employees. Internet users join these
sites in order to make friendship with other net users for acquiring /
disseminating information of their interest and to get in touch with their
friends residing far away from them. They are willing to add their photographs
taken on various functions and send their greetings.
Enterprises all over the world are gradually embracing
social networkings for corporate use. Recent trends indicate that those
companies which do not restrict use of social networks during office hours have
started tracking what is being written about them on social networks. These
companies in particular are also contributing to correct any incorrect
information being discussed in the forum in a credible manner.
Today, social networking is the most potent tool for
marketing, employment and employee welfare. Welknown Garment Retailer – Chirag
Din sell more shirts on line than what
they sell offline by using social networking to drive their brand among social
network users.
Some popular social networks are used by internet users for
expressing their views / opinions on various topics which is called ‘blogging’. The primary motive behind blogging is to share information
/ opinion on an issue to a large audience. The net users and employees at other
end would still be more eager to share their thoughts on public blog.
Security of personal information is the main concern of
social network users. Some of the social
networks have been attacked by hackers for monetary benefits, phishing and for
spreading malware virus or spam. However, security issues come alongwith with
every new technology and over time, this issue would be tackled effectively..
With the development on security taking place so fast, it is hoped that
security measures won’t be an issue at all by
2010. Just like any other technology, social networks come with their
share of security issues
Engineering students today are the future Chief Information
Officers (CIOs) and they cannot live without social networking. All over the
world, internet users cannot afford to remain away from social networks as it
would deprive them from seeking information from friends and others staying in
different parts of the world. Thus, the faster we adopt social nerworks, the
more progressively and knowledgable we will be looked at. We should therefore
get over the fear about social networks as fast as we got over use of instant messaging like email
/ sms.
Some of the most popular social
networking applications are
as follows :-
Public social networks - Facebook,
Orkut, Myspace, Linkedin, etc
Blogging Platforms – Twittter,
Tumbhir, Jaiku, etc.
Instant Messaging Platforms (Chit Chat) : Google
Talk, Yahoo Messenger, Facebook IM, etc
