A Different View of the Internet

As we approached the 21st century, our world was “globalized” and entered the Information Age. At the same time, the word “Internet” was added to almost all vocabularies of every persons. Communication became much easier, research efforts were lightened and we really saw the world in a different angle. But still, it was not only for educational and business purposes that the internet was developed. Great minds developed networking services that made us really closer with our family and friends. E-mail (electronic mail) and instant messaging softwares were created for long-distance communication that benefited overseas workers to connect with their family and friends. Then, in midst of the internet revolution, social networks came.

As Wikipedia would define it,  “A social network service focuses on building online communities of people who share interests and/or activities, or who are interested in exploring the interests and activities of others. Most social network services are web based and provide a variety of ways for users to interact, such as e-mail and instant messaging services.” Social networks became popular especially for teenagers and young adults. Popular social networks includes Facebook, Friendster, MySpace, Hi5. Micro blogs like Twitter, Plurk and Tumblr also caught the attention of the global social networking market.

It is very amazing that in less than a decade, modern social networking accounts rose from basically nothing to a whopping multi-million number of accounts. For example, Facebook, which was created only in February 2004, now has more than 300 million active users worldwide. Also, MySpace which was launched in 2003 now has approximately 100 million active users worldwide. In a short span of time, these websites grew into overwhelming sizes. The big question is: how did social networking grew very large in a short span of time?

Many things can possibly attract people to social networking. First, social networking  is an easy and convenient way to communicate. It is not only that one can write to each other, but a user can also upload pictures and videos to share with his or her friends. Also, websites like Facebook also comes with quizzes and games, making the networking experience easier and interactive. Lastly, with blogs and micro blogs, one can share his or her thoughts. Social networks really do showcase huge amounts of applications to use and interact. We Filipinos are famous for our love for social networking. Friendster is majorly occupied by users from the Philippines. Maybe socializing is just a Filipino love.

But still, be warned that social networks still possess major privacy dangers. One can be a victim of identity theft, hacking or invasion of privacy. Be cautious of posting pictures for one can be a victim of “posers”, people who posts pictures not belonging to them. Make sure not to post sensitive photos because they can also be used for black mailing.

To sum all things up, social networks are really fun to have. Even I maintain 5 accounts. But still, be careful of posting stuff in your account. Privacy is our right, and no one is to invade it. The internet is a very handy thing to have, but everything has its limitations.