Social Networking Sites

I'm not really involved in many social networking sites anymore--I spend most of my time online reading things like news articles or shopping. I didn't have a facebook until I had to make one for my English 396C course. Well, I did have one for a brief time when a friend asked me to make one, but when I didn't do anything on it, I deleted it. I have a Myspace but I only use it to keep in contact with a friend that moved to Mexico. If it wasn't for her, I would probably delete it.

The only websites I would actually like to participate in are photo or art sharing websites such as: deviantART, flickr, and photobucket. I'm really interested in photography, so being able to get some feedback outside of family and friends is always a plus. It's also a good way to keep up with friends and family. On photobucket, I can watch my sister-in-law's garden grow throughout the year. She's always uploading new photos of all her flowering plants and beautiful garden.

On the other side of the matter, I think social networking sites such as Myspace have become an important tool for businesses and employers. I know of one person who advertises their photography studio through Myspace to bring in some extra business. DeviantART members are able to sell their art work through the site. Employers are able to do a quick check on these sites and see what a future employee may really be like. People have even been “discovered” on sites such as YouTube.

It's quite obvious just how much of an impact these sites do have now. I can do a simple search and under the "images" tab of the search engine, there will always be a bajillion photos from websites like flickr and photobucket. YouTube and especially Wikipedia are another two that always pop up with links. Maybe Wikipedia seems like an odd one to mention here, but I do think it fits since anyone can participate by editing or adding a certain subject matter.

Even though I haven’t had the full experience of social networking sites, I have been able to experience a small portion of them and I’m not quite sure I fully agree with the concept of a few of them. I prefer to hold active-time conversations with people whenever I can. I would rather do all my networking face-to-face where I could make a more positive impact. Not to mention, how could I hold together any sort of relationship with my friends and family if all I did was send them the occasional message through Myspace. What’s wrong with a phone call or taking a small trip to go see somebody?

Now, if I try to look at social networking sites a little more positively, I can really see why some people use them. Many people have been able to get back into contact or keep in touch with people they normally wouldn’t. I would imagine that for some, using these sites is a lot quicker and easier.