Social networking
There is a huge number of online communities and Internet websites that allow people to communicate, eg Facebook., the most popular attract millions of users. Popular services include:
- Facebook – for everyone. Keep in touch with family and friends.
- Linkedin – for professionals. Keep in touch with colleagues past and present and network with people in your line of work or industry.
- Twitter – for everyone. Post updates to your followers. Limited to 140 characters per post.
Other types of communities
- Forums or message boards – people with similar interests post and reply to one another.
- Instant messaging – send instant messages to colleagues, friends and family.
- Blogs – short for web-log, usually about the owner of the blog or a specific subject.
Advantages of online communities and social networking
- Easy to keep in touch with friends and family wherever they are.
- Make new friends and find old ones you may have lost contact with.
- Share ideas, photos, music and video clips.
- Chat with friends for free.
- Play games alone or with friends.
- Funded by adverts so are free to use.
Disadvantages of online communities and social networking
- Users can hide behind false online identities, which can be dangerous.
- People you don’t know may gain access to your personal information.
- If you don’t apply security settings, a potential employer may see something you’ve posted online that they don’t like or agree with and decide not to hire you.
- Targeted adverts can be unsettling and intrusive.
- Viruses are becoming increasingly common on social networking sites.
- Keeping up to date and active in all of these communities can take up a lot of time.
- Meeting people online can be less fulfilling when compared to meeting people face to face.
