Social Networking

Social networking technologies have a wide array of uses. There most obvious use is that of an interpersonal nature. Its a great way to keep in contact with many people quickly and efficiently. The person doesnt have to be immediately available and they can respond when they have the time. It can be used to organize events and to quickly deliver information to people. The corporate world has also thought of ways to use social networking. As seen in the CNET article "AT&T Uses Twitter During a Service Outage" When service was unexpectedly cut from certain parts of California, At&t decided that the best way to keep all of their customers updated on the situation was to use their corporate twitter account and post all of the info in the situation. But that of course is just one corporate use. Not only can it be used to keep the people updated when a problem arises, corporations have developed ways of using social networking to make money. All the games on Facebook are a perfect example. All of these games are indeed free to play but not only do they tend to have advertising, all of these games have way of a player using real world money to purchase things for the game. Things such as exclusive items and other such advantages. The only problem I see with this is that I feel that soon enough I am going to be asked to spend my money no matter where i go online. Sites that were once dedicated to keeping in touch with those a bit too far to reach are becoming ways for the media to brainwash you and kindly ask for your money. Maybe not directly but of course, the name is pushed enough and next thing you know they are taking all your money. Corporate always finds a way to put its greedy hands in anything new and innovative that comes out, because really that is their job. The only thing I could think is using these services for good, but that is already being done. What I see is that as the younger generations take charge, they will bring more of this new media into light and incorporate it into every aspect of anything done. So we would see fund raisers being organized in a much larger scale, rallies and protests could reach potentially millions of people in minutes. I see it quite possible for revolutions to be launched from the click of a button. Sounds ludicrous now but I would not underestimate the power of Social Networking and at the very least it is plausible