Social Networking

Social networking can be used in a variety of ways stemming from personal interaction to corporate marketing.  Websites such as facebook and twitter have contributed to the promotion of millions of companies and brands that would not be able to gain such vast popularity in such a short period of time, otherwise.  However, social networking is not just about promoting and business.  On a personal note, these websites allow us to find our friends, classmates, co-workers, professors, etc. and establish a relationship with them.  It also gives us a chance to express ourselves as individuals and not as students and representatives of a particular entity.  In the New York Times article by Michael Barbaro, Wal-Mart Tastemakers Write Unfiltered Blog, employees of the famous chain created a blog where they are encouraged to comment on the products that are being sold in Wal-mart stores.  The most important aspect of this new creation is that the employees are not being punished for being honest and even criticizing a product being sold.  It gives these "tastemakers" and buyers a chance to tell the public as an individual whether these products are worth buying.  
Of course there is also a dark side to social networking and its tendency to expose.  In many cases privacy becomes an issue because these websites and blogs are not just used for communication but also for information.  Employers are free to check the facebook profile of any potential or existing employee; people we don't want are able to view certain information on us regardless if the page is private or not.  Hackers are another "dark" aspect of all social networking.  The age of information gives everyone access, and creates a possibility for destruction.  

Virginia Heffernan of the New York Times, The Medium: Being There, puts up a quote from her friend describing the appeal of facebook status updates; “Unlike ALL other walks of life, status updates are the appropriate places for spontaneous bursts of joy and being. You shouldn’t do it at work, you shouldn’t do it in the middle of a conversation, you shouldn’t do it on the street, you shouldn’t turn to a stranger on the bus, you shouldn’t leave it on someone’s cellphone. But on this grand constantly updating Christmas card that we are all free to access or withdraw from at any time, we FINALLY have a polite space for ‘My sponge smells like a hot dog.’ ” 
Now what does the future hold for the world of social networking?  At some point there will most likely be one universal site with everyone's profiles on display.  The whole world will have to participate in order to expand their horizons and communicate with people from other nations and cultures, all probably for research and business purposes.