The Effects of Social Networking on Society

Article 1: The first article is an extract taken from the New York times newspaper, in which they look at the effects of social networking with the help of several experts whom possess a high reputation in their chosen fields. All of these people were asked to take the approach of economic, psychological or sociological perspective on how social networking sites (e.g. facebook, bebo etc) have either had a positive or negative influence on society
The first of these wise people was Nicole Ellison, who is an assistant professor of Telecommunication, Information Studies and Media in Michigan State University. She tells of the benefits of these sites as indicated by the research that they undertook at Michigan, this we look at in the second article, which is results on this research.
The second analyst (William Reader) gave a more psychological understanding to this debate with his background in psychology as a professor in Sheffield Hallam University. He brings up a widely controversial area of this discussion, with relation to the pessimism surrounding friendships and a path which would see people not communicating face to face. This is not a notion he is concerned about, as he tells of how people always place so much emphasis on favouring those who have similar interests which, therefore leads to less conflicts. People generally want intimate relationships with their friends, this can take up a significant amount of time and this burden has to be a mutual thing.The piece is concluded by stating that the influence of these sites depends on what the individual values in their society.
There was also Steve Chazin who had an economical as well as technological view on these social networks, with his experiences when he formerly worked as Apple marketing director. Due to the advances in technology things have become so much more effortless which allows a constant interaction with those in his personal and professional life. Although this is an advantage he also divulges on his encounter with the “Blackberry bug” and the realisation of the dependency that had been built up, feeling completely sequestered and alone when the Internet Connection went down.
Another expert (Martin Baily who has an “optimistic” view on technology), through his work as a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and as adviser to the McKinsey Global Institute. But also highlights the awareness required when embracing all these social networks, especially with cases of recruiters making assessments on young applicants based on drunken photos. There have also been cases of suicides linked with online rumours and gossip on social networks.

Article 2: It was an attempt to analyse the phenomenon that has led to so many people spending their precious free time adding friends they don’t know and making statements they wouldn’t normally disclose in their regular lives. The research indicated that whose indulge in facebook had higher social capital points than those who didn’t. They can help strengthen relationships through being able to keep in touch with old friends as well as being able to get contact information. Overall the research indicated that although in minority cases people have people making using poor judgement when utilising the networks in terms of what they disclose. That in the long run when these sites become more secure and less manipulated by commercialism they will enhance our society.

Links: Article 1:Is MySoace good for society?:http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/02/15/is-myspace-good-for-society-a-freakonomics-quorum/

Article 2:The Benefits of Facebook "Friends:" Social Capital and College Students' Use of Online Social Network Sites :http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol12/issue4/ellison.html