Essay on Social Networking

Essay on Social Networking

Communication and social networking are one the most done activity worldwide. Social networking is all about making acquaintances with new people as a part of one’s social life.

It’s not for just greeting others now via communication many tasks can be performed. Maximum deals or marketing will stop if the communication or networking will get affected.

Your friends and family are your biggest part of social life. So also your neighbors and some of your colleagues at work. These are the people with whom you can share the trivial and important things in your daily life as against your professional contacts.

Social Networking – Meaning

Social networking is when you get to know other people through them. It means connecting through connections for social reasons. You are comfortable sharing festivities, celebrations and other leisure times with your social network in degrees decided by you.

Social networking is a virtual communication process that mainly comprises user interaction with various other users, especially people with similar interests. However, this is a very crisp definition of social networking, but it clearly describes the reason of popularity for various social networking sites and social networking apps.

Social networking can also be described as an easy communication phenomenon in which people exchange their views, opinions, thoughts and information on a common platform provided to them by the online world.

In a person’s life, the social network created by him has considerable influence.

Social Networking – Features

The major features of social networking include the following:

1. Social Network of people – Just as this term suggests, social networking is the social network of people where every member can chat with other users of his/her own choice. The worldwide network of people helps users connect in an easy, efficient and simple way.
2. Sharing of Information between people – You share your ideas, opinions, news, pictures, etc. just to keep in touch with people that you know. The big difference here is that on these websites, you can connect with the people that are in someone else’s network, a person who is your contact. You need not meet these new people face to face, ever.
3. Online Platform for people who Share Similar Interests – Another important feature of social networking is that it provides a platform to users where they can find people who have similar interests. The simple User Interface (UI) makes it much easier to make friends, share and collect information.
4. Electronic Communication – Social networking is a process of electronic communication where you can communicate with other users with the help of messages, tweets, chat or emails. For example, a piece of info can be shared via clicking the share, tag or email button provided on many social networking sites.
5. Submitting & Sharing Links – Another feature which makes social networking highly popular is the privilege of allowing users to submit and share links of their choice. Apart from the general interaction, this link strategy is vastly used by many marketers, sellers and businessmen.
6. Social Communication – Social networking sites are actually platforms for mass communication. This is why so many politicians worldwide are active on social sites today!
7. Opinion through Content &Voting, Call-to-Action – Social networking helps you express and opine with the help of easy options like ‘voting’, ‘like’, ‘dislike’, etc. These Call-to-Action buttons are quite easy to use and help users in expressing themselves in just few seconds!
8. Provides an Online Identity – When you register yourself at any social networking site, you are provided to choose a username for yourself. You can explain what you like & dislike, what are your interests and other personal info that you want to share with others. Thus, you get a personal identity. Also, you can choose with whom you want to share this personal info of yours!
9. Good Search Facility – Searching for a long-lost friend? Searching for a job? Searching for a business partner? Well, searching and finding suitable options for the same is another appealing feature of social networking sites.
10. Real Time Updates – Who doesn’t love to share images of being standing at Times Square to celebrate New Year’s Eve? Well, social networking sites allow you to update your real-time status by posting latest info and images on where you are and what you are doing!

Advantages of Social Networking

1. Communication made simple – Biggest mode of communication is social networking. It has made communication simple. You can be in touch with a person who stays from you a mile away. You can chat with them; video calling can make you feel like they are near you. Big deals and marketing are also done via social networking. Social networking has brought the world altogether.
2. Share photos and information with friends – With the help of social sites and apps, you can share any info, content, image, file or photograph with your friends, any time or anywhere!
3. Find people who share similar interests – It always feels good to talk with people who share interests like us! And, social networks help you find such people in just few clicks! Also, you can find many groups or communities that are based on people with similar interests. By being a part of such groups, you too can participate in the ongoing chats or discussions.
4. Business promotion, branding and expansion – Today, social networking sites are not only confined to communication. They have become super-hit places to promote and expand your business. Social sites help you display your products, brands, offers, etc through your personal account and hence, promoting business becomes very easy and fast!
5. Boosts eCommerce and online websites: Aids in attracting traffic – Websites can really benefit a lot by using social networking sites in a correct way. Much of targeted users and traffic can be attracted with the help of these sites.
6. Gain and share information with others – Social sites help you get info on almost every subject. What actually matters is that whether you have selected the right group/community or not!
7. Express opinions – You can express your opinions and thoughts on any post/link posted by others. Thus, social networking sites allow you to express your opinions.
8. Cost Effective – Have you ever given it a thought that how much does it take in physical promotion of businesses OR in finding the target audience? Well, promoting, marketing, and expanding businesses through social networks are very cost-effective ways!
9. Educate consumers – You can also educate and connect with the consumers with the help of these social platforms. You easily get to explain your products/brand on these platforms. In addition, you can clarify your consumers’ doubts on these platforms easily.
10. Social identity – Social networking sites help users, including common users, business-people, entrepreneurs and others, build a strong social identity.

Further, events like weddings, birthdays and parties are more such events where you can come to meet a lot of new people thereby enlarging your social network. Other avenues could be joining clubs like reading clubs or charity clubs where like-minded people can be found easily.

Disadvantages of Social Networking

1. Fake and incorrect information sharing – Social networking sites can create panic when fake and wrong information is shared upon them. Some people might use these busy virtual platforms to create panic and tension.
2. Innocent people fall easy prey of false schemes – Many times, the fake companies or people can attract some innocent or inexperienced users towards false schemes. Hence, social networking sites should be used carefully.
3. Lacks emotional connect – No matter, how happy and content we feel while using these sites, but the truth is that these social sites lack that emotional connect which we need in physical. Therefore, these sites lack the pleasure that we actually feel in meeting our friends or family.
4. Misuse of Freedom – The freedom of expression on social networking sites can be misused by many unwanted elements in the form of prank and harmful jokes, bullying, invasion on users’ privacy, etc.
5. Increased communication gap – Another disadvantage of social networking sites is that they are indirectly responsible for continuously increasing communication gap among family members. Be it teens or adults; everyone is so busy in these social sites chatting that they hardly find time to communicate with each other.
6. Wastage of time, energy, and money – Using too much of these sites invites wastage of time, energy and money. The same time can be used for doing so many other tasks that turn out to be fruitful in many senses. Spending limited time on these sites is one thing and spending hours, is altogether a different thing!
7. Threats to Privacy –It is suggested that members of various social networking sites should use these online platforms carefully. They should not share their personal information with anyone unless they are completely assured about the same.
8. Web Addiction – Chatting and sharing thoughts, information, etc. on social sites seems interesting, but excess of everything is bad! Hence, social sites when used excessively give rise to the problem of web addiction.
9. Artificial Happiness – The real happiness is going somewhere far. Every moment has become artificial as they are done for capturing and sharing. Today’s human gets standard by sharing things and gaining some likes.

Conclusion

Social media has made the life simpler but also making things artificial. Real enjoyment and happiness are going out of the window. Social media is a good platform to showcase your art and what you are up to. But being indulged into social networking might get you in the trap of wrong people. We should use social media but not more than required. Everything should be used in limits.