Social networking – pen pals in the 21st Century

Filed in archive General on July 6, 2010

© SocialGrow


As little as ten years ago we would have been correct if we considered social networking to mean going to an event and mingling with groups of like minded people in person. Today, that definition would not even be close. Social networking is still about meeting people, but not face to face. The internet is the intermediary behind all gatherings.

Groups of like minded individuals meet online on social networking sites that include Facebook, MySpace, Yahoo Groups, and hundreds more. On some social networking sites you can also enter real time 'chat' mode and be 'talking' to someone from the other side of the world in an instant.

Based on commonalities, these websites bring people together to discuss such things as hobbies, religion, politics, likes, dislikes, videos, poetry, and, technology. Social networking is the 21st century equivalent to pen pals - but now you have hundreds of pen pals just by joining several networking sites - and you don't have to wait a week to hear what they have to say.

While social networking has many positive factors, it also has its dark side. Since the medium allows users to be anonymous, some people use fake personas and act in a predatory manner towards the vulnerable. At the same time, there are many news reports of users alerting police of a medical or other emergency just by providing another users profile.