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What Are Virtual Communities and Social Networking Sites?

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What Are Virtual Communities and Social Networking Sites? What are Virtual Communities and Social Networking Sites? Virtual Communities Virtual communities are a group of individuals who share a common interest via e-mail, blogs, instant messages, chat rooms or newsgroups online. Members of a virtual community are self-subscribing. Virtual communities exist on the internet in many forms such as chat rooms, blogs, and virtual worlds (brief descriptions below). One of the most popular and fasted growing types of virtual communities are social networking sites (SNS). Chat rooms - Chat rooms are virtual places on the Internet where people from all walks of life from around the world can get together in one place and textually chat with one another. Chat rooms are created to hold discussions about any topic. Some of the most common topics include: sports, politics, entertainment and sexuality. However, there are Chat Rooms in existence for practically any topic any person would want to talk about. Blogs - Blogs are web logs that are updated on a regular basis by their author. They can contain information related to a specific topic. In some cases blogs are used as daily diaries about people’s personal lives, political views, or even as social commentaries. The truth of the matter is that blogs can be shaped into whatever you, the author, want them to be. Virtual worlds - A virtual world is an interactive simulated environment accessed by multiple users through an online interface. Virtual worlds are also called "digital worlds," "simulated worlds" and "MMOG's." There are many different types of virtual worlds, however there are six features all of them have in common: shared space, graphical user interface, immediacy, interactivity, occurs without users being logged in, and socialization /community. Example of Virtual World - Second Life www.youtube.com Social Networking Sites Social networking sites (SNSs) are web-based services that allow individuals to (1) construct a public or semi-public profile within a bounded system, (2) articulate a list of other users with whom they share a connection, and (3) view and traverse their list of connections and those made by others within the system. What makes social network sites unique is not that they allow individuals to meet strangers, but rather that they enable users to articulate and make visible their social networks. This can result in connections between individuals that would not otherwise be made. On many of the large SNSs, participants are not necessarily "networking" or looking to meet new people; instead, they are primarily communicating with people who are already a part of their extended social network. While SNSs have implemented a wide variety of technical features, their backbone consists of visible profiles that display an articulated list of friends who are also users of the system. After joining a SNS, an individual is asked to fill out forms containing a series of questions. The profile is generated using the answers to these questions, which typically include descriptors such as age, location, interests, and an "about me" section. Most sites also encourage users to upload a profile photo. Some sites allow users to enhance their profiles by adding multimedia content or modifying their profile's look and feel. Popular Social Networking Sites Facebook - Founded in February 2004, Facebook is a social utility that helps people communicate more efficiently with their friends, family and coworkers. The company develops technologies that facilitate the sharing of information through the social graph, the digital mapping of people's real-world social connections. Anyone can sign up for Facebook and interact with the people they know in a trusted environmentTwitter. There are over 500 million active users on Facebook. MySpace - Launched in January of 2004, Myspace, Inc. is a social entertainment destination for Gen Y. Myspace is focused on creating a rich, highly-personalized experience for people to discover relevant content and connect with fans who share their interests. The entertainment experience spans music, celebrities, movies, television and games and is available through multiple platforms, including online, mobile devices and offline events. There are over 100 million users of MySpace worldwide. Twitter - Twitter is a real-time information network that connects you to the latest information about what you find interesting. At the heart of Twitter are small bursts of information called "Tweets", which are a maximum 140 characters in length. Applications are available for mobile devices which allows users to use Twitter on the go from any location. The company is based out of San Francisco, CA but used by people in countries throughout the world. Tumblr - Launched in March of 2007, Tumblr lets users post texts, photos, quotes, links, music, and videos, from your web browser, phone, desktop, or email. It allows users to blog a variety of platforms on a customizable theme page and can be considered as a combination of Twitter, where people post resources, images, and thoughts, and more traditional blogging formats where articles are posted. Bebo - Bebo allows you to share your life - past, present and future with everyone you care about through its visually striking "Lifestory". The "Lifestory" provides you with an interactive display of life events in chronological order in an intuitive and easy to use timeline. Lifestories are made up photos, videos, stories and special events that you want to record or schedule. The Lifestory is updated automatically each time you add important content to your Bebo profile or manually add a new event. LinkedIn - LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional network with over 100 million members. It allows you to connect to your trusted contacts and helps you exchange knowledge, ideas, and opportunities with a broader network of professionals. The main difference between LinkedIn and other SNSs is the focus on communicating with and building a network of other professionals that you can maintain throughout your career. .
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