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Online Social Networking... a Study of the Social Networking Phenomenon

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Online Social Networking... a Study of the Social Networking Phenomenon
Online Social Networks

A study of the social networking phenomenon

Yasmeen Bsaiso

July 30th, 2008

QMIS 240
Dr. Hameed Al-Qaheri
College of Business Administration
Kuwait University

Yasmeen Bsaiso
QMIS/ 240
July 30th, 2008

Online Social Networks A study of the social networking phenomenon

Social communication has always been a vital need to humanity. At its core, social communication did not change. People still exchange thoughts, feelings and news; however, the ways they socially communicate have radically changed. Online social networking is a recent form of social communication conducted over the internet. It witnessed a huge growth since 1997 with the first social networking website SixDegrees.com (“Boyd”). Social networking websites provide a great socializing capability for their members. Primarily, they aim at connecting people with their acquaintances from all places, at all times. Such websites attract more than 1 billion users around the globe (“List of social networking websites”). Beside for personal use, social networking websites are used for e-marketing and legal investigations

One of the most rapidly growing social networking sites is facebook.com, with more than 80 million users and a 270% growth rate from 2006 to 2007 (“To facebook or not to facebook”). It was founded by an American Harvard Student, Mark Zuckerberg in 2004. Huge acquisitions offers were proposed for facebook reaching as high as $1 billion. This big success may be attributed to facebook’s ease of use and unique socializing features.

Despite the success of online social networking, many opponents find social networking websites as great source of discomfort and risk. Social networking may lead to psychological and financial problems. Facebook is faced with privacy-related, political and ethical criticisms.

Through this research, the writer addresses the following topics:

I. What is online social networking?


References: Bissonnette, Zac. “Facebook to settle law suit on its origins.” Blogging Stocks. 7 Apr. 2008. 21 July 2008 . Hotler, Eric. “Facebook Compared to MySpace.” Web Smart Newsletter. Nov. 2007. 6 July 2008 . “To Facebook or Not to Facebook.” Newfangled. Nov. 2007. 6 July 2008 < http://www.newfangled.com/benefits_of_facebook>. Laudon, Kenneth C., and Jane P. Laudon. Management Information Systems: Managing the Digital Firm.. 9th. USA: Pearson Education, Inc., 2006. Lenhart, Amanda, Madden, Mary. “Teens, Privacy and Online Social Networks. How teens manage their online identities and personal information in the age of MySpace.” Pew Internet and American Life Project. 18 Apr. 2007. 10 July 2008 . Nicole, Kristen. “Facebook Gets New Investors: Samwer Brothers for European Expansion.” Mashable.15 Jan. 2008. 23 July 2008 .
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