technoculture314-09

Regarding SNS or Social Networking Sites, I personally believe that most, if not all those people who have an access to the internet whether at university or home, use social networking sites. I myself have a Facebook account, and I feel that there is a love/hate relationship between Facebook and me. I love it on one hand because it keeps me updated about what my friends are getting up to, it allows me to stay in regular contact with family and friends overseas, and also I enjoy many applications that it has to offer, such as games, posting pictures and using Facebook through my I-touch, which is relatively handy when I’m on the go. On the other hand however, I feel that I hate Facebook because of the amount of time that I spend on it when I could actually be doing something else that would benefit me. I sometimes even feel that I rely too much on it. I’m not a victim of this SNS though, because I don’t see myself as being addicted to it, however I do check my Facebook at least once a day. I would say that many of my friends are Facebook addicts, because there constantly using it throughout their day, and even while there at uni. Apart from this, I believe that Social Networking Sites can be a positive thing, as they allow us to go beyond having friends around us, and giving us the opportunity to meet or reunite with people from all over the world. I might also agree with Danah Boyd (2007), who states that social networking sites are largely based one’s culture, but I would also like to add that SNS are very much based on age, and not just the ethnicity or race of the individual. Personally I find that Facebook is used largely by people like myself, young adults who either work or study. Other sites like Bebo appear to be more for those ‘badass teenagers’, roughly between the ages of 14-17. MySpace on the other hand is really popular in America, and is used by a large number of celebrities, but it doesn’t really appeal to my friends and I. Maybe other students in class also agree that Social networking sites are not exactly based on cultural or class differences as Boyd suggests, but also on the difference of age? Whatever the answer may be, what I would agree with is what Luke Goode suggested in the lecture (24/8/09), that there may be many definitions of friendships, as these days with the help of technology and new media, people are able to not only make friends in the real world, but also in the virtual world.