Thursday 6 October 2011

Social Networking's Impact in Life

Today I thought of posting a speech I presented on "Social Networking" in a recent session that I had taken part in. So here goes..

Recent studies conducted across the globe shows that people who are using the internet are spending more time on social networking sites. This shows the significance of social networking sites in today's world. Social networking has been in the news for the last couple of years both its good and bad reasons. When Google had stepped into the social networking space through its new service google+ it was a big news. In the Egypt revolution that had taken place earlier this year as well, the people used social networking sites to stay connected. Studies says that youth considers social networking as a medium of free speech. Day by day social networking sites are getting more and more popular, that it is slowly taking the place that the e-mail earlier had.

Social Networking sites are mainly used for communication and interaction. These sites are used by people to stay up-to-date, to maintin their existing relationships and to create new relationships.Social networking encourages Globalization, Participation, Interaction and Usability. These sites can be used for communication irrespective of region, religion etc. Social networking sites or portals are basically where people can create his/her online profile for describing his/her interest. Some of the major social networking sites are Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, Orkut, Linkedin, Youtube etc.The various ways in which communication happens within these sites are through messages, status updates, tweets, videos, images, online multi-user games, polls, surveys etc. Social networking has both advantages and disadvantages.

Some of the major advantages is that is can be used for exchange of view and knowledge quickly. This plays an important role is modern education system, science and medical system. People having disabilities such as hearing, speaking, mobility due to age/health etc. can make best use of these sites to overcome there weakness. They get the freedom to interact with their friends and contacts without any problem. In some countries; Social Networking has been used as a therapy to fix problems related to self-esteem, personality, stress, tension etc. In certain other countries, police use social networking sites a means to communicate/reach with the society to spread awareness. NEWS channels also use social networking sites to generate feedback from their audience etc. Social networking sites have been widely used in business to market products and generate reviews with respect to products. Most recently, Shahrukh Khan had made use of Youtube, twitter and is said to have agreed to make use of Google Plus to market his latest film "Ra One".

Similarly these sites pose some disadvantages, mainly due to their over use. Children/youth who spent more time on the social networking sites, have a chance to loose concentration in their studies. They also stand a chance to become obese, as they do not have regular exercise. Due to ease of connectivity through mobile devices such as iphone's, blackberry's, android enabled mobiles etc; people end up only having a virtual life and forget the real world. The main problem with having a virtual life is that, they wont be able to handle real life situation. A simple status update can make a person take a stupid  decision in life, which sometimes can never be justified.

In conclusion, what I would like to say is that we should make the most out of the potentials of social networking sites. We should also spread awareness on how best to make use of these sites and how not to misuse it. We should also make the youth understand the do's and don't of using the social media and what limits should be kept. Awareness should also be spread on how to take criticism and feedback, on the Social Networking sites.

Hope you guys liked my short speech. Anyways happy social networking...

-kettoo
Five Point Someone: What Not to Do at IIT

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