Social Networking: An overview for all ages

Social Networking?An overview for all ages.

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What is a social network?Simply put a social network is a group of people that you communicate with, on a fairly regular basis.


What is a social network?Social Networks have been around for a long time in many different forms.


Family & Friends: they used to live right next door or just down the road

Church: Remember Sunday afternoon potlucks

Social Groups: Quilting and scrapbook clubs, reading groups

Things have changed… a bitIn today’s modern and highly mobile world, many of the things that bound social groups together have fallen apart, namely geography.


Today we tend to live much further apart making traditional social networks harder to build and maintain.

Technology changes thingsAs technology has changed so has the shape of our social networks and their reach. Here are four big changes in our ability to communicate past geographical barriers.


Regular mail service from the Pony Express to Air Mail.

The Telegraph

The Computer & Internet

The Telephone

The Computer AgeAmerica and the world have gone online! They are using the Internet to communicate and build social networks. Here are some numbers for Americans:


77% of adults (18+) are online 76% of adults 50-64 46 of adults 65+

On an average day they use the Internet for:

92% Search for information 49% use email 37% go online for social networkingStatistics from the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project www.pewinternet.org

The Big 5”ish”

Online social networking comes in many forms, but is dominated by 5 “types.” Here they are along with the leading providers:


Email Yahoo, Hotmail, Gmail and a whole bunch more Not much different than traditional mail, with some

added bonuses. Free… generally You can attach images, documents and more. Space is pretty much unlimited, except for attachment

size. Known for spam, scams and viruses, protect yourself!

The Big 5”ish” cont.


Facebook It’s free at www.facebook.com You create a network of “friends.” Friends can be

people, business, non-profits and there are also shared interest “groups” which you “like.”

General communication with friends is done through “status’ updates of 420 characters or less.

“Notes” allow for longer messages to be shared. You can send friends direct messages and email. You can share links to other online content including

websites, images and videos. Allows you to create photo/images albums and to

share their content. Security and privacy can be a bit daunting and when

there are changes to it, you need to pay attention!



Facebook



Twitter It’s free at www.twitter.com You create a network of “followers” and you “follow”

others. You can follow people, business, non-profits, news organizations and celebrities.

Communication with followers is done through “tweets’” short messages of 140 characters or less.

You can share links to other online content including websites, images and videos, but character limit applies (tinyurl).

Security and privacy should be checked periodically. Tweets can come fast and furious!



Twitter



Chat It’s free at a lot of places on the web such as Yahoo,

MSN Messenger, Meebo and many others. Chat is often embedded in the websites of businesses

and organizations allowing you to communicate with a live person, most of the time, without having to call.

You “talk” live with another person or groups of individuals by typing messages back and forth.

Different providers may limit the length of any single message, but not to the entire conversation .

You can share links to other online content including websites, images and videos.

Aggregators like Meebo allow you to chat with people on multiple systems.

Security and privacy should be checked periodically.



Blogging You can set up a free blog at several places on the

web such as WordPress, Blogger and others . Some blogs are used as stand alone websites for

business and organizations. Blogs have few of the limitations of chatting,

tweeting or posting status updates and they allow you to customize them to various extents.

With a blog you “post” a letter/article out on the web for everyone to read.

Some services allow you to keep post access restricted to designated individuals, but the general default is open to everyone.

You can share links to other online content including websites, images and videos.

Your readers can post comments on your blog post.

More S.N.


There are many more types of social networking and sites that provide them. The ones you choose are up to you, but a good place to start is where your family and friends are.

Which One?How do you decide which social networking tools are right for you? Here are some things to consider:


Where are your friends & family already at? In other words, go where your friends are.

What are you comfortable with? Comfort comes in three basic forms: Technology: you can access it and

understand it. Frequency: How often are you going

to access? Volume: How much do you want to

write/share and how much time are you willing to spend monitoring.

Cost?So how much will all this social networking cost me?


In dollars? Most social networking sites allow at least some level of free access, while some offer upgraded or additional services for a fee. You will need to have access to the internet either through your home computer or you can use the free computers at the library to access most social networking sites.

In time? This is up to you!

A Bit of Etiquette There are a few “rules” of etiquette in the realm of modern social networking:


Don’t Shout: Do not WRITE IN ALL CAPS it is considered shouting.

Don’t be a Lurker: Contribute to the conversation, don’t just sit there at watch.

Don’t Bully: If someone does not respond to your post, don’t harass them, this includes “friend” invites. Also a good rule of thumb is to never post anything about someone you would not say to their face.

Let them know: If you are going to be gone for a while.

The boss is watching: Be careful about badmouthing you boss, customers or employer, they may find out.

Survival TipsYour social network can quickly get out of control if you are not careful. Here are some survival tips to help keep you sane and enjoying it:


Don’t Overload Your Social Network: Almost every growing thing benefits from a trimming now and then and your social network is no different. Contacts that you do not communicate with should be removed now and then to make sure your social network feeds are not overwhelmed with junk. It is very easy to overload your network and feel like you are on a sinking ship... or truck.

Survival Tips cont.


Don’t Respond to Everything: Don’t feel like you have to respond to single thing that lands in your social network feeds. While it is polite to respond to direct contacts or questions from people you know, it is not always necessary.

Not Everyone has to be Your Friend: Over time you will get a LOT of friend/follower requests. If you don’t know them personally ignore them. You will sink if you don’t.

Check back frequently: How often you check up on your social network is entirely up to you, but the longer you wait, the more overwhelming it may feel to you.

Privacy & Security: Almost all social networking sites have tools that will help protect you and limit your need to interact with “undesirables.” Sometimes they just don’t leap out at you and often the default setting is the most public one of all.

Final PointsYou can get access to most social networking sites on the free computers at your local library (some do place restrictions, but not LPL). At LPL the reference desk staff will do their best to answer any questions you might have.

Social networking should be fun and informative. Go slow and keep an open mind and enjoy connecting with your family and friends, both old and new!


Final Points

Thank you!


Social Networking: An overview for all ages

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