Social Networking

Social Networking has overtaken the lives of most people I know. Whenever I go out there is at least one person in the group, at any given time, updating their Facebook status, tweeting about where they are at the moment, or even using Foursquare to check in at our current location. This kind of always-on availability of people has changed the way most social interactions occur. Virginia Heffernan writes in "Being There" for the New York Times that "The current friendliness of handheld devices to Facebook (and Twitter and MySpace) has made it more likely that when a pal — the Jägermeister-besotted Sean, say — writes that he’s stumbling home, he is stumbling home, right then, and simultaneously apprising his friends via his mobile." Much like my friends who are constantly letting their entire network know where they are.

This, of course, has benefits and disadvantages like any other technology. These days I could know all about the life of a friend who I haven't seen since elementary school, including what he had for breakfast, who he's hooking up with, and where he's working these days, without even seeing him once. (Same goes for knowing what my girlfriend is doing without having to ask.) But is that really a benefit? Sure, I am able to use social networking to reconnect with old friends and keep informed on their lives, but do I really want that many friends? Furthermore, do I really want that many people knowing what I had for breakfast? With 500 Facebook friends and 150 Twitter followers I guess the answer is yes, I do, but the point is that with all the benefits of connectivity that social networking provides, it has its dark sides too.

Its not just our friends who can make use of all the information we are putting out either. Companies have begun to tap into this social market by creating apps and add-ons which allow us to do their advertising for them. Dominoes pizza for example posts your order on Facebook, if you allow it too, shows your friends what you ordered, and even how soon it will be delivered. I know I've certainly seen a friend order food, and decided to do the same right then and there. Games on my iPhone post my high scores to Facebook and Twitter and encourage friends and followers to try and beat them, thus getting them to buy the app because if I'm playing it, it must be good. Right?

There's no doubt about it that social networking is fun and in many ways even beneficial. As long we are aware of the privacy lost when using all of these technologies I think there is no reason for them to not continue to prosper in the future. All the dark sides and negative effects of privacy lost can be mitigated by proper use and education, and the benefits are there to be shared by all. I feel we are moving into more and more intrusive social applications and towards an ever-more connected world. Applications such was FourSquare and Gowalla which use your iPhone's GPS to check you in at various locations throughout your day are lots of fun, albeit a bit creepy, and can be used to compete with friends over who goes somewhere most. This kind of social geo-tagging, in my opinion, is the wave of the future.