Online Social Networks

Many of us have used the phrase “a small world” at one point in time. It refers to someone or something that at first glance appears to be completely unrelated to a topic or individual but on closer inspection is surprisingly recognizable. It is intriguing to find someone who is a distant relative or an acquaintance of someone you know even though they may be native to another part of the country.In 1929, the Hungarian writer Frigyes Karinthy coined the phrase “six degrees of separation” in his short story “Chains” to explain this phenomenon. Karinthy asserted that any two people on the planet could be connected through a series of acquaintances that number six or fewer. Karinthy did not pursue this notion following his publication but the concept was taken seriously in the 1950s by Ithiel De Sola Pool (MIT) and Manfred Kochen (IBM) who attempted to prove this theory mathematically. While they were able to phrase the question mathematically, the problem itself was never solved.In the late 1960s, an American sociologist, Stanley Milgram, attempted to solve the problem by using an application of the principle created by Karinthy. Milgram created what became known as “the small-world problem.” Selected individuals from the Midwest were given a package and directions to send it to a person in Massachusetts. The information was too vague to send it directly so their objective was to determine someone they knew who could most likely identify the target individual. The process continued until someone who received the package could actually identify the target. The results of this activity showed that it took only six intermediaries for the package to reach the intended target on average. In the years to follow, subsequent experiments also resulted in the same conclusions, including online versions using e-mail.Connecting with other people is a natural course of action for human beings. For many years, these connections could only be exercised locally and in person. With the advent of technology, the scope of these connections became much broader. Coupling technology with the small number of intermediaries necessary to connect any two individuals on the planet expanded the capacity of social networks to a global level. Any individuals or organizations that are connected through some form of social contact can form a social network. A social network not only establishes a connection, but communicates on a multitude of levels. Individuals can form a social network with common threads, such as acquaintances, employment, personal interests, and the like. The small-world problem showed that social networking was not limited by locality but could be spread out across a country and, ultimately, the entire world.This notion was proved correct when social networking was introduced over the Internet with the creation of Classmates.com. Launched in 1995, Classmates.com was the first site to use the Internet as a place to gather socially. Members were able to search for past friends and relatives while communicating through personal Web sites, e-mail, and message boards. The success of Classmates.com launched a general movement toward forming and nurturing relationships online. Over the next 10 years, additional sites were created to take advantage of this new trend. Increasing numbers of individuals began using one or more of these sites as they became more functional and easier to use. In 2003, this method of communication began to skyrocket with the advent of MySpace.com. Additional sites also included SixDegrees.com, Friendster.com, and Facebook.com. By 2006, there were over 200 social networking sites on the Internet. The top 10 sites as of April, 2006, are listed in Table 1. The initial audience for these sites targeted young and middle-aged adults but, as the trend continued, the more prominent sites began to concentrate their efforts on the rising teenage population. Presently, sites generally maintain either a focus on teenagers and college students or are more directed toward professionals.The focus on the teenage and pre-high school teens has generated some concerns related to safety. Sites such as MySpace.com allow the users to create their own Web space including pictures, music, and backgrounds, while including any personal information they feel might be relevant. This has prompted speculation that more stringent laws should be implemented to restrict the age requirements and the amount of explicit material that can be used. Parents have genuine concerns that their children are posting too much information and also information that is very suggestive, whether verbal or visual. While many sites prohibit nudity and have personnel in charge of screening photos, suggestive or provocative photos are not addressed.According to a new study by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (2007), 1 in 7 young people ages 10 to 17 acknowledged receiving an online sexual solicitation in 2005. Five years ago, when the survey was first done, the number was 1 in 5. About 4% received “aggressive” solicitations, in which the person wanted to make contact offline, a number that didn’t decline from the previous survey. Social networking sites have made attempts to address these concerns, but they have not been successful in creating an environment that is particularly safe for young people.While many of the social networking sites have a large teenage population, the number of adult users is also significant. Some of these individuals started their online experience while teenagers and have simply carried over this practice into their adult lives. However, as they enter and leave college, their online personal spaces serve as a resource for potential employers. Human resource departments often Google candidates to enhance their information base and create a more detailed dossier than a resume or interview can provide. Many candidates do not even realize that their personal space on a social network is available to anyone, including employers. “Even if material is removed, little on the Web ever really disappears. Online search engines like Archive.org’s Wayback Machine are actively recording everything that has ever appeared on the Web” (Medintz, 2006, p. 27). This presents a real problem for someone who is less concerned with their online presence in their teenage years when their actions may decrease their chances of obtaining employment in the not so distant future.Social networking sites have generated a number of concerns, but they have maintained an overwhelming popularity among teenagers and young adults. “Social networking sites offer opportunities for self-expression and friendship building, and youth ‘play-time’ in such environments helps build skills that will be a foundation for success in the 21st century” (Williard, 2006, p. 18). Some of the reasons behind their popularity stem from the users’ ability to create a Web page for themselves without knowing how to write html codes or purchase a domain name. In addition, their Web page can include pictures, music, and offer the ability to chat online with friends. Even with all of these amenities, many of the social networking sites are completely free under the condition that they can use part of your space for advertising purposes.Considering the growing number of individuals who are members of the online social networking community, it stands to reason that this avenue could be pursued for educational purposes. One concentration for educational institutions is Internet responsibility. Third-party sites can be built to mimic many of the attractive qualities of the popular social networking sites. These sites are paired down to maintain a high degree of safety while still teaching young people how to effectively traverse this new and innovative form of communication. Many schools have simply blocked the use of blogging, photo-sharing, and social networking sites in favor of a more traditional approach to the online experience, that of a virtual library. A new trend for education is to embrace these new and innovative technologies while educating young people on how to be responsible when using them. The premise is that the students will likely use these sites regardless of the school’s approach to the subject. Instead of ignoring this fact, the school systems should make it their responsibility to seize the opportunity to promote safety and proper use of Internet resources. Beginning at a young age, the students will be taught about the potential danger of social networking sites and be in a better position to recognize and avoid them. Online lessons can be developed that review each key element in social networking, such as their personal description, photos, friends, and chat sessions. These lessons will introduce the topics, discuss the positive and negative aspects of each, and allow students to move forward with their own adaptation by adding this element to their own Web space. While this initiative is not touted as the savior for young people actively using online social networks, many students are currently using these sites in ignorance; this approach would serve to correct that facet of their experience.Beyond the context of educating students’ responsible use of the Internet, there are other educational benefits to be explored. Looking into specific academic disciplines could offer a more detailed explanation of how social networking sites can be used positively in an educational setting. Members of social networking sites place pictures on their personal Web pages. These pictures can range from personal photos to actual art work. All of these visual representations can be examined and discussed. Their appropriateness in general, as well as to specific groups such as college recruiters, employers, and school administrators, could be openly discussed through a structured dialogue. Guest speakers from human resource departments could be used to relate the importance of maintaining a more conservative approach to this aspect of social networking. Students could begin to develop the ability to determine which pictures are appropriate and develop a more intrinsic sense of right and wrong.By contracting companies that are producing more education-friendly social networking sites, school districts can provide their students with a vast array of resources and new content strategies. Having the ability to restrict who enters a site, and which individuals are listed as friends, gives the educator the ability to control student interactions. The students would be able to contact the students in their classroom, other students in the school, or another class of students somewhere else in the world. They are able to create discussions, collect and post data for projects, and have the flexibility to do so at their leisure.The concerns related to safety would be eliminated, since the only individuals granted access would be the students and classroom teachers. Students would not be permitted to post pictures or blogs that are suggestive or sexually explicit in nature, and inappropriate behavior such as bullying would be monitored. This type of interaction would parallel some of the benefits of distance learning labs but with other components. The students would have the ability to add information or content to the site and do so at their convenience. The restrictions of being online at a predetermined time would no longer be a problem, as the students could access the site at any time.Working in this environment, students could communicate with other students around the country or the globe. Completing projects that focus on a particular country or group of people could be exercised with real-time information, pictures, and interviews with individuals who are actually the subject of the project. Discussing world events could take on new meaning as students could interact with others experiencing these events through their online social network. Schools could be linked throughout the world and provide a much broader base through which education and teaching strategies could be derived.In a distance education setting, discussion boards are often used for communication. While they share many of the same qualities the social networking sites maintain, they are limited in several ways. The basic discussion boards consist of text being posted under threads or general headings. The students read the information, respond, and repeat the process to interact with the instructor and their classmates. While other forms of communication exist, such as Blackboard, they are limited in how many can participate at one time, and the students need to be logged in at the same time to participate in a more active class discussion. This medium does allow for graphics and other interactions to occur, and students are limited by time constraints and scheduling problems, especially if time zones are involved. In addition, Blackboard was not designed as a community development tool. According to Nicholson (2005), “it is important to consider ways of supporting both facilitated and non-facilitated community building activities in developing a distance education course” (p. 226). Using a social network enables the users to post a variety of media to the discussion at a time convenient for them and to interact with each other on a personal level without compromising the objectives of the class. Having their own personal space will enable the students to see each other, read about their interests, view videos about each other, and they can update their pages as necessary. Students could develop a more personal approach to the members of the class even though they may be spread out across the world.Social networking sites are here to stay. Their popularity has and continues to grow with each passing day. As with many new technologies, social networking sites need to be approached as a learning tool and those who are members need to be educated on their proper use. There is no question that these sites pose potential dangers to their members, especially the preteen and high school age students, but they need to be embraced rather than blocked or ignored. These young people need to be educated on the proper use of social networking sites to give them an opportunity to use them responsibly and take advantage of their many positive aspects. Educational institutions need to be willing to explore social networking sites and make use of the new learning opportunities they can afford students.