Social Networking- The ever growing industry

The term social networking wasn’t a well known term about ten years ago. That may have been because one of the top social networking sites wasn’t around ten years ago, and that top social networking site would be Facebook. Facebook was created in the year 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg. Social networking could be defined as a group of people joining a group/community that get together online to share ideas, thoughts, pictures, personal information and much more. Social networking online is very convenient to many people because it is quick and simple. People can get out information to hundreds of people in just a minute. This could be a possible reason why social networking has become such a fad throughout the world. Westlake states in Friend me if You Facebook that “Predominantly Generation Y Facebook community uses Facebook to define the boundaries of normative behavior through unique performances of an online self” (Westlake P23). Facebook does offer a unique set of applications or tools. People can get in touch with anyone around the world, which wasn’t very possible until social networks came along.

Facebook and Twitter are the most well known and most used social networking sites. Though they are very different in the dynamics and layout they still connect people from all around the world. That is the main focus when talking about social networks, the fact that these networks were created to act as a community for people, where they can connect from people halfway across the world or even someone sitting in the next room. People can select whether they are looking for friendship or a dating relationship or even just networking. “Facebook develops technologies that facilitate the spread of information through social networks allowing people to share information online the same way they do in the real world”( Westlake P25). This statement really encompasses what Facebook is about. It is about sharing information amongst people and creating bonds like people would in the real world, when they are face to face.

With Twitter, there is a bit of a different network there. It isn’t as complex as Facebook. Twitter has status updates and you can post pictures but Facebook advertizes more of your profile than Twitter. Twitter is more about telling people where you are and what you are doing, or just random thoughts of the day. Huberman, Romero, and Wu state that “The overall idea of social networks is that they imply that one connects with all members within their “network” (Huberman, Romero, and Wu P2). Though this contradicts with what Twitter actually entails because people are trying to connect with celebrities, who aren’t in their network but most people follow celebrities anyways.

Another difference between Facebook and Twitter would be the friends aspect of them. Huberman, Romero, and Wu state that “we find that Twitter users have a very small number of friends compared to the number of followers and followees they declare. This implies the existence of two different networks: a very dense one made up of followers and followees, and a sparser and simpler network of actual friends” (Huberman, Romero, and Wu P.6). Twitter offers followers and Facebook has friends, it is quiet a difference. Although, it is possible that you could friend request people you don’t know on Facebook but the chances are unlikely, whereas Twitter you follow people that you don’t know at all, like celebrities. Facebook is more personal than Twitter, they both offer social forums and have been successful in the way they both operate. Though this isn’t a post on comparing the two, it is showing the different social networks available to people. These are the two top networks in the social networking industry. Overall, social networking is becoming more popular because people feel the need to constantly be using technology or sharing with people what they are doing. People enjoy going updating their statuses or their profiles, and they are constantly looking for new people to meet and create friendships with. That is why the social networking industry is becoming so large and so successful.


(1) Westlake, E.J. "Facebook: Friend Me If You Facebook. Generation Y and Performative Surveillance." Web. 19 Jan. 2011.

(2) Huberman, Bernardo A., Daniel M. Romero, and Fang Wu. "Social Networks That Matter: Twitter under the Microscope." Web. 19 Jan. 2011