Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
years of age and older (Owyang, 2008). Facebook
has also expanded internationally, with the most
active users residing in the U.S., Canada, the
UK and Australia. Facebook's orientation over-
laps with MySpace in that it maintains regional,
profession-related, and school-related networks;
however, Facebook is perhaps more strongly af-
filiated with collegiate and work-related networks
than is MySpace and maintains 85 percent market
share of 4-year U.S. universities.
Moreover, Facebook emphasizes its niche as
a platform for independently generated applica-
tions.According to the company's analysts, 24,000
applications have been built on the Facebook
platform and an estimated 140 new applications
are added per day allowing users to increasingly
customize the functionality of their network (See
for more information: http://www.facebook.com/
press/info.php?statistics).
Socialyze,
for instance,
is an application Facebook users can add to their
profiles (and invite friends to add) which enables
them to analyze data, statistics and trends gener-
ated by their “friends” within the Facebook system.
The application can be used as a game to get to
know people better and strengthen social connec-
tions. Users can test their social knowledge and
compete against friends to earn points and “climb
the social ladder.”
Books iRead
is a Facebook
application that may be useful for educational or
professional uses. It lets one share ratings of topics
and showcase a virtual bookshelf. Users can see
what their colleagues or students are reading and
read reviews of what others have read. Users can
join a virtual bookclub, get book recommendations
or meet new people who share the same reading
interests. Facebook
translator
applications allow
real-time translation of messages between users
who speak different languages. The
Where I've
Been
application allows users to post an interac-
tive world map on their profile, showing those
who visit their site, where they have been, lived
and want to go. Visitors to a user's
Where I've
Been
map can click on a country or city to get
more information.
No overview of online social network sites
would be complete without emphasizing the in-
creasing proliferation and diversity of this emerg-
ing information and communications technology.
A quick Google search reveals millions of hits
for “online social network sites.” Wikipedia lists
over 130 on its list of “notable, well-known” sites
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_social_net-
working_websites) and reviews abound, such as
this one from Top Ten Reviews (http://social-net-
working-websites-review.toptenreviews.com/),
which strive to characterize and distinguish one site
from another. Sites like Hi5.com, Friendster.com,
Orkut and Bebo.com rank just below MySpace
and Facebook in size and international presence
(ComScore, 2008a). Bebo is especially popular
in the U.K., Ireland and New Zealand while Or-
kut is popular in Brazil, Paraguay and India, and
Cyworld is the site of choice among many young
South Koreans (Wikipedia, 2008).
Furthermore, a growing number of SNSs are
designed specifically to support education. Educa-
torCentral (http://www.takingitglobal.org/tiged/
ec/) within TakingITGlobal (www.takingitglobal.
org) supports teaching and learning (Childnet
International, 2007). Ning (www.ning.com) is
an increasingly popular SNS that allows people,
schools, and companies, to build and design their
own social Web sites tailored to their students,
clients, friends, and employees. Within Ning.com
there are a few SNSs that specifically address hu-
man services professionals. These include Social
Work 2.0 (http://www.socialwork20.com/) and
Social Work Advocates (http://socialworkadvo-
cates.ning.com), which is a community of social
workers who are passionate about advocating
for vulnerable and oppressed populations. Other
sites are just beginning such as Social and Human
Services (http://sociallyhuman.ning.com) and
Social Work Grad Students (http://socialwork-
gradstudents.ning.com/). In the UK, a relatively
new SNS offered by the social work magazine
Community Care
(http://www.communitycare.
co.uk/carespace/) features high quality podcasts of
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