Communication and dissemination of information over Social Network Sites (SNS)

Today we are in the edge of information technology. Communication becomes much easier now a day. People from different corners of the world can now interact with each other with the help of technology. Internet becomes a strong and popular medium of communication. You can always stay in touch with the near and dear ones. Social network sites make the impossible possible and facilitates the communication and become very strong medium of virtual social gathering.

A social network site is the communicating media for interaction among people from any parts of the world using internet technology. In these sites people share their personal information and make friendship with many people of the world. SNS has become the household of today’s world. SNS terms are used widely now a day. This is a great way to connect with colleagues, friends, family and also a source of establishing new relationship will the people around the world. These sites are used by individuals, professionals, students, house wives irrespective of different age group.

Research reveals that the desire for making new relationship leads to the development of different SNS sites over the internet. Some of the sites are so popular that it is now become the part and parcel of some people to visit those sites regularly, sometimes frequently. Through mobile web, any one can enter to those sites. To become a user of those SNS, it requires registration. After completing the registration users get access to those sites. Users need to fill up the information on the fields. Different types of personal information can be provided. After completing the profile it looks rich with personal information. Before opening an account in any SNS, we should become aware of our privacy. Golder, Wilkinson, and Huberman (2007) did research to gain the idea about friendship making trend and messaging activities. They did the study of anonymous database of 4 million face book users and analyze 362 million messages that had exchanged via face book.

Most of the sites ask users to complete the information segregating personal, social and professional.  The contact address, email id, telephone number and other personal information need to be provided in order to make the profile sane percent complete. Much private information regarding occupation, favorite personality, likings and disliking along with other information need to be shared in those SNS. Barnes's (2006) describes the "privacy paradox" it the state when young are not fully aware of the information sharing via profile in SNS.

Pictures and videos can be shared via those sites. With the touch of the mobile camera or PC pictures and videos can be uploaded and shared. The ease of communicating and sharing with other people is the main theme for the popularity of SNS. The high zeal, craze and enthusiasm of those sites become the concern of revealing the privacy of the people. This privacy issue is about SNS is much talked with the growing of this new types of communication. Undoubtedly the usefulness of those sites are unlimited but at the same time negative sides are also become the matter of concern to the parents. Through SNS users can communicate each and every moments of their life. Instant feelings can be shared with the friends of the users. Different occasions like birth day, marriage ceremony, get together party; religious festivals can be well celebrated via SNS. Friends can be provided with various virtual gifts and emotions easily.

There are various numbers of SNS and some of them got higher popularity. Having an own account in those site become prestigious issue for the new generation especially young people. It seems like people talk about the ids of different sites. Among the various social networking sites twitter, face book, MySpace, Orkut, classmates etc. are very much popular. The widespread accessibility of those sites gives them the highest popularity. SNS now become the strong media of spreading information. Some information can be found in those sites even before on air on Television or radio.

Lampe, Ellison, and Steinfield (2006) discovered that users of face book do search option to find some friends whom they have known earlier but not yet added in face book. There are many groups created which seems very much active on the net. Religious groups, minority groups, fan club of celebrities and be found in those sites. In the last US presidential election, SNS is used a strong tool for campaign. Celebrities share their feelings and views with their fans residing across the globe.  Musicians can interact with the listeners very easily with less cost effective ways using SNS. So, it becomes very much useful for them to take viewers opinion about their upcoming albums and music.

Those who are interested about stock market can join specific group. All the information related to stock business like the most profitable company, prediction about price and overall the experience of different stock investors can be found in those sites. With the help of modern technology FM stations are becoming another media of communication. In SNS many fan radio fan club are established which talks about different programs and the liking and disliking of the people. People who missed any topic can scroll over the pages and be updated with the Radio Jockeys. Television fan club is also seen very much active in SNS. Religious groups use SNS to spread the truth of the religion. The overall communication via SNS is very much interesting. One can pass hours with out getting bored because so much interesting matters to see in those SNS. The most popular Social networking site is Twitter. Now people can be come update with the recent news via twitter. You can get the news via mail, SMS directly to your inbox. What you need is just to subscribe your email with the service of twitter. Form the business perspective the goal of twitter is to promote the business news to the people who have stake on that information.

Face book is very much prominent among the SNS. People of this generation now ask for face book Id. It is a very useful medium of frequent communication with the friends who stay away from us. Just by opening a user account in the face book, any one can create his own networks of friends, colleagues and other relationships. Most of the young now become addict of Face book. The privacy becomes a big issue and challenging using SNS. Recently US defense express its concern of using Face book to its soldiers and alert them to be careful in communicating via those SNS.

Orkut was introduced in 2004 affiliated by Google in another less known name of SNS. But still has significant user base. This site is very easy to use and very much user-friendly. One important feature of orkut is before signing up; you need to refer some one who has already orkut account. If you don’t have any referral, you need to wait for somebody to invite you. Sharing information and making own network via this site is quite easy and interesting.

Classmate is another SNS which get recognition day by day. Initially you don’t need to pay anything for opening an account there but in order to get membership benefit you have to pay later. MySpace is another popular SNS with above one million users. You can make your own personalize page by completing the profile in MySpace. You can use that webpage to invite many friends and relatives to join your network. You can share photos, video clips, music clips easily with your friends and can store virtually. The SNS are so much popular that many websites provides direct link to access via their site. It increases the page visit rate of the sites. Some other services can be taken using the Face book Id. It means the account holders of those sites are given preference to use their SNS user account to login to other sites. Reciprocal linking can be created using the SNS.

The communication gap can be easily bridge using SNS. You can always in touch with the people whom you may not have the chance to meet physically. So, it brings a unique opportunity for us. Many personal, social and business problems can be discussed and solved using SNS. It can include so many people even with the outsiders of the organization; you can share anonymously with your troubles. You can easily track and store the good and bad moments of your life which can be viewed later times. It surely bring pleasant memories and take your to the moments. Companies are using SNS for the promotion of product and services. These sites become very much cheap means of promotion.

The more popular those sites are the better chances we have to become a member of that community. This is a very fine means of communicating with the community us familiar. Various entertainment options and means are found on those sites. People pass their time not only for communication purpose but also for entertainment. SNS is a very good source of getting information about the people we know. Status can be updated on a continuous basis so we ca know the movements, the activities of the friends of our list. This increases the appeal of the SNS ground high. Today most of the people who have frequent internet access are found having various user accounts in different social networking sites.

You can suggest friends to your friends of the lists. Any irritating or annoyed user id can be blocked easily. Before using face book you should customized your settings and make the profile safe from misuse.. It is recommended not to add anybody whom you don’t familiar with. In this way you can build your own social network.

The developers of those sites make the Graphical User Interface (GUI) flexible, user-friendly and eye-catching that one can find all sort of expected features embedded on the sites. In face book it allows users to create his own photo album and share it with the people easily. You can customize your photos with our own style and ways. You can make unlimited photo albums there. Another interesting thing is you can store your favorite photos by uploading and protect those albums from data losses of your pc crash.

You can share those all or selective pictures with whom you want. You can tag any interesting pictures with your friend and share your feelings. The network building is very much interesting. You can visit your friend’s friend list and make new friends. Many people have found their familiar near one whom they lost in the past. The search engine of SNS is very much strong. You can make any search using keywords. The profile can give you an idea about any person. I can enlarge your thought with mixing so many people around the world. You can know the current trend of the market, the fads; the glamour’s and easily shares with your closer ones.

Making comments on any status is also very much unique feature of those SNS.  You can like any ones ideas or give your own opinions a\bout it. Most of the SNS have embedded chat option with the friends. So, you can chat live with your dear one. Sometimes people spend so much time without boringness. The emotions of face book are very much interesting.  Some other features like fortune viewing, prediction about future, love calculator, wonder box all bring excitement to those sites. Messages can be given in private or you can post messages on the friend’s wall in face book. Birth day reminder, anniversaries are all unique features that you can enjoy when you have your own face book account. You can create your own group of friends with your preference and choices.

Each and every SNS has its own rules and regulations. The users of those sites have to abide by the terms and conditions. Instant messaging is an added feature in SNS. You can make new contacts with completely unknown person. It’s like an adventure and something thrilling to know about the hobbies and interest of various people whom you don’t know. Sometimes you can find and meet some famous persons from SNS.  In the society we feel the belonging needs and keen to mix with others. SNS gives you the platform to enlarge your familiarity and make strangers to bosom friends. As a social being social interactions can be made easily and in a quicker ways using SNS.

Those SNS have no particular interest. It just makes connections of people and arranges a medium so that they can stay closer virtually. We find the great importance of these sites in our life. In today’s business world, people are becoming very much busy and our life become s super fast. Face to face interaction decreases due to the mobility of the people for job and immigration purpose. So, for those busy people those SNS can be the only light of hope as a mean of communication.

Communicate from anywhere, anytime anyways can be expressed as the motto of those SNS. People of all the ages irrespective of age, sex, color, and race can come under one roof of friendship and altogether make a happy society. Through SNS you can join to various online communities of your interest. You can get update news, upcoming events, featured stories and various topics about your preference. You can customize the choices and my filter the events that you don’t like.

Since, personal information is shared through SNS, so taking precaution is the best ways to avoid any unnecessary risk of losing the privacy. Stop revealing sensitive information while communicating. So much information can be spread so take it as fun and stay safe. Before joining to those SNS, be sure to read the user agreement of the site as many people don’t bother not to read the disclaimer. It will help you to be certain that those sites protect your privacy and safety.

Students can join various learning commonalities and meet people of other parts of the world. It helps them to gather more knowledge and open their mind and thought and also enables them to learn different culture. Study showed that it would bring good for the students if the professors are on the Facebook (Hewitt & Forte, 2006). People, who want to get information about culture and race, can easily communicate with various cultural people and exchange their views and learn different customs and traditions observing by many cultures.

People use social networking sites for business purpose also. They can circular the company information and make online groups of their company. Information can be circulated from those groups. Some website enables the users to upload videos so business community can use that facility to reach to the target group. Building online communities can be a good way to know about the feed back from different stakeholders. Before launching any product to the market company can put them on the web for open discussion. The feedback then use in the decision making process. So in this way information can be shared through SNS.

Many successful stories have been heard about relationships. People meet via SNS can finally become the life partners. Since all sorts of information can be shared so people coming into contact with one another very easily. SNS can play the role of match making for some people as they found their right partners while communicating via SNS.

Statistic shows that during first quarters of 2010 about sixty percent of Australians are registered in face book. Each and every day more and more new people join there and try to build a good virtual network. Among the SNS face book is becoming the most viewed and used site and still in the top position. Though there are concern for privacy and security issue, still safe using can make the best use of the SNS.

In order to protect the account from identity theft, log off the account after browsing. Make sure you keep your password safe, make frequent change to your password, try to take hard to guess password.  Using behind a firewall is another way to protect from the hackers and other unwanted activities. The teenagers, housewives, students who have ample time at hand can pass their leisure time in those sites. Sometimes it hampers the study of the students as the give more priority to this sort of activities. Parents are now more worried about the future consequence and impact of using SNS in the life of their Childs. Sometimes while communicating, children fall in love and become emotional.

We are now in the world of free flow of information. People are becoming internet freak gradually. This generation tries to give more time and stay online. So for those, SNS have great importance. It removes the monotony and brings social gathering online. Another important aspect of communicating via SNS is that people tries to update every move, feelings and emotions. But sometimes it may hamper your privacy. So before sharing any information through SNS, you should think about the objectives and consequences. Fragoso (2006) examined the role and impact of "Brazilian invasion" of Orkut which leads to the clash in the cultures of America and Brazil. And this has happened because of the control of the SNS by the Brazilian authority. SNS have many benefits and advantages but the dark side must also be remembered.

Still some negative sides are found in SNS. Some people came up with false information and provide fake profile and deceive people. All users should make good friends whom they trust before going to add anybody into your friends list. Always hide your email id, mobile number, national id number, credit card number and other sensitive information from everybody and share only general information that may not hamper your life. Social Networking sites are the blessings of science and becoming extremely renowned day by day. The importance and significance of SNS in our daily life is unavoidable. Safe use of the service can only helps you to build a strong network of friend circle. Social networking has contributed a means of connection with old classmates, colleagues and family members and the new people whom you new meet before. Social Networking activity is advised to kept to a least or minimum used in moderation.