Trends - Social Networking sites - Essay Example

It has quickly become a major source of information with many people relying on it to get news from all over the world, for research, to do market research and make purchases and to keep in touch with one another over great distances. One of the most influential consequences of the internet is social networking, which has become big business for those who run social networking companies since they not only charge people to pay to advertise on their websites, but many have also developed the tendency of selling the personal information of their users to other commercial companies.

Social networking has come to set many trends in the world today, since it has changed the way people interact with one another as well as created a medium for people from different parts of the world to communicate. Approximately 10 percent of workers world over telecommute and this figure is exponentially high in developed countries. The most influential trends brought about by social networking sites include the virtual world becoming almost as real as the physical one, phenomenal growth of information over the internet, creation of mobile devices and finally, an increased transparency into the private lives of individuals, since many share their private matters over the social networks.

The psychological impacts of social networking especially on the youths have been phenomenal over the last decade; “15-24 still represent the most highly-engaged segment of social networkers” thus they make the bulk of internet users (Sighn). To many of them, the internet has become such an important role that they have become obsessed with it and they cannot function without it. Today, millions have become addicted to social networking and they literary live and sleep online for some people being disconnected makes them feel unsettle and anxious, not unlike deprived drug addicts.

Nevertheless the internet has also radically changed and improved communication; social networking can be applauded for the developments which they have made in interpersonal communication. Interaction among people in different parts of the world has become easier and more convenient, because there is no longer any need to have physical contact for communication to take place. Instead, they have made communication virtual, with more people subscribing to the use of social network sites to communicate every day.

Social networks have effectively ensured that the need for human beings to socialize has been satisfied, as well as enabled those individuals who use them to be able to communicate with large numbers of people at the same time (Singh). Thus, social networking sites have not only managed to fulfill the need for individuals to communicate with one another, but they have also created a situation where physical interaction is no longer necessary for communication. In addition, social networks have made the virtual world, to be almost as real of the physical one; in fact, for some people, the virtual presence is more real than the physical one since most of their interactions with others are done over social networks (Brown 31).

These networks have become the best platforms on which individuals can use to effectively communicate with each other, and this explains the reason as to why quite a large number of people prefer spending their time in these sites. It is equivocal