Online Social Networks

According to Russell Kay, a Computerworld contributing writer, Social Networks
are changing the way how people meet and socialize online. They allow people to
communicate with others whom they may or may not know. They include dating
sites, professional sites, chat rooms, community sites and bulleting boards.

The ability to define one’s own social network and interact in new ways is what
makes online social networking unique. According to a national survey 55% of all
online U.S. teens use social networking sites.

A majority of the sites display a list of the person’s friends, with links, so that
viewers can visit the friends on the list – and then, in turn, visit the people on the
friends’ lists of friends.

Nearly all social networking sites allow users to create multiple online identities
and leave messages or comments in their friends’ pages or profiles displayed in
reverse chronological order and open to anyone who can view the profile.