Social Networking

                                                                       

      Over the past few years, social networking had been slowly creeping on most of our social lives, taking the forms of chatting, e-mailing and several other social networking services. Only recently has it taken Indonesia by storm, especially with the introduction of Facebook.

             It spread through the country like wildfire. Everyone, from young to old, rich to poor, boys and girls, schoolchildren and working men alike were addicted to this new sensation. They spend timeless hours in front of the computer posting many things, ranging from the information to the trivial. And it is clear that Facebook has not only taken our time, but also most of our youths' sense of privacy. They would write embarrassing things on each other's "walls", updating their statuses with ridiculous, sometimes vulgar quotes, uploading narcissistic photos and statements, looking for ways to make a mark (any kind of mark on the internet). This is even more so for the timid people, becoming brave and open on the net  despite their nervousness in real life.

              What is social networking? social networking is when you use the internet or other networks to do social activities with other people, such us e-mailing, chatting, writing in forums, playing online games or other ways of online socializing. These activities have one important fact that separates them from ordinary socializing; you don't need to be in the same place and you can still socialize. There are many social sites in the world, including MySpace, FriendWise, FriendFinder, Yahoo! 360, Orkut, Classmates, and Twitter, just to name a few. although most people still go out together for their socializing needs, social sites, forums, and chatting have taken roots all over Indonesia.

               People nowadays think that social networking is socializing through internet social sites, like Facebook and Twitter, but in truth that is only an elementary form of it. It is just that a lot of people use it more often for those kind of things. In my opinion, social networking is actually utilizing networking services to achieve our goals, such us getting a job or arranging business deals and Facebook is good for keeping abreast with the development in the lives of friends and acquaintances, and maintaining social relationships but we must know how to balance your personalities and to show private matters only with people you want to show. And please remember for those who are using Facebook, don't add friends who you wouldn't invite to your house. Be careful with whom you befriend ^_^