Week #5 Social Networking

Why do you think social networking sites are so popular? What are the main appeal factors?

I think that social networking sites are so popular because it's an easy way to share information on a large scale. I know that I now know more about what is going on in the day to day lives of my friends because of status updates on Facebook. I wouldn't normally know for example that my friend in BC had gone to the Canucks game last night, because she wouldn't just send me an email to tell me that or I wouldn't share pictures of the cake I baked for my nephews b-day with everyone I know, but I can easily put it on Facebook and even if people don't comment it's still there for people to see. What I like most about Facebook is that it really is about sharing things with friends and its all in once spot. I can see statuses (which to me are a lot like Tweets), youtube videos, songs, reading lists, links etc all in one place and with all my friends at one time. I know that it can be seen as a time waster, but I think it really saves time for me personally and really is the easiest way to keep in touch with friends without having to write long emails that take time.