Week 3: Social Networking

My third post!

As you can see in my second post, I do not really have any form of social media.

Yet, I am perfectly fine with it and my social life is not that much of a mess.

Which begs the question: Why are social networks so important that everybody is asking me to create social-networking accounts and yet why I myself am not compelled to get them and how am I (or more specifically my social life) surviving without it?

I wonder...

Social networks, as defined by Wikipedia, is "a social structure made up of a set of social actors (such as individuals or organizations) and a set of the dyadic ties between these actors". Social networking sites facilitates these ties, and these include Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter etc. In a previous module, I learnt a few terms that are applicable to the social networking context. These terms include weak and strong ties and network roles consisting of social insiders, social outsiders, social connectors, social neighbours and social gateways. They are all important terms that explain more about people's roles in their networks, as well as the complexity of the networks.

Moving on...

Social networking has many useful functions, I must admit. Below are my points in numbered form, because it is easier to read than a chunk of text:

1. We can get the latest updates about people's lives, and keep in touch with friends any time and anywhere to keep relationships strong. 
2. We can get to know more people who share the same interests as us, with platforms such as Pinterest to serve that purpose. We get to know people's links with each other, making it easier to discover that we share mutual friends. This information could come in handy later when we need favours.
3. Speaking of favours, we can make use of our other weak links (such as acquaintances) to form connections as well. This allows us to request for favours in the future. 
4. People can even use social networking sites to satiate their curiosities and follow celebrities to get updates about their daily activities, not to mention support them.
5. Getting jobs could be easier too, as others can hire you or you could look for a job on platforms such as LinkedIn. 
6. Mobilizing a group of people for a cause and getting fresh information is also easy with social networking. The Arab Spring is a prime example, as people were able to receive on-the-ground information in real time. Furthermore, social activists successfully utilised Facebook and Twitter to organize protests against the government. 
7. The inconvenience of not having social network accounts when everybody else has one also encourages one to get them so that they do not get left out of conversations or other activities. 
8. From the perspective of businesses, they are able to advertise their product or service to a wider reach of people. Promotions are also commonly presented through social media and people can even 'Like' a company's Facebook page to get offers. This marketing method is relatively inexpensive yet effective and efficient.

The quote below aptly sums up the benefits having social networks:

Very true.

However, much like my social media post, I don't use social networking sites as there are also certain downsides to their uses.

1. Social networking requires one to be up-to-date with everybody else. The amount of information coming in might be overwhelming at times and it is hard sieving through the countless information. Lots of time is needed to go through the information as well.
2. It is troublesome to manage your accounts. Having to constantly update your accounts seems like a waste of time sometimes, especially when it is just about random things like what you are doing now ("Am writing a blog post and it's taking forever!").
3. There is less need to meet up in real life when you can know the details of another person's life through their updates.
4. As more and more people go online to network, conversations become lesser. I personally have experienced this countless of times, where a table full of people would just be on their phones instead of talking to each other. No interaction?
   
   
   
   
   
5. The need to social network could serve as a distraction, with many people unable to concentrate on conversations with their friends (like me) and even lessons.
6. Through social networking sites we tend to see the worst in some people. There are the narcissists, the show-offs, and various other colourful characters that turn people off.
7. Don't people feel like stalkers sometimes going through other people's accounts? I do not really like that icky feeling. The thought of people knowing something you did without you being aware of it is kind of weird too.
8. I really feel strongly about my privacy. Therefore, social networking sites will definitely not help in this belief of mine. While there are times when I feel like sharing things but am unable to do so, I do not really mind as they can be used for future conversation fillers instead.

Here's a chart of interesting facts about social network users in different parts of the world:

Please click me for a better viewing experience and to find out which few countries Facebook is not taking control of!

As always, I try to put up some statistics that gives a better picture of the topic of the week:

I require clicking to have a better viewing experience as well!

The statistics don't fail to amaze me. As always, I am proud to not be a part of the numbers.

To round it off, I guess I am jaded about the social networking experience. At the start it might seem fresh and fun, but the thought of needing to constantly make updates (because I am that kind of person) will make me feel like a slave to social media (I had a similar experience with game apps that consumed a significant amount of my time). I feel that it is a little too late for me to catch up anyway, and it is too tiring to keep up with everybody. As I mentioned before, I have a small circle of close friends, and I keep my all contacts in my phone, so it is not like I do not have a social life at all or have no connections. Thus,I don't need a social network account. We all just need to put in the effort to actually get in touch with someone to catch up with them or sincerely ask for a favour to achieve the same result. Granted, this method might not be as successful or efficient, but it is nonetheless fulfilling (at least to me) to do so. Everyone has a right, and while people have the right to use social media, I have a right not to use it too.

Signing off! #berylhasnosocialmedia #totallyfinewithit