The need to connect to other people with similar interests brought about the idea of social networks. With social networks you are still able to express your individuality as you would have a profile with contents controlled by you.

Boyd and Ellison (2007) define social network sites as web-based services that allow individuals to:

(1) construct a public or semi-public profile within a bounded system,

(2) articulate a list of other users with whom they share a connection, and

(3) view and traverse their list of connections and those made by others within the system.

Some of the reasons why people use social networks is to be able to have some form of reach to a particular community. Nowadays social networks are used to form relationships, communicate and share experiences. For example, for the purpose of this coursework, we had a Facebook page which we use to communicate with each other and also deliberate on issues. Social networking sites have different functionalities. Social networking sites all have their specific features which make them unique from others. For example, Twitter has the feature of a micro blogging functionality which makes it different to SNS such as Facebook or Instagram.

The nature of social networks is also changing with the increase in use of mobile devices. Most social networking sites now have mobile apps which are freely available to users.

Skillted aims to connect people so they are able to get and give help with the skills they have such that both parties in a particular transaction benefit from each other.

Reference

Boyd, D. M. and Ellison, N. B. (2007), Social Network Sites: Definition, History, and Scholarship. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 13: 210–230. doi: 10.1111/j.1083-6101.2007.00393.x

Image credit: http://static.blog.savenkeep.com/files/2013/05/social-networking.jpg