Advantages of social network

Social network service is a part of the online communities that uses software to create social networks. You can use the social network service for the preferences you would use another online community (as said in the blog about online community), you can use it to just keep in touch with friends and family or you can use it to get to know new people who for example shares your interest. Two popular social networks today are My Space and Facebook. I am only familiar with the use of Facebook. In the beginning when all my friends joined I did not wanted to be a part of it. Why on earth would I put myself out online so everyone who wants to have a look at what I do without talking to me in person. At this time I was living in Norway and did not see the advantages of being a part of a social network. But not much later I found out I was moving to Australia and I wanted to keep in touch with so many people. When I arrived there was so much I wanted to tell friends and family at home and so much I wanted to show them. That was when I found Facebook was useful. I could upload pictures for everyone to see and I could send both short and long messages home to tell them what is going on. For me this is a way to connect with people at home and be a part of their community even though I can not be with them physically. I guess this is what Shirky describes as a way of being a part of a community (Flew 2004). Both my family/friends and I have to send and receive. Not only did I find Facebook convenient when it came to keep in touch with all the people I know at home, I started to add the people I met when I came over to Australia and discovered how easy it was to get invitations to events, know what was going on in the city and how easy it was to contact the people who I did not have phone numbers but wanted to have contact with. So keeping up with old friends and getting new friends is what social networking can be about. Social networking is about socializing (Glasner 2005). And even though I was afraid to put myself "out there" in the beginning in now see many positive sides of being a part of a social network online.