Digital Age and Social Networking

History of the Digital Age and Social Networking

Even though social networking history goes all the way back to the beginning of the Internet, many web users still don't know what "social networking" means. However, most everyone has heard of blogs, forums or communities such as MySpace.

The First Social Network

ARPANET was the first social network. It was also the foundation of what eventually became the world-wide web. Arpanet was a network of phone modems which connected military (and eventually academic) organizations together from across the country.

The Commercialization of the Web

The ARPANET architecture eventually became the Internet. The Mosaic Netscape web browser, created by Jim Clark and Marc Andreessen in 1994, completely revolutionized the Internet and made it more accessible to people outside of the academic community.

The public began turning to the world wide web as a source of media and information. However, because e-mail was available in combination with informational web pages, this early form of the Internet was essentially a very large social networking system. The Pew Internet & American Life Project published results of a 2008 survey which indicated that most long-time web users initially started using it primarily for e-mail. It was this architecture, a network of individual users who could quickly and conveniently communicate with each other, which drove the ultimate success of the Internet.

Why People Use the Internet

The web remains primarily used as a convenient form of communication. A Pew Internet survey indicated that 79 percent of internet users used the internet to "communicate with friends and family", compared to 63 percent to "get news", or 33 percent to "purchase everyday items".

This indicates that social networking remains a primary reason people go online. In fact the various online discussion forums which encourage discussion among users about topics that interest them are encouraging those users to expand their circle of friends outside their immediate geography. A farmer from Texas can now virtually meet and discuss farming techniques with a farmer from the UK or Germany.

InternetWorldStats.com reported 2008 internet statistics that indicate that North America is no longer the one leader in terms of internet use. Additionally, worldwide internet growth is exponential.

In this way, the digital age of the web encourages the development of global communities and leads to collaboration and the sharing of information across the world.

The Future of Social Networking

The fact that social networking forms the foundation of the World Wide Web means that it will also play a large part in its future growth.

Science Fiction to Reality

Students and researchers within academia now collaborate across the web, writers and artists share design ideas, and graphic designers and fashion artists gather on forum communities to discuss new trends within the industry. Instant Messaging technology serves as the backbone to those communications with software such as Skype, MSN, or Yahoo IM which provides users with the ability to talk to eachother through voice or text chat.

While the technology now available to Internet users was only science fiction hardly ten years ago, today users can hold a video conversation, share images and personal movies with others, and collaborate with thousands of other online users through powerful forums and social networking websites.

Social Networking in Ten Years

The current direction of web technologies trend toward a seamless integration between all forms of communication including data, images, video and voice. As avenues of social networking evolve far beyond its earliest email-only origins, these technologies are set to mature into an entire virtual world integrated with our everyday life. The Internet will enhance products such as cell phones, television sets, and radio so that the barrier between the real world and the virtual world becomes less distinct.

In 2006, Pew Internet research published a report titled Internet Evolution which predicts that this new integrated virtual world will encourage private individuals and businesses to disclose much more private information about themselves to the public. This loss of privacy is balanced by benefits such as easy collaboration with colleagues within an industry, and access to large social networks of like-minded individuals who offer advice and knowledge.

What's Next for the Digital Age

The advancement from analog to digital electronics transformed the computer industry, sparking a rapid growth of the Internet. It is likely that the next stage in the evolution of electronics, whether it is artificial intelligence and neural networks, or smaller and faster nanotechnology - will serve as a catalyst for additional growth.

The future of the Internet, and the opportunities which come from that growth, appear unlimited. The only question is how new technologies will allow people to more easily communicate and network with eachother on a global scale.