History of social networking sites where you can check that www.Facebook.com was Not the First Nor will be the Last.

Are social networking sites just a trend!?

People are spending so many times (4 hours average per day) on social networking sites; some even check their accounts before checking their personal emails. The time consumed on such websites is unbelievable, and here becomes the addiction.

Social network sites didn't appear in these early years, it dates back to 1995 with Classmates.com, and 1997 with SixDegrees.com; however we cannot find how many social networking sites are out there, they are in hundreds, but the most famous ones dominate the teens’ world.

And can we just say ‘the teens’ world’! No! In fact, it’s dominating the whole families’ world. It’s not just about connecting with friends but making new acquaintances as well. How effective and true this friendship lasts, we cannot say, but we assume it shows how popular we become. Moreover, those who create an account on any social networking site don't just limit themselves to just
one website; they create accounts on other websites too.

Personally, I first started on Hi5.com and then after some time I deactivated my account because it wasn’t that popular at that time in my entourage. However, I didn't stop it for good. Now I have accounts on facebook.com, myspace.com, yuwie.com, beirut4ever.com, mylebnet.com.

Do you think we can reach a day where we can import our profiles from one social networking site to another? This could save us some time, ha! Unless we were making some fake profiles, in this case the true reason behind social networking websites looses it sense. The whole idea of social networking is truly a great one; people can share thoughts, events, pictures, blogs, and parties…everything they wish to. It socially connects people together. Some people may go crazy if they lose their accounts, social networking is made to reside forever.

Millions of people are joining everyday and they are sharing their public life…and even their private one, which in fact no longer remains private. Once logged in, people create their profiles and distribute it to their friends and become visible to everyone on their list. Privacy limitation may exist, but to what extent can we say it stays private! Anyone can access your profile, comment, write on your wall, and send you gifts. And talking about sending gifts, some are for free and the others are charged for 1$.

Do you see how the social life is truly indulge in the social networking sites? Friendster, Flickr, Bebo, Twitter, Facebook, Cyworld, Last.fm, Ning, OkCupid, Tagged, Reunion, stumbleupon, Blue dot …..Social networking websites are not just limited into those as Facebook and MySpace, some share links, bookmarks, music, blogs, and all that can be shared with others. Other than its social purposes, social networking sites are mingling in business purpose through the marketing they apply in direct and indirect ways. Social sites are a true market for small and big businesses, it’s about online marketing. And here’s a new fad, yuwie.com. Yuwie.com does not only give an opportunity to find friends and make new ones, but it shares its profit with its members. How is that! Well the social networking site has become a way into e-commerce. Members get a share of money for everything they do on Yuwie.

Do you think there will be a huge shift from Facebook and MySpace, the most famous social networking sites, to Yuwie, just for the fact they get paid for surfing through the site?! I knew about this site from a friend and out of curiosity on how much true can this be, I created an account there, but personally it didn't attract me much.

Through social networking, people can make friends, find their soul mate, join groups and forums, comment and add photos, share music, videos and links, find a job and set up a business. It’s all about information circulating everywhere from someone to the whole world, and from the world to someone. You can see social networking sites open at home, in universities, at work…it’s open everywhere at anytime for your own personal use.