This depends on the context in which you use social networking. Social networking is not new it has been around for centuries. Early civilizations did it when they traded with each other. They would pass on information about what were the best routes to use during the seasons, where to obtain water and food when traveling. Later on when people became more settled craftsman set up guilds in which to pass on knowledge about their skills, exchange ideas and to obtain fair renumeration for their work. This usually happened in a limited geographical area due to the availability of transport options. As transport options improved due to technological advances these social networks extended their reach from local to state and from state to national boundaries. It wasn't until the invention of postal services and sea transportation could these networks spread internationally albeit slowly at first. Then as the telegraph, telephone and air travel become widespread the exchange of information between, individuals, groups and nations increased rapidly during the twentieth century.
When examining social networking in the context of the twenty-first century the definition of social networking has been enlarged. This is due to information technology advances such as the creation of the personal computer, easy to use computer software, the invention of the internet and I.T. networking tools. This has enabled individuals, not only to form groups locally but transcend state, national and international boundaries. At first only scientists and a few IT savvy people used the internet to communicate via email and bulletin boards. Then businesses discovered the marketing and commercial potential of the internet. This changed when more internet users discovered that they could create their own content and share it with anyone who could use a web browser. So internet consumers became content creators with the advent of blogs, wikis and e-zines. So personal relationships were able to be extended in to the electronic diaspora of the the internet enabling people with similar interests to meet physically as well as virtually. The ability for people to socially network was vastly increased with advent of commercial organizations creating specific websites dedicated to encouraging users to connect and share content. The content sharing revolution started in 1996 with the launch of Six Degrees dot com (Fig. 1 http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol13/issue1/boyd.ellison.html abated with Facebook becoming one of the most popular social networking sites in the world with one billion users as of October 2012. (http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-10-04/facebook-the-making-of-1-billion-users) This sharing of content is not restricted only social networking sites but people can also share media such as photos and videos via social media sites such as Youtube, Flickr and Pinterest.
So what is social networking to me? Social networking enables me to keep in contact with friends and family to share news and common interests. I especially like being a part of a community that shares creative interests in the area of textile art. I can comment on what others are creating, ask them how they did and see what events they have attended. I have found that Facebook has been particularly useful to network with other costumers. To a limited extent I also use www.acg.org.auwww.acg.org.au to chat to other costumers in Australia. I have kept a blog for at least seven years on my own textile art. Perhaps you would like to visit it? See: www.rosiesstuffnsew.blogspot.com.au I also use Linkedin to meet new people in my profession, talk about familiar issues, here about industry events and enlarge my circle of potential employers in the future. Ofcourse when I study I use the Interact study space provided by Charles Sturt University to work through my modules and contribute to class discussions. I don't use media sharing sites such as Flickr all that much as my photo collection from my travels is sometimes entered and displayed in photographic competitions and galleries. I feel rather shy about putting my photos out there for any one to steal my intellectual content without asking. I only started microblogging on Twitter late last year. I don't really like Twitter that much as I can't say anything really concisely in 100 characters. I like the medium of Facebook or a blog like this much better.
In INF206 Social Networking for Information Professionals, I hope to expand my understanding of social networking technologies, to understand theory and the practice of using Library 2.0 to interact with customers in creating an collaborative library service. Be able to evaluate various social networking tools against users and community needs to recommend a social networking strategy. Then develop knowledge of how a social networking strategy impacts on individuals and organizations and the issues associated with using this technology to create and implement an information policy in an organizational context.
