There is no doubt that social networking is an improvement in the way we communicate on the internet, as it allows for people to connect in ways not possible prior to it. For example, Facebook allows to search people by name; this is much easier compared to connect with old friends, family members, acquaintances, coworkers and so on.

However, social networking is not a new thing anymore and does have tenure. And of course, any social networking site will claim that they sign up new users left and right on a daily basis and have millions of users.

But how many of those millions of users actually bother using social networking is the question. How many are "bouncers", whereas they signed up then never did anything with their social network stuff afterward?

Even though the numbers are rising as far as social networking usage is concerned, its definitely not the hot topic of conversation anymore. Has the popularity of social networking peaked? I believe it has. And there’s only one direction something can go after it peaks.

I don’t want to indicate that this style of communication is a fad that will go away, because it won’t. This is something that I believe will remain on the internet for a good long time. But it’s obvious there are more than a few that have become, said politely, disenchanted with the way it works.

How social networking works is its biggest downfall. Facebook for example has things in it that crash constantly. Even when you attempt to do something as simple as send a message to somebody else, you may get a server error. Twitter has had the same problem ever since it started. MySpace also has its bugs. None of them have ever been able to operate with 100% efficiency.

On top of that, these sites changes their interfaces continually. What you clicked on one day to get somewhere may get moved next week. And then moved again next month. It’s irritating to deal with.

The final blow that gets people disenchanted with social networking is that it can be nothing but a big ball of boring. Like it or not, all social sites act the exact same way, with the only differences being in what applications are available to you. But then there are those who don’t bother with apps, so what you do on Facebook is more or less the exact same thing you did on MySpace. Eventually it becomes tiresome and you just quit using it.

In the end, what you have is a medium where you add a bunch of people on a contact list, trade messages, photos and funny cat videos.

There should be no wonder as to why some people bounce from this. Some call it like it is: "Isn’t a social networking site just a big forum with some extra added crap in it nobody uses?"

Mainly, yes. People recognize this and move on to other things.

What do you think?

Has social networking passed its peak of popularity? Have you become disenchanted with it? Let people know by posting a comment.

For many, there will come a time when you’re "connected" to too much stuff on the internet. You know you’re too connected when you simply can’t keep up with everything you’re signed up for. Whether it’s email subscriptions, RSS feeds, YouTube channels, MySpace/Facebook friends, AIM buddies and so on, all this information being blasted at you can be too much to handle.

If this sounds like you, maybe it’s time you do what I call The Purge.

There’s the basic purge and the extreme version. We’ll start with the extreme version.

Extreme Purge

1. Make a list of all the stuff you’re currently subscribed to. And I mean all of it. For some it make take time to get this list completed. To make it easier to get your list together, use a password manager like KeePass.

2. Go on an account canceling rampage and do it in such a way where you absolutely cannot get the accounts back. At the end of it all you should only have your primary email and a few instant messenger accounts left – but no more.

3. Commence freaking out for at least 1 to 2 days because you canceled so much stuff.

4. Accept what you did and know your life is better off for it.

Basic Purge

Similar to the Extreme Purge except you don’t actually delete accounts. Instead you remove any public presence the account has and discontinue all notifications, be they in-system or email.

Example using Facebook:

First, login to your Facebook account, go to Settings then Notifications, then tick every single option to Off. For some this will take a lot of clicking but it’s worth it.

Second, adjust your profile and privacy settings so you are not indexed whatsoever.

And that’s it.

Most of you out there will opt for the Basic Purge because it’s not so nerve-wracking.

Indicators that you need to purge

Information overload

This is mentioned above. You have so much info coming at you that you cannot make heads or tails of it anymore. Moreover you’re getting interrupted from receiving the information that’s truly important in your life.

More than 50% of the info blasted your way is worthless or doesn’t entertain anymore

The email notices from your bank are important. The services you pay for that send you notifications are important.

The "joke of the day" daily email isn’t. The incessant blabbering from friends in the form of bulletins isn’t. The YouTube comment notifications aren’t.

You get the idea. Stick to stuff that’s important to you and cut the fluff out.

You receive system notices from web sites you don’t even use anymore

You signed up for a bunch over the past few years and you’re still receiving updates from them – even though you haven’t so much as logged in to those sites in the last six months. Time to cut ‘em out.

What you’re signed up for is literally wasting time and money

Got a "pro" Flickr account but don’t upload photos anymore? Cancel it.

Do you pay for web hosting but do nothing with your web site, nor do you receive any significant traffic? Cancel it and use a freebie WordPress blog instead (or a freebie Blogger or Spaces or LiveJournal or whatever else you want to use).

Efforts to be more internet social only turned out to fill your email inbox full of crap

Social networking is one of those things that takes a fair amount of effort just to make it work for you. But if from your social networking stuff you’re just sitting on the sidelines watching other people use the system while you say, "Why do I even have this?", it’s time to get rid of it. That or at least turn off the notifications because it’s not doing you any good.

Consider doing The Purge as defragging your internet life, so to speak. Sometimes it just needs to be done.

Have you ever purged?

Did you ever reach a point where you said, F&@K IT, I’M DELETING EVERYTHING, and actually did it?

Or are you close to that point?

Let us know in the comments.

Most of you have probably heard the term ‘domain squatter’ which is someone who registers a domain with the sole intent of selling to someone else who has a legitimate need for it (at a substantially increased price). Well, domain names are not the only thing being targeted by squatters as social networking names are being quickly gobbled up.

This day and age, anything which has the perception of being valuable online is going to be sucked up quickly, so you have to act fast. Even if you do not currently make use of the popular social networking sites (MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, etc.) but see yourself doing so in the future you should go ahead and register the name you want… now.

At right is a screen shot of the Wikipedia page List of social networking websites.

Said honestly I had absolutely no idea there were this many. Yeah, I knew there were quite a few but not so much that you had to press "Page Down" five times to read thru it…

…when reading the web page on a 1680×1050 monitor…

…with the browser maximized.

Sure, you’ve heard of MySpace and Facebook – who hasn’t?

But how about lifeknot?

Or Ryze?

Or wis.dm?

Never heard of any of these? Neither did I until I looked at the list.

And yes, it’s sad the only way I was made aware of these other sites is by examining a generic list of social networking sites.

What’s even crazier is that the list isn’t even complete and never will be as their are other "networks" starting up all the time.

Social networking has reached the point where I call it a "wash". The sites who were first in the game will always be the most popular and most used and anyone else who joins in will never achieve that level of success – and that’s just the way it is.

~ ~ ~

Some related reading: Although this article is a bit old now, I suggest reading The world map of social networks.

It is very interesting how some of these networks turned out to be very country-specific and more or less stayed that way.

More than a few PCMech readers truly don’t care about MySpace mainly due the reason they don’t see a purpose in using it.

I shall give you a 3 things you can do on MySpace that are easier compared to using other services.

Before I do, the thing to remember about that site is that it is a social tool. If you approach it as such it can work out quite well for you.

1. Easy scheduling with calendar app

MySpace does in fact have a calendaring app and it’s directly located off your profile’s home page. It’s easy to use and share event information with. It can also do reminders.

Reason why this is useful: If you have a group of people that need periodic notifications, this is one of the easiest ways to do it. Being that it’s in-system, the notifications are guaranteed to get to the people in your group (with e-mail, mail-outs can be flagged as spam by mistake).

2. Easy blogging

The blog application within MySpace is stupidly easy to use. This is one of the very few blog applications I’ve seen that anyone can use with absolutely zero experience. If you compare this to Microsoft Live Spaces, Yahoo 360 or even WordPress, MySpace’s way of doing it trumps them all in ease of use.

Reason why this is useful: Blogging should be easy and it doesn’t get any easier than MySpace. Furthermore the people in your friend list and groups can subscribe to you easily (there’s even RSS available).

3. Your bulletins will actually get read

When most people post bulletins on other social networks they rarely get read if at all. On MySpace for some magical reason the bulletins you post do get read by those in your friend/group list. Why do people read the bulletins of friends on MySpace but not other places? I have no idea – but it does work.

Reason why this is useful: Posting bulletins is not a waste of time because people will actually read them (for a change).

Still think it’s a big waste of time?

As said above, if you approach MySpace as a social tool you will find use out of it. The reason that site maintains its popularity is largely due to its easy-as-pie social connectivity. Use it to your advantage and you’ll be pleased with the results.

And if you still don’t like it, well.. it’s free so you can’t complain.

It took me a while before I grasped the whole concept of what social networking actually is. It’s not that I don’t understand how it works technically. It’s that I didn’t comprehend what it’s about. Said sincerely, it can get confusing.

First, let’s try to define it. We’ll use Google. Google’s best definition is:

…a phenomena defined by linking people to each other in some way.

Now if you take all the other definitions listed on the above linked page, all of them point back to that definition. It is a phenomena that links people together. As dry and non-descrip as that sounds, that’s what it is.

You might be asking yourself “So… social networking doesn’t necessarily mean to connect to people by means of the internet?” RIGHT. It means using any means to link to other human beings, electronic or otherwise.

But we’ll stave from that definition and stick to social networking by means of internet.

If one were to define internet social networking literally, it is any web site that allows you to create a public “shareable” identity and communicate with other human beings.

Do forums count as social networking?

If the forum is public, yes. The profile you create is your public identity which can be linked. The system allows you to post and reply to messages (that’s the communication part). Your profile can be updated whenever you want. So yes, forums can be considered social networking. Does this mean the PCMech forums could be considered a social networking site? Yes.

Mystery solved as to why forums will not die: Forums will not die and never will as long as the internet exists because they do an extremely effective job as a social communications medium.

Do blogs count as social networking?

No (or mostly no). Even though you can post commentary, you have limited profile creation abilities, and that profile cannot ordinarily be shared/linked.

Do microblogs counts as social networking?

Absolutely. Twitter is a good example. It’s a microblogging service that is tied to a public shareable profile and allows for easy access to connect with other humans.

Where does MySpace, Facebook and like sites fit into all this? Didn’t they start this whole social networking thing?

What makes MySpace, Facebook and sites of that ilk carry the banner as social networking web sites is the fact they allow the ability to create public editable shareable profile pages. That is your identity and can be shared with anyone. In addition, the ability to add “buddies” or “friends” is what makes it social by allowing you to connect to other humans.

Once you understand that social networking is people-powered, you “get it”.

It is at times difficult for people to understand that an internet social network absolutely does not work unless humans are there to keep it going. And I’m not talking about the administrators of whatever site it is. Rather, I’m talking about the users (like you).

When you grasp the concept of “Oh.. so the deal is to connect with people, share like interests and be… social?”

Yes. Now you understand it.

I’m not telling you to run out and get Twitter, MySpace and Facebook accounts. What I am saying is that if you decide to use it, you do actually have to put forth actual effort to receive the social benefits of participating. If you’re a lurker, social networking is not for you. But if you’re looking to expand your social circle, then yes – go for it.

[Source: Tame The Web]

BusinessWeek dared (gasp) to throw out a Web 1.0 term, portal. The Web 2.0 term is called social network.

Before continuing, I’ll attempt to explain the difference between portal and social network.

A portal is an entryway. It is the place where you begin when using the internet. For example, many people use Yahoo as a portal. It is set as your home page, your e-mail and so on.

A social network is a human connector. It is the place you go to find and connect with other people. You are literally socially networking with other humans.

Portals and social networks at present don’t exactly play nice with each other. And by “play nice” I mean that they don’t interconnect with each other. Nowhere does Yahoo connect with MySpace or Google with Facebook and vice versa. Each one of those entities is distinctively separate.

Continued

It is rare that I see a parody that so accurately NAILS how stupid social networking can be. Watch for the Friendster reference and the MySpace “skank power.” That’s all I gotta say.

I am a professional blogger. This means I am pretty tuned into the Internet and what’s happening. Social media and the whole Web 2.0 phenomenon are second nature to me. It is the same for other bloggers. But, those of us who are familiar with all this stuff make up a small percentage of the Internet. In fact, most of my readers here on PCMech (yes, that means YOU) are probably not very in tune with social media. Continued

I wish this was a late April Fool’s joke but it’s not. Everex, the computer company you most often see displaying their wares in Wal-Mart, has a little computer box (and yes it looks very similar to a Mac mini) that has been “Exclusively created for the +100,000,000 MySpace users of the world”. That’s Everex’s words, not mine.

The cost? $500.

What do you get?

1.86GHz Intel Pentium Dual-Core Mobile Processor T2130, 120GB Hard Disk Drive, 512MB RAM, DVD+/-RW, 10/100/1000 Ethernet Port, DVI-I Port, S-Video Port, IEEE 1394 Port, USB 2.0 Ports, 2-in1 Media Card Reader, Headphone/Line-Out Port, Microphone/Line-In Port.

Wi-Fi?

Nope.

Learn more about the MyMiniPC at the source link below.

And by the way, yes I’m quite certain you can do things on this computer other than just MySpace activities.

[Source: CrunchGear]