Advantages of Social Networking

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Gaining Friendships

According to Larry D. Rosen, Ph.D., professor of psychology at California State University, "on the plus side: In a world full of distractions, social networking and technology can provide tools for teaching in a way that engages and captivates young minds. Online social networking can also help young people learn how to socialize with their peers; users also show more "virtual empathy." Also Rosen says "It teaches you to also just develop your sense of self of who you are. You float things out on a wall post on Facebook and then sit back and look at the comments that you get. It's a place where you can grow and develop."

Social Networking allows you to meet new people, gain new friendships, and also allows you to reconnect with friends you had from high school, college, or an old job.

Careers
From a business point of view, the first two advantages of social networking enable you to meet new clients and expand your business because most of these sites allow you to customize your webpage and provide links to your personal website.



Online Dating

Online dating is also an advantage because you are able to socialize with people over the internet rather than having to meet at bars, clubs, restaurants etc. You can also per-determine whether or not you would be compatible based on profile information with their likes and dislikes.

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Virtual Meetings

Traveling for business tends to get expensive, but virtual meetings eliminate the cost of hotels, restaurants, and airfare. Education session or impromptu web meeting can be based on who can benefit or contribute most, rather than who is physically available. People who are unable to attend the meetings can watch a recording of it to catch up.  The virtual meetings provide the ability for multiple people to share application software and collaborate in the creation of diagrams, editing of text documents and building of spreadsheets. Many people use web conferencing because they can work from their house and avoid traffic. They can also live where ever they want instead of having to move for work. (2)

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1. Source: http://skgtechnologies.com/services/social_media_optimization.html

2. Source: http://thechart.blogs.cnn.com/2011/08/06/kids-and-social-networking-pros-and-cons/

3. Source: http://liefde.crumm.nl/template_permalink.asp?id=670

4. Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/22/technology/22meet.html