Social networks (English version)

Social networks are digital platforms created by a community of people with common interests, activities, or relationships, they also enable communication between people and act as a means of communication and information exchange.

 People do not need to know each other before connecting through social networks, but they can do so through them, and this is one of the major benefits of virtual communities.

Origin:

Social networks are a tool that we are familiar with in our daily lives and that we can access from almost anywhere in the world. Although this is true, the first social networks appeared in the 90s, with a different concept from the one introduced later.

In 1994, it was considered the first social network. It is not an Internet port where you can interact with others, the goal of this social network is to read the blogs that are grouped into topics. The blog owner has virtually executed them on the topic of a blog in an American city. An example of such a city is Silicon Valley, where all the computer-related blogs are located. Currently, this social network is not active.

Then, in 1995, a social network was born, it is the intermediate link between the old and the modern. This social network is known as classmates.com, created by the American Randy Conrad. This social network has tried to connect almost all former classmates and high school students. With the success of the project, new networks began to appear to bring friends and acquaintances together, and it still exists.

In 1997 Six Degrees was founded, a network where you can connect with other members of the network, generate profiles, and create lists of friends. Six Degrees is based on the "six degrees of separation" theory, which states that each person is six people apart from everyone else on the planet. This social network was active until 2001.

In 2003, the Friendster network appeared, which allows you to connect with other members and share online content with them (photos, videos, links). It worked with many users until 2015. LinkedIn, a social network for finding, recommending, or offering a job, was also launched in 2003.

In response to the popularity of Friendster, MySpace was born in 2003. This network, originated by a marketing company, is specifically dedicated to music and technology. Until 2009, MySpace was the social network with the most users. MySpace was at the height of the rise and growth of Facebook, which was born in 2004 and is very popular due to its platform, the growing growth of the Internet, and the appearance of mobile devices with Internet access. In fact, in the first decade of the 21st century, some of the social networks with the most users emerged.

In 2005, the video platform YouTube was born, acquired by Google in 2006. In 2006, Twitter appeared, a social networking site for microblogging. In 2010 Instagram was created, which allows you to share videos and photos; and Pinterest, which allows users to create personal boards with images, text, and videos.

In 2011, Snapchat, a social network for the dissemination of ephemeral news, was founded. Although very popular and one of the fastest-growing apps, Snapchat fell behind Facebook when that company acquired Instagram in 2012 and then WhatsApp in 2014.

One of the developments The most recent addition to social media is TikTok, a platform that originated in China that allows you to produce and share videos. It merged with Musical.ly in 2018 and remains one of the networks with the highest number of young users.

Characteristic:

Ø  Allows interaction between different people or organizations.

Ø  They greatly simplify the communication process between two entities that are not in the same geographical area.

Ø  They are usually free for users.

Ø  Provides the ability to connect with thousands of people through a virtual profile.

Ø  They are completely instant, you can send a message from Peru to Japan and the recipient will read it seconds after sending it.

Types:

Horizontal social networks: These are social networks that do not have a specific theme, but rather focus on all types of users. These networks act as a means of communication, information, or entertainment. They are many and popular, like Facebook or YouTube.

Vertical Social Networks: Social networks that connect people with similar interests such as music, hobbies, and sports, for example, Tinder, a dating site to help you find a partner.

Advantages:

• Give immediate communication.

• Provide job opportunities.

• Provides us with entertainment of all kinds.

• They serve to bring to light situations that in some traditional media may go unnoticed.

• You can share or learn information.

• It helps the company either to have more publicity through the networks or to obtain better communication with its clients.

Disadvantages:

• Cyberbullying: This can occur in the form of insults, defamation of personal information, and other means. Children must be educated so that they know the physical and psychological consequences that this type of practice can cause.

• Grooming: This is one of the biggest threats of cyberbullying. Also known as "pederast deception", it is the harassment of minors by adults through social networks. Grooming is a criminal offense and should be reported.

• Fake news: This is false or unverified information that is spread due to the abundance of information on the Internet. This can cause user confusion and difficulty understanding events.

• Indiscriminate access to sensitive content: Often inappropriate content is on the network, especially in the case of sensitive social groups such as children.

• Abuse in the use of social networks: Excessive use of social networks can lead to loss of contact with the physical world and become addictive.

• The virtualization of information: It is the massive reproduction of information. This can be positive when people like the viral information, but it can also be negative when sensitive information goes viral or harms the person in some way by losing their privacy.

Conclusion:

Social media brings people together, which can have benefits like connecting with family or friends, expressing yourself, and connecting with others. Also, you can learn about new things or topics that everyone likes animals, you can entertain yourself with funny or entertaining games, pictures, and movies. People can view, share and post photos and videos.

But at the same time, it also carries dangers, such as cyberbullying, which consists of offending a person with offensive messages or comments. Disseminating information about something on social networks can cause emotional damage to a person, including the fact that, because they are minors, many children or adolescents lie about their age to create accounts on social networks. An adult may try to befriend a minor to abuse him.