Social networks, also called social networks, are an online network in which a group of people is connected with the bonds of friendship, professional relationships or some kind of common interests and passion. It brings together a variety of online tools that allow people to communicate, interact, interact and collaborate with each other in real time, hence the place to share information.
With the advent of Web 2.0 technology, social networks and networking sites are becoming very popular. Some of the examples of Web 2.0 technologies are personal web diaries, such as blogs; microblogging such as Twitter; social networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace; professional networks such as LinkedIn; wikis, video sharing sites such as YouTube; social bookmarking sites such as tasty; photography sites such as Flickr; presentation sharing sites such as slide shows; podcasts, forums, virtual world, like a second life. Previously, social networks were developed as a tool to connect family and friends; now it has become an effective tool for sharing knowledge, which is used by private and non-private organizations, sharing their interests, interacting with their customers or stakeholders, promoting and selling their products, as well as to increase their visibility for a global audience.
The strength of social networks and networks lies in their universality - everyone on the network can be expressed in any language, in any case, at any time. The advantage over conventional media, such as newspapers, radios, television, is that people receive first-hand information in real time, and they can continue to communicate and share news, events, or receive information on their other networks immediately, to reach a wider audience. The ease with which people can connect them and express their opinions, and the pace at which information spreads, made social networks and networks even more dynamic and popular. Global news agencies such as CNN, Al-Jazeera and BBC, research organizations such as the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), Intel and several global companies and organizations use social networks to spread their messages to a wide audience.
Social networks can also be used to raise societies and communities. An example is the BraveHeart Women network. This is a social networking site for women who are joined by women who are confident that they are theirs and who follow their own hearts and life instincts. The site was created by Dr. Ellie Drake, who envisioned bringing together women from all over the world to support each other in creating a purposeful life with passion and prosperity. The site regularly conducts interviews with women who have a purpose in life, which motivates many others to come forward and make their lives meaningful. Another example of a social network for a reason is Changents. Changents is a private and managed story and social networking platform that was launched in June 2008 by Alex Hofman and Deron Triff. The network includes multimedia profiles of people called change agents who work to create positive changes in the areas of global warming, disaster relief, energy, education, environmental protection, health, homelessness, human rights, hunger, politics, tolerance, violence, terrorism, war, and conflict. These change agents share their current personal stories through videos, photos, blogs, Twitter, and other media. The Changents community consists of Change Agents and Backers - a term used to describe supporters from all over the world who link and help Change Agents on the site. Creators can create personal profiles and interact with change agents and other supporters through comments, action requests (interoperability / support), and the Changents messaging feature.
The above two examples of specific types of social networks. Features of social networks vary depending on their purpose. There are sites of common interest, and sites where you can develop more professional contact and conduct a focused discussion. To maximize the benefits of social networking, you may have to have an account on different sites. For example, you can use your Facebook account for the global network, Twitter for micro-blogs, YouTube for sharing videos, slide shows for sharing presentations, etc. Updating several social sites is not an easy task. However, with the development of computer technology, it is possible to integrate various social networks - the update in one is automated in the other. For example, if you update your status or share information on your Facebook, you can also update them on your Twitter account without actually getting on Twitter, which means that you update or share your information with all friends on different networks. Imagine that you had to do this for each site separately!
The Internet, combined with social networks, has created a dynamic and irreplaceable communication platform and infrastructure for the 21st century. Using devices such as smartphones and tablet computers, people can connect to their social networks at any time from anywhere, if the devices are equipped with an Internet connection. Most of these devices integrate with various social networking widgets that provide a great and easy way for people to stay connected and communicate with their network as needed. This is a great advantage in terms of connecting to knowledge, because people no longer need to have access to a computer or other media to share information, they can share their portable devices as they experience or encounter an event — while traveling, working or where whatever What if this social networking feature translates into public support during a disaster emergency to provide information on the ground in disaster areas for the transfer of information? Twitter has become a source of information and news for many - for me, Twitter is the first source of global news. While working on a computer, tweets appear on the screen, giving an indication of what is happening. I subscribed to a number of Twiters news items, such as the BBC, CNN, The New York Times, and a few more. An application like Yoono helps me to integrate all my social networks in one window, so that I don’t have to register in different accounts to receive updates, which saves a huge amount of time to track all my networks - the desktop version of Yoono since FireFox and Chrome is available for free.
ICIMOD has Facebook and Twitter to share news, events, and other information; and YouTube for broadcasting short videos. These tools will help people interested in ICIMOD to effectively update their ICIMOD activities, and at the same time they can share ICIMOD updates in their networks.
The main disadvantages of social networks are considered threats to the security of the IT system, the time spent by staff and individuals in social networks, while a quick exchange of information is considered an advantage. Despite the shortcomings, social networks are becoming increasingly popular among companies, organizations and individuals to share information, so don’t be surprised if you see the social network ID in a business card you receive from your business client or friend, people are already using one on their sites.
