Socialising

Easily the most common use for social networking sites and the main reason for them existing in the first place are for personal reasons (Collins, 2011).
Figure 2 shows the total number of users enrolled in 4 of the top social networking sites around the world. Facebook leads the social networking Market having over 500 Million users at the beginning of 2011 and nearly 140 Million unique visits every month (Nations, 2010).

The survey carried out in conjunction with this report indicated that the most popular reason for people using social networking was to socialise with friends.
A lot of people will simply go onto social networking sites simply to change their status or view a friend’s status, check photo/video uploads or chat to someone they have recently met, a potential boyfriend/ girlfriend or even someone who shares a similar interest. Another great advantage is keeping in touch with people who are hundreds of miles away or maybe somebody who has gone travelling to the other side of the world. In the past this sort of easy communication would have been nigh to impossible due to the technological restrictions, phones were just too expensive to continuously keep using and faxes were too impractical. Now with the use of social networking sites socialising has never been easier. Figure 3 shows possible tools that a user gets by using social networking sites for socialising with their friends.
The internet provides rich opportunities for making new friends, finding romance and sharing interests with others, it is a nowadays very cheap resource, available almost anywhere around the world and a much cheaper method of communication than a text of phone call. This online means of socialising, just like its offline counterpart can present itself with dangers. When meeting somebody in person you have visual clue as to their age, gender and general demeanour. This cannot be said when meeting or communicating with others online, users have to find new methods of accessing social contacts and have to always be cautious not to expose themselves too much.

There are several types of SNS in which people collaborate socially. Three of the most popular types are a Wiki, a Blog and traditional social networking sites, for instance Facebook or Myspace. A Wiki is a website that allows anyone visiting to contribute. This includes adding, editing and removing content, although editing and removing is normally at the author’s authorisation. Wikipedia is a good example of a Wiki, allowing users to collaborate their collective knowledge of a subject area.
A Blog is an online journal and short for web-log. Visitors comment and post their views about a topic area. Again the author will usually make setting so that a visitor may or may not be allowed to comment on entries. Just as any journal the blog owner can hold forth on any subject they wish to in words or drawings, but unlike traditional journals, entries can also be made in video, photos, website links and so on. Each blog entry usually contains a title, date stamp and the comment. Most traditional social networking sites will also host blogs, this allows users to communicate with their friends on a given subject matter. Users can link in evidence to support their arguments from other web pages. This has made social networking sites very popular when trying to formulate a discussion with friends, where as a phone call, only speech can be used, social networking sites provide the tools to back your statements.
Online dating is another popular reason as to why people use social networking sites. A statement made by the telegraph claimed that a fifth of people who use dating websites marry someone they met online (Telegraph, 2011). It is estimated that 20 million people a month use online dating services (Online Dating Newsletter,2011) to get acquainted with people. When done with caution, using online dating services may even be safer than meeting people in the ‘real’ world environment because you have more time to get to know someone before meeting them in person. Unlike many social networking sites, for example Facebook, twitter and Myspace, online dating services sell their services to the user. Usually charging people in order or respond or sometimes even read a communication received from another paying member.