cct205_in_class_exercise_4


 * __What Impact Does Social Networking Have on Your Life?__**

Social networking has had a huge impact on my life. Since I got my own computer (2001), the first thing I was told to get by all my friends was MSN messenger. We used this to chat after school on a daily basis; almost everyone I knew used the program to communicate with one another, especially since this was before the commoditization of cell phones, and smartphones were still unheard of at the time.

Because we were still juveniles at the time, it was common to have someone you didn’t know add you to MSN and start chatting, usually making up an excuses like “I don’t know, somehow my MSN added all my friend’s contacts”. Such a thing happening today would usually trigger the “stalker” alert, but back then it was just a fun way to meet people.

Over time, different types of social networking websites started popping up, like Friendster and MySpace, which I never got involved in because the user interfaces and type of interactions available were too superfluous for my tastes.

Around 2006 everyone started telling me to get a thing called Facebook. I caved in and signed up for it. Since then, most of the people in my generation started to slowly move away from MSN Messenger and just use Facebook to communicate, even before the chat feature was added. I’ve found Facebook to be a very simple social networking service that is great for keeping in touch with friends I may not have the opportunity to see often enough. Every now and then we’ll be able to contact each other and set up meetings (whether it’s between 2 or more people) to catch up in person. (For the record, I’ve blocked every single application that’s tried to communicate with me so I don’t have a clue what Facebook gaming is about, though I hear it can be quite addictive.)

Lastly, I finally jumped on the Twitter bandwagon in early 2011, but not because of any influence around me; rather it was a way to keep up with artists (mostly vocal artists) whose work I enjoy. I don’t tweet often myself but I “feel” like I’m much closer with people all over the world; it’s especially enjoyable when I can cheer on the people I support and to have them acknowledge me in return!