Blog Social networking

Social networking is an amazing marketing tool for launches of new products, for honest and interactive reviews, and for informing a vast and diverse audience. For many social networking is entertainment, but many don't realize we the users are potential targets for multi-million dollar industries. It expands more to just money making industries but in politics as well. Former president (also in my eyes 'still my president'), Barack Obama utilized the power of social network to up run his campaign in 2007. In the NYT article "How Obama Tapped into Social Networks' Power" written by David Carr (2007), it explores how new media proved to be a powerful tool in the world of politics. For Instance in the article it explains:  

“...Thomas Jefferson used newspapers to win the presidency, F.D.R. used radio to change the way he governed, J.F.K. was the first president to understand television, and Howard Dean saw the value of the Web for raising money,” said Ranjit Mathoda, a lawyer and money manager who blogs at Mathoda.com. “But Senator Barack Obama understood that you could use the Web to lower the cost of building a political brand, create a sense of connection and engagement, and dispense with the command and control method of governing to allow people to self-organize to do the work.”

This method of interacting with supporters through social networking has changed the face of  politics, some say for the better and some say for the worst. Sometimes there is so much misinformation that people an become indecisive or simply lose trust. It's evident in today's  both social and political climate that social networking is only going to expand.

The benefits of social networking is the freedom to express one self individually or in large numbers, but that also brings up the ugly side to social networking. Gossiping sites are very popular when it comes to public figures, but I can't imagine how incredibly disturbing it would be to have information regarding ones character online for thousands or millions to see. For example, seeing reviews on professors on sites like ratemyprofessor.com has admittedly made me steer away from certain professors, but when there was no choice for another professor, I found the reviews to only be slightly true but for the most part exaggerated. The article on campus gossiping websites "They're back and they're bad; Campus gossiping website" written by Jeffry R. Young (2009) exhibits the dark side of the web.  It can be detrimental to a person's well-being, and the constant attention can also perpetuate that "bad behavior" equals good attention. Perhaps the consequences of sites that promote gossiping and "fake news" can bring about a positive movement. Cyber-bullying, rise in suicides among adolescents, can now be something people can be aware of, and start a chain of reaction to eliminate negativity by interacting in a quick and efficient way by offering support and creating more resources.

They're Back, and They're Bad: Campus-Gossip Web Sites

They're Back, and They're Bad: Campus-Gossip Web Siteso me shows that down-side of social networking.