American Musical and Dramatic Academy – New York Is Social Media a Fad? Video Response Please share your “a-ha” moments from the videos and readings. Provi

American Musical and Dramatic Academy – New York Is Social Media a Fad? Video Response Please share your “a-ha” moments from the videos and readings. Provide at least two quotes with a page number.

Respond thoughtfully to a topic from your own experience/observation. Provide links and resources related to the topic that would be of interest to other participants. Raise a thought-provoking question related to the topic.

(video link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?reload=9&v=EyEPS2Ri0LM#t=54

Is social Media a Fad?

The second video contains a discussion by experts, and this discussion will allow you to reflect on how people are using social networking sites. What are their benefits and drawbacks? Do we really need social networking sites? Do you think that social media create new types of emerging cultures, and if so, how would you describe them?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2GfUqaynn_Q#t=18 ) Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication
Social Network Sites: Definition, History,
and Scholarship
danah m. boyd
School of Information
University of California-Berkeley
Nicole B. Ellison
Department of Telecommunication, Information Studies, and Media
Michigan State University
Social network sites (SNSs) are increasingly attracting the attention of academic and
industry researchers intrigued by their affordances and reach. This special theme section
of the Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication brings together scholarship on
these emergent phenomena. In this introductory article, we describe features of SNSs
and propose a comprehensive definition. We then present one perspective on the history
of such sites, discussing key changes and developments. After briefly summarizing existing scholarship concerning SNSs, we discuss the articles in this special section and conclude with considerations for future research.
doi:10.1111/j.1083-6101.2007.00393.x
Introduction
Since their introduction, social network sites (SNSs) such as MySpace, Facebook,
Cyworld, and Bebo have attracted millions of users, many of whom have integrated
these sites into their daily practices. As of this writing, there are hundreds of SNSs,
with various technological affordances, supporting a wide range of interests and
practices. While their key technological features are fairly consistent, the cultures
that emerge around SNSs are varied. Most sites support the maintenance of preexisting social networks, but others help strangers connect based on shared interests,
political views, or activities. Some sites cater to diverse audiences, while others attract
people based on common language or shared racial, sexual, religious, or nationalitybased identities. Sites also vary in the extent to which they incorporate new information and communication tools, such as mobile connectivity, blogging, and photo/
video-sharing.
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Scholars from disparate fields have examined SNSs in order to understand the
practices, implications, culture, and meaning of the sites, as well as users’ engagement with them. This special theme section of the Journal of Computer-Mediated
Communication brings together a unique collection of articles that analyze a wide
spectrum of social network sites using various methodological techniques, theoretical traditions, and analytic approaches. By collecting these articles in this issue, our
goal is to showcase some of the interdisciplinary scholarship around these sites.
The purpose of this introduction is to provide a conceptual, historical, and
scholarly context for the articles in this collection. We begin by defining what constitutes a social network site and then present one perspective on the historical
development of SNSs, drawing from personal interviews and public accounts of sites
and their changes over time. Following this, we review recent scholarship on SNSs
and attempt to contextualize and highlight key works. We conclude with a description of the articles included in this special section and suggestions for future research.
Social Network Sites: A Definition
We define social network sites as web-based services that allow individuals to (1)
construct a public or semi-public profile within a bounded system, (2) articulate
a list of other users with whom they share a connection, and (3) view and traverse
their list of connections and those made by others within the system. The nature and
nomenclature of these connections may vary from site to site.
While we use the term ‘‘social network site’’ to describe this phenomenon, the
term ‘‘social networking sites’’ also appears in public discourse, and the two terms are
often used interchangeably. We chose not to employ the term ‘‘networking’’ for two
reasons: emphasis and scope. ‘‘Networking’’ emphasizes relationship initiation, often
between strangers. While networking is possible on these sites, it is not the primary
practice on many of them, nor is it what differentiates them from other forms of
computer-mediated communication (CMC).
What makes social network sites unique is not that they allow individuals to meet
strangers, but rather that they enable users to articulate and make visible their social
networks. This can result in connections between individuals that would not otherwise be made, but that is often not the goal, and these meetings are frequently
between ‘‘latent ties’’ (Haythornthwaite, 2005) who share some offline connection.
On many of the large SNSs, participants are not necessarily ‘‘networking’’ or looking
to meet new people; instead, they are primarily communicating with people who are
already a part of their extended social network. To emphasize this articulated social
network as a critical organizing feature of these sites, we label them ‘‘social network
sites.’’
While SNSs have implemented a wide variety of technical features, their backbone consists of visible profiles that display an articulated list of Friends1 who are
also users of the system. Profiles are unique pages where one can ‘‘type oneself into
being’’ (Sunde?n, 2003, p. 3). After joining an SNS, an individual is asked to fill out
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Figure 1 Timeline of the launch dates of many major SNSs and dates when community sites
re-launched with SNS features
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forms containing a series of questions. The profile is generated using the answers to
these questions, which typically include descriptors such as age, location, interests,
and an ‘‘about me’’ section. Most sites also encourage users to upload a profile photo.
Some sites allow users to enhance their profiles by adding multimedia content or
modifying their profile’s look and feel. Others, such as Facebook, allow users to add
modules (‘‘Applications’’) that enhance their profile.
The visibility of a profile varies by site and according to user discretion. By
default, profiles on Friendster and Tribe.net are crawled by search engines, making
them visible to anyone, regardless of whether or not the viewer has an account.
Alternatively, LinkedIn controls what a viewer may see based on whether she or
he has a paid account. Sites like MySpace allow users to choose whether they want
their profile to be public or ‘‘Friends only.’’ Facebook takes a different approach—by
default, users who are part of the same ‘‘network’’ can view each other’s profiles,
unless a profile owner has decided to deny permission to those in their network.
Structural variations around visibility and access are one of the primary ways that
SNSs differentiate themselves from each other.
After joining a social network site, users are prompted to identify others in the
system with whom they have a relationship. The label for these relationships differs
depending on the site—popular terms include ‘‘Friends,’’ ‘‘Contacts,’’ and ‘‘Fans.’’
Most SNSs require bi-directional confirmation for Friendship, but some do not.
These one-directional ties are sometimes labeled as ‘‘Fans’’ or ‘‘Followers,’’ but many
sites call these Friends as well. The term ‘‘Friends’’ can be misleading, because the
connection does not necessarily mean friendship in the everyday vernacular sense,
and the reasons people connect are varied (boyd, 2006a).
The public display of connections is a crucial component of SNSs. The Friends
list contains links to each Friend’s profile, enabling viewers to traverse the network
graph by clicking through the Friends lists. On most sites, the list of Friends is visible
to anyone who is permitted to view the profile, although there are exceptions. For
instance, some MySpace users have hacked their profiles to hide the Friends display,
and LinkedIn allows users to opt out of displaying their network.
Most SNSs also provide a mechanism for users to leave messages on their
Friends’ profiles. This feature typically involves leaving ‘‘comments,’’ although sites
employ various labels for this feature. In addition, SNSs often have a private messaging feature similar to webmail. While both private messages and comments are
popular on most of the major SNSs, they are not universally available.
Not all social network sites began as such. QQ started as a Chinese instant
messaging service, LunarStorm as a community site, Cyworld as a Korean discussion
forum tool, and Skyrock (formerly Skyblog) was a French blogging service before
adding SNS features. Classmates.com, a directory of school affiliates launched in
1995, began supporting articulated lists of Friends after SNSs became popular.
AsianAvenue, MiGente, and BlackPlanet were early popular ethnic community sites
with limited Friends functionality before re-launching in 2005–2006 with SNS
features and structure.
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Beyond profiles, Friends, comments, and private messaging, SNSs vary greatly in
their features and user base. Some have photo-sharing or video-sharing capabilities;
others have built-in blogging and instant messaging technology. There are mobilespecific SNSs (e.g., Dodgeball), but some web-based SNSs also support limited
mobile interactions (e.g., Facebook, MySpace, and Cyworld). Many SNSs target
people from specific geographical regions or linguistic groups, although this does
not always determine the site’s constituency. Orkut, for example, was launched in the
United States with an English-only interface, but Portuguese-speaking Brazilians
quickly became the dominant user group (Kopytoff, 2004). Some sites are designed
with specific ethnic, religious, sexual orientation, political, or other identity-driven
categories in mind. There are even SNSs for dogs (Dogster) and cats (Catster),
although their owners must manage their profiles.
While SNSs are often designed to be widely accessible, many attract homogeneous populations initially, so it is not uncommon to find groups using sites to
segregate themselves by nationality, age, educational level, or other factors that
typically segment society (Hargittai, this issue), even if that was not the intention
of the designers.
A History of Social Network Sites
The Early Years
According to the definition above, the first recognizable social network site launched
in 1997. SixDegrees.com allowed users to create profiles, list their Friends and,
beginning in 1998, surf the Friends lists. Each of these features existed in some form
before SixDegrees, of course. Profiles existed on most major dating sites and many
community sites. AIM and ICQ buddy lists supported lists of Friends, although those
Friends were not visible to others. Classmates.com allowed people to affiliate with
their high school or college and surf the network for others who were also affiliated,
but users could not create profiles or list Friends until years later. SixDegrees was the
first to combine these features.
SixDegrees promoted itself as a tool to help people connect with and send
messages to others. While SixDegrees attracted millions of users, it failed to become
a sustainable business and, in 2000, the service closed. Looking back, its founder
believes that SixDegrees was simply ahead of its time (A. Weinreich, personal communication, July 11, 2007). While people were already flocking to the Internet, most
did not have extended networks of friends who were online. Early adopters complained that there was little to do after accepting Friend requests, and most users
were not interested in meeting strangers.
From 1997 to 2001, a number of community tools began supporting various
combinations of profiles and publicly articulated Friends. AsianAvenue, BlackPlanet,
and MiGente allowed users to create personal, professional, and dating profiles—
users could identify Friends on their personal profiles without seeking approval for
those connections (O. Wasow, personal communication, August 16, 2007). Likewise,
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shortly after its launch in 1999, LiveJournal listed one-directional connections on
user pages. LiveJournal’s creator suspects that he fashioned these Friends after
instant messaging buddy lists (B. Fitzpatrick, personal communication, June 15,
2007)—on LiveJournal, people mark others as Friends to follow their journals and
manage privacy settings. The Korean virtual worlds site Cyworld was started in 1999
and added SNS features in 2001, independent of these other sites (see Kim & Yun,
this issue). Likewise, when the Swedish web community LunarStorm refashioned
itself as an SNS in 2000, it contained Friends lists, guestbooks, and diary pages
(D. Skog, personal communication, September 24, 2007).
The next wave of SNSs began when Ryze.com was launched in 2001 to help
people leverage their business networks. Ryze’s founder reports that he first introduced the site to his friends—primarily members of the San Francisco business and
technology community, including the entrepreneurs and investors behind many
future SNSs (A. Scott, personal communication, June 14, 2007). In particular, the
people behind Ryze, Tribe.net, LinkedIn, and Friendster were tightly entwined personally and professionally. They believed that they could support each other without
competing (Festa, 2003). In the end, Ryze never acquired mass popularity, Tribe.net
grew to attract a passionate niche user base, LinkedIn became a powerful business
service, and Friendster became the most significant, if only as ‘‘one of the biggest
disappointments in Internet history’’ (Chafkin, 2007, p. 1).
Like any brief history of a major phenomenon, ours is necessarily incomplete. In
the following section we discuss Friendster, MySpace, and Facebook, three key SNSs
that shaped the business, cultural, and research landscape.
The Rise (and Fall) of Friendster
Friendster launched in 2002 as a social complement to Ryze. It was designed to
compete with Match.com, a profitable online dating site (Cohen, 2003). While most
dating sites focused on introducing people to strangers with similar interests, Friendster was designed to help friends-of-friends meet, based on the assumption that
friends-of-friends would make better romantic partners than would strangers (J.
Abrams, personal communication, March 27, 2003). Friendster gained traction among
three groups of early adopters who shaped the site—bloggers, attendees of the Burning
Man arts festival, and gay men (boyd, 2004)—and grew to 300,000 users through word
of mouth before traditional press coverage began in May 2003 (O’Shea, 2003).
As Friendster’s popularity surged, the site encountered technical and social difficulties (boyd, 2006b). Friendster’s servers and databases were ill-equipped to handle its rapid growth, and the site faltered regularly, frustrating users who replaced
email with Friendster. Because organic growth had been critical to creating a coherent
community, the onslaught of new users who learned about the site from media
coverage upset the cultural balance. Furthermore, exponential growth meant a collapse in social contexts: Users had to face their bosses and former classmates alongside their close friends. To complicate matters, Friendster began restricting the
activities of its most passionate users.
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The initial design of Friendster restricted users from viewing profiles of people
who were more than four degrees away (friends-of-friends-of-friends-of-friends). In
order to view additional profiles, users began adding acquaintances and interestinglooking strangers to expand their reach. Some began massively collecting Friends, an
activity that was implicitly encouraged through a ‘‘most popular’’ feature. The ultimate collectors were fake profiles representing iconic fictional characters: celebrities,
concepts, and other such entities. These ‘‘Fakesters’’ outraged the company, who
banished fake profiles and eliminated the ‘‘most popular’’ feature (boyd, in press-b).
While few people actually created Fakesters, many more enjoyed surfing Fakesters for
entertainment or using functional Fakesters (e.g., ‘‘Brown University’’) to find people they knew.
The active deletion of Fakesters (and genuine users who chose non-realistic
photos) signaled to some that the company did not share users’ interests. Many
early adopters left because of the combination of technical difficulties, social collisions, and a rupture of trust between users and the site (boyd, 2006b). However, at
the same time that it was fading in the U.S., its popularity skyrocketed in the
Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia (Goldberg, 2007).
SNSs Hit the Mainstream
From 2003 onward, many new SNSs were launched, prompting social software
analyst Clay Shirky (2003) to coin the term YASNS: ‘‘Yet Another Social Networking
Service.’’ Most took the form of profile-centric sites, trying to replicate the early
success of Friendster or target specific demographics. While socially-organized SNSs
solicit broad audiences, professional sites such as LinkedIn, Visible Path, and Xing
(formerly openBC) focus on business people. ‘‘Passion-centric’’ SNSs like Dogster
(T. Rheingold, personal communication, August 2, 2007) help strangers connect
based on shared interests. Care2 helps activists meet, Couchsurfing connects travelers
to people with couches, and MyChurch joins Christian churches and their members.
Furthermore, as the social media and user-generated content phenomena grew,
websites focused on media sharing began implementing SNS features and becoming
SNSs themselves. Examples include Flickr (photo sharing), Last.FM (music listening
habits), and YouTube (video sharing).
With the plethora of venture-backed startups launching in Silicon Valley, few
people paid attention to SNSs that gained popularity elsewhere, even those built by
major corporations. For example, Google’s Orkut failed to build a sustainable U.S.
user base, but a ‘‘Brazilian invasion’’ (Fragoso, 2006) made Orkut the national SNS of
Brazil. Microsoft’s Windows Live Spaces (a.k.a. MSN Spaces) also launched to lukewarm U.S. reception but became extremely popular elsewhere.
Few analysts or journalists noticed when MySpace launched in Santa Monica,
California, hundreds of miles from Silicon Valley. MySpace was begun in 2003 to
compete with sites like Friendster, Xanga, and AsianAvenue, according to cofounder Tom Anderson (personal communication, August 2, 2007); the founders
wanted to attract estranged Friendster users (T. Anderson, personal communication,
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February 2, 2006). After rumors emerged that Friendster would adopt a fee-based
system, users posted Friendster messages encouraging people to join alternate SNSs,
including Tribe.net and MySpace (T. Anderson, personal communication, August 2,
2007). Because of this, MySpace was able to grow rapidly by capitalizing on Friendster’s alienation of its early adopters. One particularly notable group that encouraged
others to switch were indie-rock bands who were expelled from Friendster for failing
to comply with profile regulations.
While MySpace was not launched with bands in mind, they were welcomed.
Indie-rock bands from the Los Angeles region began creating profiles, and local…
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