To understand social networking, one has to understand what's happening online. Whether it is the telegraph, the telephone or the Internet, communication revolutions have changed possibilities for how information is distributed. What these revolutions mean for society, however, and how people and organisations adapt to this paradigm is important. Networking helps connect people with those they care about.
At Facebook for instance, you come and recreate your authentic identity, says Hughes. You use real names and meet real friends. You also control the information and who sees it. It is in that sense, a direct expression for who you are as a person. Fifty per cent of Facebook users log in daily; the average user has 130 friends. Every time a person adds a friend, shares photos or engages in some activity, it becomes a piece of information.
In 2007, Hughes signed up to work for the My Obama campaign. But "we were clear," he says, "that we did not want to use social networking just because it was cool." They were interested in getting votes, and buzz doesn't convert into votes. Most importantly it was about people, individuals who were the voice of the campaign, which instilled a sense of responsibility and ownership. The supporters of the campaign created tens of thousands of videos online about who they were and why they supported the campaign. Clearly it worked – they managed to raise $500 million online alone. Interestingly, an average donation was $100. That is the power of social networking and mass mobilizing.
The old paradigm was relying on newspapers for information for current information. Today it's relying on friends. That's the leading edge of the new revolution, says Hughes, underlining the realtime, anecdotal value of Facebook interactions. But, he says, institutions and brands like newspapers and magazines are becoming more, not less, important in this new age, primarily for their role as filters for society in general. Besides, opportunities for collaboration have increased.
It is also important to register how new technologies and gadgets are changing the way we live and work, says Hughes, pointing out how most of us are so engrossed in the changed environment that we fail to notice how it has changed us all.
Replying to a question on the use of Facebook by sexual offenders, Hughes says users must exercise the complete control an account gives its user.
We must choose our friends carefully, he says, just as in real life. On what he sees in the future for Facebook, he says people won't have to go to facebook.com; it may well become a part of the superstructure of the net and be reflected as a tool in most, if not all, websites. The other major change he foresees is that simplicity will become the new design trend.
Original link : www.conclave.intoday.in
