My definition: Using a network of computers (the internet) to connect a network of people.
I know that the term is mainstream when I see the Economist using it. This week it tells us that the chief executive of Yahoo “wanted a social-networking site, but couldn’t capture FaceBook and lost an advertising deal with MySpace to Google”. Out-googled
As a follow-up to the Mashup entry I will refer you to Mashable.com which is dedicated to Social Networking News and can no doubt give you a better feel for what social-networking is in practice than I can, though I have participated in various online networks over the years. Here you will learn about Twitter, Flickr, YouTube and Digg amongst others. It has a fun item on totally digital mother’s day gifts which, as a Mum who has always enjoyed techie (but hated domestic) presents, I found rather appealing. Mothers Day
Wikipedia explains to us what a Social Network is and gives us a list of social networking sites.
ETYM
social (adj) - relating to activities involving other people, especially pleasurable activities.
networking (noun) - an activity involving meeting other people in which work related matters are discussed.
networking (noun) - the linking together of computers in a network. This can be just a few computers or a very large number of computers, as in the internet.
The internet has allowed people to interact with others on a global basis - who we interact with is no longer defined by where we live. Consequently the digital network has allowed new groups of people to connect in ways that were impossible in the past. Sometimes these people have not actually met physically, only in cyberspace. Sometimes they first meet in normal space and then in the virtual environment and sometimes it is the reverse as some virtual networks also arrange pow-wows or other such events in which people who have first met over the wires can finally meet to share a beer.
The coming together of traditional social connections and work related connections on the internet has created new forms of relationships, hence the logic of blending the terms, social and networking into one compound. I am not sure if the term is stable, as it seems that sometimes the social side is considered more important and sometimes the work side. However, if you had thought it is all about finding your old school friends or meeting the love of your life online, read this article from the Financial Times entitled “Social networking becomes work”.
However else we define this slippery term it it is certainly true that it involves using a network of computers (the internet) to connect a network of people.
