The Popularity of Social Networks
Every morning Sarah turns on her computer. First, she checks her email. Then, she visits a social networking website to find out what her friends are doing. On this website, she reads news from her friends. For example, she may look at comments her friends made about movies, music, books, and other friends. On her profile page, Sarah writes a short message about what she is doing. Like many young people, Sarah enjoys meeting and communicating with others on social networks. These websites let people see what their friends are doing and thinking.
Sarah is part of an important trend in communication. Social networking sites become more and more popular every day, and they are popular all around the world. In Japan, the top site is Mixi. In Europe, it is Bebo. The most popular site in Latin America is Facebook. In fact, Facebook is one of the most popular social networking sites in the world. A Harvard University student started Facebook in 2004, and it spread to more than 400 million users in just a few years.
Why is the social networking trend spreading so rapidly? One reason that these websites are popular is because people are social. We like to communicate with other people. We make friends with people in school, at work, and online. Most people like to stay closely connected to their friends and family. We use call phones, email, instant messaging, and websites to learn what our friends are doing. The Internet is a good way to socialize and communicate, and social networking sites allow people to do this in many ways.