Social Networks

Social networking is increasingly becoming a topic of discussion among both academic and industrial researchers across the world that attracts people by its accessibility and variety of opportunities. Social networking sites have continued to emerge every now and then with increasing technological advancements (Bowles, 2010). Facebook and Twitter are two most widely used social networking sites that have contributed greatly to the way people communicate with one another in the real world. In addition, social networks have gone to great extents in order to be used for business practices such as advertising (Ellison & Boyd, 2007). The analysis will compare two scholarly articles and the course book with regard to information concerning social networks. One of the scholarly articles has been done by Danah Boyd and Nicole Ellison and is entitled “Social Networks Sites: Definition, History, and Scholarship”. The article was published in the year 2007. The latter article is entitled “An Overview of Social Networks and Economic Applications” and written by Matthew Jackson in the year 2010. The three scholarly sources provide clear information about social networks used by people across the world. Bowles (2010) offers a clear analysis of various social networks, including Facebook, Twitter, Blogs and LinkedIn that have affected the way people communicate. While deeply examining the three scholarly sources, it becomes evident that the authors have similarities as well as differences in the way they present their information concerning social networks.

Bowles introduces readers the concepts of blogging and tweeting. In his writing, Bowles separates the word blog into its components and explains the whole idea. The author also provides historical backgrounds of the social networks and explains that they have been on the rise over the past few years. Moreover, Bowles (2010) explains the characteristics of the best blogs on the web and how the best bloggers present their ideas. Similarly, Ellison and Boyd introduce their article with a clear illustration of various social networks and the way they have attracted millions of people. One of the author’s statements is that “some sites cater to diverse audiences, while others attract people based on common language or shared racial, sexual, religious, or nationality-based identities” (Ellison & Boyd, 2007). In that case, the authors mention that most users have attempted to integrate the social networks into their routines. Moreover, the authors agree with Bowles’ idea that there are social networks that provide diverse technological opportunities and support widened interests as well as practices. In other words, Bowles and the two authors claim that those sites enhance exchange of shared interests, political opinions and practices.

Furthermore, there is a clear similarity between Bowles’ ideas and those presented by Matthew Jackson. Jackson (2010) has mentioned that people interact on a regular basis and tend to influence each other’s beliefs, decisions as well as behaviors. Most importantly, Jackson (2010) has indicated that the social networks have great effects on economic activities that are both pervasive and sufficient such as new products, opinions in political arena and technologies among others. Jackson provides a glimpse into the issue of social networks and their influence on economic activities by mentioning that networks concerned with relationships of different firms along with political organizations influence research and development, trade sequences and alliances among others. Bowles also notices the impact of communication through social networks on economic development. One of the statements indicates that “many bloggers write for free to share their experiences or creativity, while some make a career out of blogging” (Bowles, 2010). In that case, Bowles presents the idea that the initial thing that one recalls is that their communication on social networks will be accessed by another person. That is to mean that one might compose something at a young age that will eventually haunt them at their later age when they start looking for jobs. Bowles has indicated that employers will often refer to the web in order to determine character of an individual before offering them a job. Moreover, Bowles mentions that people should be careful before posting anything on social networks since that will follow them to their economic development (Bowles, 2010). Therefore, both Bowles and Jackson have the same idea of the influence of social networks on economic practices.

However, the scholarly articles tend to differ greatly with the ideas presented by Bowles. Bowles seems to provide more knowledge on social networks than the two authors of scholarly articles. Most importantly, Bowles is keen on explaining various procedures of using social networking sites. The author takes the readers through different steps that can assist them to insure effective usage of social networks. For instance, he explains the way Wiki operates. In that case, Bowles indicates that one of the most effective ways to determine the way Wiki operates is to view a Wikipedia page and examine the history of the page in order to have an overview of all that has been added, deleted or edited. That way, one can effectively try the same for themselves. However, the latter authors have not provided steps of using social networks. In that case, they provide generalized information about social networking sites and the way they have emerged as vital communication sites with both positive and negative influences. Ellison and Boyd (2007) give a clear overview of the concepts by providing definitions of social networks, historical overview of social networks, the rise and fall of various sites and the way online and offline social networks have been bridged. On the other hand, Matthew Jackson (2010) provides detailed information on network markets and the way in which they have been used to change traditional business operations. He indicates that “beyond labor markets, there are many other market settings where networks of relationships play an important role”. In that case, the author endeavors to illustrate that social networks can be used differently within an industry or an organization in order to impact various practices. In other words, Bowles is one of the authors who provide deep and comprehensive steps that are applied in using social network sites, while the latter scholars provide general knowledge concerning social networks.

From a personal opinion, it is clear that the authors have great knowledge to provide to their readers. I believe that they have all considered the fact that social networks have transformed the people’s minds. They have done great job by associating social networks with everyday activities such as economic and social practices. I have come to a conclusion that the three scholarly sources have provided their ideas using different techniques of presentation. I believe that Bowles has done more deep analysis of the issue of social networks than the other authors. However, the fact remains that they all have amicable ideas about the way social networks are changing the world.

In conclusion, it has become evident that social networks are emerging trends in the communication and technological field. They are continually being used to transform the world of business, communication and politics. Bowles, Jackson, Nicole and Danah have demonstrated thorough knowledge of the idea. However, they have done that using different concepts and ideas. The other thing to keep in mind is that they have considered several similar ideas that seem to be facts about social networks being used across the world.

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