What’s happening with “social networking websites” online..

There are several types of websites where everyday people communicate socially - we hope these definitions will help you understand them a little better...

A wiki is a Web site that allows anyone visiting to contribute (add, edit, or remove) content. Wikipedia, for example, is a virtual encyclopedia built by user’s providing information in their areas of expertise. Because of the ease of collaboration, wikis are often used when developing group projects, or sharing information collaboratively.

A Blog is an online journal (short for weB LOG) that may be entirely private, may be open to select friends or family, or available to the general public. You can usually make settings so that visitors to your blog may or may not be allowed to comment on your entries – our class blog that you are visiting now is set for public viewing and commenting so that you or anyone else who visits the blog is welcome to comment…. Many families today are creating their own family blogs, so that information, photos, videos etc. can be shared and accessed more easily by family members anywhere in the world...

A social networking site allows people to build and maintain an online Web page and create networks of people they are somehow connected to –their friends, work associates, other members with similar interests, and so on. Most social networking sites, such as Facebook and My Space also host blogs and have social networking functions that people allow people to view information about others and contact friends. And of course we’ve all seen the results of hitting the wrong button when you send a tweet via Twitter and it goes to everyone/anyone who follows you and not just to an individual… now being referred to as the Rep. Anthony Weiner tweat fiasco…

Note:
Posts are the actual articles or updates put on blogs, facebook and myspace websites by the owner/author of that site...
Comments are the comments made by others who read a blog or facebook posting about a specific post
Tweet is the short (no more than 140 characters) message sent via a twitter account to someone or everyone who follows you or someone else on twitter.

What is Social Networking?

JOURNALING VS. BLOGGING VS. TWITTERING, FACEBOOK & MY SPACE - All of these are various aspects of "social networking" - since we were children, we've networked with other people in various groups - today, because of the internet, our social networks are unlimited by geography... These are some common terms and what they mean...

JOURNALING - For some of people “journaling” is a great option – when you journal, you are keeping a private journal (diary or logbook) and most people decide their own format – maybe to put in an entry or two each day of what they are doing and or thinking…And remember – journal’s are private…

VS. BLOGGING - According to Wikipedia, A BLOG (a contraction of the term weblog) is a website - resembling "newsletters" usually kept up by an individual with regular entries of comments, descriptions of events, or other info & graphics or videos and typically they are displayed in reverse-chronological order. "Blog" can also be used as a verb, meaning to maintain or add content to a blog. Many families today create their own BLOGS to share information throught the family - they can add photo slide shows, videos, calendars with important dates to family members and much more - TIP-most families set the privacy settings at private so that only those family members invited can see what is on their blog.. Whomever established/created the BLOG can also invite others to "author articles - known as "POSTS" so that information can come from different sources...

Our class blog is: www.saseniorpcgeeks.blogspot.com

VS. TWITTERING
Twittering is certainly the rage – and is another social networking tool users can send and read other users' updates (known as tweets), which are text-based posts of up to 140 characters.

POPULAR BLOG SITES:

• www.blogger.com
• www.thoughts.com
• www.livejournal.com
• www.xanga.com
• www.typepad.com
• www.worldpress.com
• www.diaryland.com
• www.pitas.com

Such as FACEBOOK & MYSPACE… very popular with younger people - with all social networking sites - be sure to check your settings often - as the technology changes so do the privacy setting options, making it easier for you to protect yourself and your family...