› What is an Online Social Network?
A social online network service uses social software that aids users in the building of a web of friends, acquaintances and contacts via the internet. There are hundreds of online friend network web sites, with new sites opening all the time. Thousands of people have a Friendster, MySpace and Orkut profile, among others. When using a social network online youth lead the way, and most teenagers online take part in some kind of online social network. Recent attempts to standardize all of these social networks with the FOAF standard have led to some privacy concerns.
Many online social networking services are also host web-logs, or “blogs”. Most major social networks offer additional features, such as the online network tool that allows users to create groups that share common interests or hobbies, upload videos and chat in forums. Of course the most exciting new feature is the ability to receive free SMS text from one’s online profile homepage with a text messaging box from TextMyProfile.com.