Web Based Social Networking Encompasses

Published Date: 02 Nov 2017

based activities that result in connections

and interactions between individuals and

groups using a wide variety of tools. These tools include

e-mail, blogs, instant messaging, texting, and sending of

tweets as well as programs that allow the sharing of digital

information in video, audio, and text formats. Social networking

sites integrate these tools in easy-to-individualize

formats that let users determine how and with whom they

will share information.

History of Social Networking Sites

Social networking sites first appeared in the late 1990s.

Early sites had varying foci and success, with Friendster being

the biggest. It was not until the appearance of MySpace

in 2003 that social networking sites began to grow quickly.

This was followed by the launch of what is now the largest

social networking site—Facebook.1,2

Originally developed by Mark Zuckenberg as a way

for students at Harvard to connect, Facebook was soon

made available to selected other universities, all of higher

education, and now most everyone worldwide.1,3 Social

networking sites have become a way for users to connect

and interact with friends, family, and professional colleagues,

as well as individuals previously unknown to

them. (See Document, Supplemental Digital Content 1,

which provides explanations of social networking sites,

http://links.lww.com/NE/A9.)

Social networking sites can be grouped into 3 general

categories. The first contains the generic social networking

sites such as Facebook, MySpace, Bebo, and Friendster. The

second category contains sites focused on professionals, the

most widely used of which is LinkedIn. The third category

includes sites developed for use by children. They have

added protections to minimize the risk the children will connect

with individuals who could harm them. This article

focuses only on the first 2 categories. (See Document, Supplemental

Digital Content 2, which provides links to all of

the sites discussed, http://links.lww.com/NE/A10.)

Use of Social Networking Sites

The Pew Internet & American Life Project reported that

35% of adults had a profile on a social network as of

December 2008, up from 8% just 3 years before. Use was

higher the younger the user group and ranged from 75%

for those aged 18 to 24 years, to 7% for those 65 years and

older. Most social networking activity by adults (as with

teens) is on the personal level, with 89% using the sites to

connect with family and friends, 57% to make social plans,

and almost 50% to make new friends. Only 28% used the

sites to make business and professional contacts or promote

themselves at work. More African Americans (43%)

and Hispanics (48%) have networking site profiles than

whites (31%), and use was higher for those with lower

incomes. Individuals with less education tended to use the

networks more. The Pew Project reported that more individuals

with less than a high-school education had an

online profile than college graduates. When used professionally,

51% of adults have 2 or more profiles, and 83%

have profiles on multiple sites.4

Features of Social Networking Sites

All social networking sites have several commonalities.

When signing up, users are presented with detailed

Nurse Educator Volume 35 & Number 2 & March/Apri l 2010 49

Nurse Educator

Technology

Corner

Nurse Educator

Vol. 35, No. 2, pp. 49-51

Copyright * 2010 Wolters Kluwer Health |

Lippincott Williams & Wilkins

Diane M. Wink

Author Affiliation: Professor, College of Nursing, University of

Central Florida, Orlando.

Correspondence: Box 162210, Orlando, FL 32816-2210 (wink@

mail.ucf.edu).

Supplemental digital content is available for this article. Direct

URL citations appear in the printed text and are provided in the

HTML and PDF versions of this article on the journal’s Web site

(www.nurseeducatoronline.com).

Copyright @ 2010 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. Unauthorized reproduction of this article is prohibited.

privacy notices. These must be read carefully for full understanding

of what will and might be shared through

actions of the user, through actions of those with whom

the user interacts, and automatically by the site itself. The

privacy notice of one social networking site includes notices

that users will hold the site harmless from any damages

resulting from use of the site, that users acknowledge

that information provided on the site may indirectly reveal

information about them, and that users are aware

the site may remove or discard content from an account

and is not responsible for the accuracy of anything posted

on the site. There are extensive descriptions of what

users can and cannot do on the site as well as reminders

that because the site is designed to facilitate networking,

the user must be aware of risks incurred when on the

site.5

Once the sign-up process is complete, users develop

a profile and set privacy settings, 2 key activities to facilitate

networking—the purpose of the site. Each profile,

which will be visible to those with whom users network

on the site, can be as extensive or limited as desired. Commonly

suggested profile items include sex, relationship

status, schools, work site, and job. Detailed contact information

such as phone numbers and home address and

names of family members can be added.

Because profile information is used by the program to

search the site’s database for possible connections (someone

from your high school, those with the same last name,

individuals with similar interests—the possibilities are

endless), the more information included, the more connections

possible. When users include their profession,

career interests, and items such as hobbies, others who

have indicated the same things on their profiles will be

suggested as friends. The profiles set by others on the site

help users make connections when they search the site.

Closely related to setting up a profile is the selection

of privacy settings. These determine what individuals and

groups can see and do when they access your page. The

privacy settings are extensive, and each user must determine

the right ones for the level of interaction they desire.

For example, do you want only friends to see your home

address or full birthday or will you allow these items to be

viewed by everyone checking you out via your public

profile?

Privacy settings also determine if individuals, the

user’s ‘‘friends,’’ can post to their page in a way that all

others who visit the page can see their comments, pictures,

or videos. Some settings facilitate posting selective

items only to a specific group or list of friends you set up

such as family, old nursing school friends, or professional

colleagues working on a common project.

The more detailed a profile and open the privacy

settings, the more connections and networking can result

just as a lack of details in a profile and overly tight privacy

controls may defeat the purpose of using the site. However,

careful selection of privacy settings and development of a

profile will prevent dissemination of information you do not

want everyone in the world to know as well as inadvertent

damage to you via the posting of an inappropriate note,

picture, video, or other item by another individual on a

publicly available portion of your site.

Use of Social Networking Sites

Tools available on social networking sites vary, but most allow

blog-like posts, responses by those with access to the

page, and the uploading of pictures and videos. Features are

being added as new technologies emerge and include links to

twitter and various applications provided by outside parties.

One of the most common social use of these sites is

among families and friends who ‘‘friend’’ each other and use

their sites to share picture collections and home videos as

well as keep up-to-date on the day-to-day (sometimes hourto-

hour) activities of individuals whether across town or

around the world.

Social networking sites can also be used for professional

networking. Skiba6 suggests 3 reasons for using such sites

and instructing our students as to their effective and safe

use. They allow us to learn from each other as we make

connections with professionals with similar interests; use

with students allows them to become socialized to the use of

such networking tools as professionals; and, most important,

such sites bring professionals from around the globe together

in ways impossible only a few years ago. She lists

multiple networks that may be of interest to clinicians and

educators alike.6

LinkedIn.com is the biggest professional site. Members

are called contacts rather than friends, and interactions are

more formal than on pure social networking sites. Such sites

facilitate setting up a profile with resume-like details of work

history, education, skills, and interests, all of which increase

the likelihood that links to relevant companies and individuals

will occur. For optimal value, this profile should be as

complete as the user is comfortable posting. For optimal

value, users can also issue invitations to other members and

actively develop contacts. The result can be an escalating list

of contacts as one connection facilitates creation of multiple

additional connections.7

LinkedIn users can also join some of the 173+ nursingrelevant

group. (See Document, Supplemental Digital Content

3, which provides links to examples of Professional

Organizations with a presence on Social Networking sites,

http://links.lww.com/NE/A11.)

Most of the social networking sites can also be used

for professionally focused activities. By carefully constructing

a profile and privacy settings and developing groups,

networking and collaboration with professionals from

many disciplines can occur. Professional organizations with

pages on social networking sites can be found using the

site’s group search feature, and others are accessed via a

link provided by the organization.

Social Networking Safety

Social networking sites have multiple risks. Two of these

are identity theft and threats to personal safety. Posting of

a home address could allow a disgruntled patient to find

your home. Posting dates of your next vacation may advertise

when your home will be vacant.

On a professional level, there is the risk that data about

patients could be shared in a way that violates professional

ethical or legal standards. This can result in damage to a

patient as well as to the nurse’s professional career. Carefully

reviewing site privacy notices, setting up your personal profile

50 Volume 35 & Number 2 & March/Apri l 2010 Nurse Educator

Copyright @ 20 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. Unauthorized reproduction of this article 10 is prohibited.

and privacy settings, being careful as to what applications and

other tools not in the control of the site are used, and using

care as to both what you post on your site and allow others to

post are among the steps you can take to protect yourself.8

Faculty must also determine when and if they will allow

contact between themselves and students via social networking

sites. Boundaries between faculty and student role

may be blurred, and faculty may become privy to details of a

student’s life, which have the potential to impact that relationship.

9 (See Document, Supplemental Digital Content 4,

for a list of tips for using social networking sites safely,

http://links.lww.com/NE/A12.)

Social networking sites are tools that promote connections

among friends and professionals, and, if used

thoughtfully, they can help expand our relationships in ways

that enhance our personal and professional lives. The next

article in this series will explore tools to produce on-line

lectures and presentations.