Social networking has greatly affected the web. It’s even possible to say that it has affected the world. Here’s 5 direct effects of social networking.

1. People are together even when they aren’t

   A social network allows you to connect with anyone. They can be in a different room than you, a few houses down, in a different town, or on the other side of the planet. It doesn’t matter – you can connect with anyone on a social network.

2. Access to huge amounts of information

   Using Facebook, I can instantly find out who my ex-girlfriend is dating. I can instantly find out the interests of one of my friends. I can read the conversation between two of my friends on each other’s walls. Social networks give people access to huge amounts of information. This can be good – if you want something to be known. It can also be horrible – there might be things on your Facebook or MySpace profile that you don’t want people to know.

3. Need for increased web safety awareness

   Too often do we hear the story of a teenager getting hurt from something that happened on a social network. A few years ago, a girl committed sucicide because she was dumped by a boyfriend that she had met exclusively on MySpace. One effect of social networking is the increated need for web safety (and, sadly, the increased number of incidents that occur because of a lack of web safety).

4. Change in the everyday life of many

   Social networking has become a huge part of many people’s live. Being among that group of people, I probably spend way too much time surfing Facebook and going on Twitter. Social networks effect everyone in different ways.

5. Effects on Internet marketing

   On a business side, social networks have completely changed Internet marketing. Now, people can get traffic to their websites from social networks. This completely changed the way that people tried to acquire sales or get visitors to their website.

Social networking has had many more effects. The web will never be the same now that social networks exist.

Has social networking had a particular affect on the way you do things? Do you have any questions or feedback? Please leave a comment.