Over
the last few years, online social networking communities
have become a global phenomena. This paper describes
two social networksFacebook and LinkedInoutlining their value delivery process.
During the late 1990s and early 2000s, most of the communication was through e-mail, instant messaging and cell phones. Nowadays, most college students are using a host of communication technologies such as blogs, video and photo messages, and other technologies to discover new friends and to keep in touch with them (Stutzman, 2006). A social networking community combines all these and newer communication technologies, and provides an opportunity to contribute one's opinions, interests and skills to the largest creative work ever built by mankind: the Internet (Post, 2007).
The core value proposition of any social networking community is connecting and communication with people (Karp, 2007). Using new technologies, these communities have made possible new ways of meeting people, checking on loved ones, spreading ideas, all from the comfort of one's home or work computer. Initially, social networking communities were a teenage phenomenon. Now, it is a part of all segments of the society. There are social networking communities for people varying from eight-year-olds to doctors and lawyers, to the aged (Post, 2007).There
are over 400 online social networking communities, each
differing from the other in terms of profession, age
range, culture and country. These communities could
provide services for either business or personal networking.
Most social network communities allow for richly-detailed
personal profiles of the users. The data ranges from
mild (favorite movies) to potentially invasive (political
views) interests. This data serves as a snapshot for
other users of the social network community. The user
initially connects to people known to him either from
work or from school. Based on similar interests, activities
or communities, more people can be included in the user's
network. The activities on a social network combine
all the connectivity of e-mail, snail mail, instant
messages, phone calls, and even conversations at the
local coffeehouse (Post, 2007). |