Social networking is a bitch

Social networks are a huge part of our lives. We use them to meet people, to get jobs and tap into every aspect of every person I know's social networks to get sources for my stories.

Online social networks have expanded what has been traditionally understood as a social network to create an expansive web on the Web of the people who know, the people they know and everyone in between.



From LinkedIn to Facebook to Twitter to the vlog communities on YouTube it seems like every aspect of our lives and our time spent on the Internet are touched by social networking.

New York Times columnist (I like him a lot can you tell?) Nicholas Kristof writes at the end of his biweekly column, "I invite you to visit my blog, On the Ground. Please also join me on Facebook, watch my YouTube videos and follow me on Twitter."

While the importance of instant communication with one's social network through Twitter is usually beneficial (and often benign) there have been concerns about misinformation being spread quickly through the site. As the swine flu situation escalates, misinformation was spread on the network.

In the CNN article about the spread of the flu and information about it specifically on Twitter, the Al Tompkins of the Poynter Institute said information needs to be put in context by journalists, especially given the fact that so many deaths from the common flu occur each year and go underreported by the news media.

There are stories all over the Internet about employees getting fired because of something posted on Facebook or potential employees not getting hired because of their rowdy college Facebook pictures. (My brother was a Purdue cheerleader. ESPN used his Facebook photo, which featured him bonging a beer while sitting on a toilet while wearing his uniform, on a special about the dangers of Facebook to college athletes.)

Yet while there are cautionary tales about social networks, Forbes magazine recently wrote an article about why CEOs need to utilize social networking. The tagline of the article read, " Web 2.0 is no longer just for teenagers.) Tonight, I'll be having dinner with Father Garanzini, and I plan to advise him to take back his student-run (as a joke) Facebook page. I think he could actually utilize the page to communicate with students about what he is doing and what is going on with their university.

And the future is always just around the corner. The Huffington Post's Stephen Balkam declares, "Twitter is so ten minutes ago" in his article at Qik, a site that lets you upload videos directly from your cell phone to its Web site to share with your followers.

As a proud digital native, I like to think that I can utilize social networks to my advantage more so than older generations. I like to think that I recognize the importance of online social networking hence why I said I'd pay for Facebook.

However, just to voice some of my deep true feelings about social networking. I think it consumes a lot of time and effort. If I read a good article those in my social network benefit if I post it on my Facebook and/or Twitter accounts; however, I know if I go to Facebook and post it then someone is going to IM me or I'm going to need to respond to a wall post or an event invitation. AND THEN IT CONSUMES MY LIFE AND I JUST DON'T HAVE TIME FOR IT!