Archive for the ‘Social Networking’ Category

What is a Social Network? – Computer Hope

Updated: 10/11/2021 by Computer Hope

Alternatively known as a virtual community or profile site, a social network is a website that brings people together to talk, share ideas and interests, or make new friends. This type of collaboration and sharing is known as social media. Unlike traditional media that is created by no more than ten people, social media sites contain content created by hundreds or even millions of different people. Below is a small list of some of the biggest social networks used today.

Due to their increased popularity amongst children and teenagers, some social networking sites have become a popular location for online predators. Parents should always be active with their children and aware of what they are doing while online.

Social networks help people keep connected with their friends and family and are an easy way to find what everyone is doing. Social networks can also be used to find interesting things on the Internet as your friends and family likely share many of your interests.

The Bolt.com social networking website was created in 1996, by Jane Mount and Dan Pelson. Although it is not considered the first true social media website, it technically was the first to be created. It was officially shut down in October 2008.

The first true social media website is considered to be SixDegrees.com, created in 1997 by Andrew Weinreich. SixDegrees.com is still in operation today, and is available at http://sixdegrees.com.

Today, Facebook is still the largest and the most popular social network with over one billion users.

The process to create a new account for a social network differs for each social network. In general, visit the social network website of where you want an account and look for a "Sign Up," or "Create New Account," link.

Follow the account creation steps to create your new account. You will likely need to provide your name, age range, and e-mail address at a minimum. Additional information may be required, depending on the requirements of the social network.

We try to be as active as possible on the following social network pages.

Blog, Classmates, Cloud computing, Copypasta, FOMO, Forum, GroupMe, Internet terms, Klout, Profile, SEO terms, Vlog, Web design terms

Excerpt from:
What is a Social Network? - Computer Hope

Inpathy aims to be a social network that mirrors real human experience – TechCrunch

There have been countless studies about the damaging effects of social media on mental health, particularly on teens.

And yet, most of us just cant quit social networking. Even if it makes us feel bad about ourselves.

The constant comparisons of our lives to the highlight reels that people post on Facebook and Instagram is ridiculously lopsided since the majority of those platforms users dont post unflattering photos of themselves, or share their sad or bad news with others.

Enter Inpathy, a new kind of social network a healthy one. Ziarekenya Smith founded the company in 2015 with a mission to revolutionize how people use social media by making it more transparent, normalizing moods, and recreating the human experience. The end goal is to bring more wellness to the social network world.

Smith started his career in digital art and design. Despite early success, he didnt feel the work was as personally fulfilling as hed hoped. He began to feel symptoms of anxiety and depression and found himself wanting to express those feelings on social media. But he stopped himself.

The unwritten rules of social are that if life isnt perfect, you dont talk about it, Smith recalls. So I kept my feelings to myself. But I asked myself why was that the case?

The concept for Detroit-based Inpathy was born from the pain and struggle he felt. It was also born out of Smiths belief that the current social media structure is not sustainable in the long term.

Its great for making money but not great for true human well-being, Smith told TechCrunch. In my eyes, we have to fix the core.

Inpathy strives to offer a more balanced life experience, not just perfection. It aims to give people room to share their raw feelings, the good, not so good and the bad.

Everyones going to have ups and downs, and you can appreciate someones rise more if you see the timeline of their up and down, Smith says. We all love the underdog story.

In a twist, Inpathys users share their stories or content not through pictures or the written word, but via audio or video, providing what Smith hopes is an immersive experience.

Inpathy will ask a user how they are feeling and that mood scale is visible to other users, who can even filter by mood, including angry, sad and happy.

We want to normalize emotion and create a transparent system, Smith said. It has to be transparent for us all to be on the same playing field. So people can realize, Its not just me. This is normal.

There are no follow or add buttons. Inpathy allows for two-way communication leading to users becoming friends.

Were not robots. Whether you are rich or poor, you feel happiness and pain no matter your status, Smith said. This is what human is. Inpathy is showing people its ok to be human.

The site has a low tolerance for trolls and bullies, banning them for life. The thought of someone building up the courage to share something on Inpathy and then get trolled to the point they are scared to open up again prompted the policy.

Image Credits: Inpathy

For now, Smith is raising money through crowdfunding and essentially bootstrapping until he finds the right investor.

We dont want to be in the position of feeling like we have to add features just to impress investors, he said. Vision is very important.

Right now if we look at the social media landscape, we use YouTube for TV, TikTok for shorts, Instagram for photos, Twitter for news and trends, Facebook for entertainment, LinkedIn for business, Headspace for meditation, Tinder for dating, Smith adds. But where do you go for the raw experience, and to just be yourself?

Hopefully Inpathy, if Smith has his way.

More here:
Inpathy aims to be a social network that mirrors real human experience - TechCrunch

University of South Florida researchers release findings from nationwide social media opinion survey – University of South Florida

Researchers at the University of South Florida, in partnership with Cyber Florida at USF, have released results from a nationwide survey to better understand patterns of social media usage. Subjects consist of common uses of social media including e-commerce and political engagement as well as some effects of usage on social and mental well-being.

Among the key findings:

Social media is increasingly used for e-commerce. Over half of Americans (54%) report having clicked on a link to an advertisement in their feed during the past month, and nearly half (47%) report having shopped for a product or service on social media in the same time period.

Americans have relied heavily on social media to stay connected during the pandemic. More than two-thirds of respondents (68%) say that they have relied on social media to stay connected with friends and family during the COVID-19 pandemic. A similar majority (63%) say that theyve used social media more frequently during the pandemic, while nearly half (49%) say that social media has been good for their mental health during this time.

Most adult social media users pay close attention to the amount of time they spend on social media. Nearly six in 10 (59%) Americans say that they spend four or more hours on social media each week, but over half of the survey respondents (53%) say that they closely monitor the amount of time they spend on social media sites.

Most Americans say that keeping up with social media can be stressful. Over half of the survey respondents (57%) report that keeping up with social media can be stressful. However, nearly three-quarters (74%) say that they dont feel pressured to post interesting content on their own accounts.

Facebook users say that they encounter diverse points of view on the platform. According to data collected by the Pew Research Center, Facebook remains the most widely used social networking platform in the United States, and users increasingly rely on the platform for political news and information. Despite concerns that social media may limit exposure to alternative viewpoints, our results show that nearly eight in 10 Facebook users (79%) feel that they often encounter political views on the platform that are different than their own.

Despite relying on social media for news and information, most Americans dont trust the information they encounter there. While over half of the survey respondents (58%) say that they rely on Facebook at least a little to stay informed about news and politics, three-quarters (75%) are not confident in the accuracy of the political information that they encounter on the platform.

Most Americans also say that they dont trust social media companies when it comes to keeping their personal information secure. A majority of Americans (62%) say that they are either not very confident or not at all confident in the ability of social media companies (such as Facebook and Twitter) to keep their personal information secure.

Political incivility and misinformation lead to unfriending on Facebook. Nearly a quarter of respondents (24%) report having unfriended or unfollowed someone on Facebook due to their political posts. The most commonly unfriended accounts are acquaintances (17%) and strangers (9%). When asked to cite their reasons for unfriending, respondents emphasized political posts that they found morally objectionable (18%) or untruthful (18%).

Despite concerns over the security of their personal information, many social media users continue to engage in risky online behaviors. Just under a third of respondents (29%) report having held an ongoing conversation with a stranger on social media over the past 30 days. During the same time period, roughly a quarter also report having engaged in behaviors that could inadvertently share the information in their user profiles, such as completing surveys (23%) and quizzes/games (28%) that appear in their feeds.

Teenagers arent the only ones whose body image and self-esteem are negatively affected by social media. Nearly one-third of respondents (32%) reported sometimes feeling bad about the way they look when they see what others post on social media. Female respondents were slightly more likely than male respondents to agree (36% compared to 27%).

The survey included a representative sample of 1,000 adult social media users, fielded Nov. 2-8, 2021. Results are reported with a confidence level of 95% and a margin of error +/-3 %.

A second round of results, which examines social medias influence on public discourse, is set to be released next week.

The complete survey results can be found here.

See original here:
University of South Florida researchers release findings from nationwide social media opinion survey - University of South Florida

Depression Is High Among People Who Are Active On Social Sites – Powdersvillepost.com

Share

Share

Share

Email

In a recent study, it has been found that social media and depression are linked together to a large extent. Social media in today`s time is not just used by young people but also by people of all ages. Dr. Roy Perlis who is the lead author of this study stated that mental health is very much affected by any changes on social media.

Perlis stated that social media is very much helpful for people to be connected during these tough times and people can get much information as well. However, there is much misinformation available as well which affects mental health drastically especially on young people.

For this study, 5400 adults were chosen and none of them had any symptoms of depression or anxiety when the study began. However, after a period of 12 months and with the introduction of social networking sites like Facebook, TikTok, and Snapchat symptoms of depression were clearly visible on these people. There has been no proof that social media is the root of evil.

In this study two-third were women and there was an initial survey on how much they use social networking sites on a daily basis. The people in the study were also asked how much news they watch or read on a daily basis. After the first follow-up session there was at least 9% of the total number showed depression symptoms.

The risk of depression was more visible in people who were 35 years of age and among them, the most known app was Snapchat or TikTok. However, for people below the age of 18, the app that most influenced depression was Facebook. Perlis stated that as of now they are not sure how this is directly acting as a catalyst for depression and more research is needed to draw out conclusive evidence.

Amanda Giordano from the University of Georgia states that there have been many studies that co-relate to the above study. One of the major noted things is that people see other people`s success and want to achieve that or think about why they are lagging. They invariably start to compare their life with others even though the other person would be from a different background. This can lead to a depressive state as one will find successful people more on social media as they will post their success stories.

Giordano stated that rather than picking up the positive points on how they became successful many people start to think about their negative points and end up in the cycle of demotivating themselves. She also stated that the same cannot be said for everyone, some people have pushed their life ahead after hearing the positive talks and took on keynotes to make their life better.

People above the age of 35 who face depression from social media are mainly because they see people who are quite young and achieving things much faster. This makes them think that they dont have enough time and anxiety and depression kick in with this. Giordano mentioned that one can only get out of this cycle if they are willing to work on themselves and not see the negative aspects but also positive aspects as well.

It has also been noted that many people procrastinate while watching social media and then end up regretting the wasted time. Social media addiction is quite real and many people suffer due to this. Many of the researchers state that parents should enforce only a limited amount of time for their kids on social media so as to develop their other areas as well.

With over 15 years as a practicing journalist, Nikki Attkisson found herself at Powdersville Post now after working at several other publications. She is an award-winning journalist with an entrepreneurial spirit and worked as a journalist covering technology, innovation, environmental issues, politics, etc. Nikki Attkisson has also worked on product development, content strategy, and editorial management for numerous media companies. Her investigative works exposed to child sex-trafficking and environmental issues. She began her career at local news stations and worked as a reporter in national newspapers.

See more here:
Depression Is High Among People Who Are Active On Social Sites - Powdersvillepost.com

In the News: Grants Between $1k and $10K Available For Small Businesses – Small Business Trends

Although the days of large PPP loans and forgiveness are over, for now, there are small business grants across the country taking place year-round. The latest business grant news reveals offers from Dove Chocolate for women entrepreneurs as well as a Los Angeles Job Creators Quest Grant,South Dakota FAST Launch Grants,Avon Lake Small Business COVID-19, and others.

The benefit of these types of grants is they help businesses and entrepreneurs in a given category or segment. This not only identifies and solves a particular issue but it also highlights the need to help said issue by the government and other sources. Dove Chocolates grant is a great example of this. The brand has a big reach, providing this grant will showcase many women entrepreneurs who otherwise wouldnt get the recognition they deserve. And being on the company site or social media channel could be all the recognition they need to receive funding from investors or lenders.

If you are a small business owner looking for a grant, look for them online, the SBA, as well as your local Chamber of Commerce.

Read:Latest Business Grants News Dove Chocolates Offering Money to Women Entrepreneurs

There are lots of great deals and special promotions at this time of year thanks to the Black Friday and Cyber Monday promotional trend, and many of them are just what a small business needs.

Small business owners are willing to do almost anything to have a successful holiday season in 2021. In fact, 44% of business owners say theyd listen to Jingle Bells on repeat this year if it meant having a successful holiday season for their business with no disruptions. Thats not all theyd do, either.

If you are redesigning your company website to address the demands of todays consumers and technology, there is a common pitfall you should avoid. And that is overlooking the mobile experience of your audience. According to a study by Best SEO Companies titled, Why Companies Are Prioritizing the Redesign of their Website, website redesign is currently in hyperdrive.

With a little under half the US labor force working from home during 2021, it certainly seems like remote working has become a big a part of our new normal. As the infographic compiled by TrackTime24 below shows, most work-from-home (WFH) employees report being happy with the situation. However, it has caused many employers to have trust issues with their work force.

TikTok, the video focused social networking service, has released a 2021 Holiday Guide for Business. The guide was launched on November 16, just ahead of the holiday season in the US, which runs from late November to early January.

Apple recently launched their new Apple Business Essentials service which incorporates device management, 24/7 support and iCloud storage. The service is currently available in beta and will include multiple flexible subscription plans aimed at small businesses with up to 500 employees.

A new report by Biz2Credit reveals that among small businesses who took Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans those in finance and retail had done well in recovering from the effects of the pandemic.

The twelfth edition of Small Business Saturday will be held this Saturday on November 27, 2021, and is geared to encourage consumers to support local businesses by shopping small.

Image: Depositphotos

View post:
In the News: Grants Between $1k and $10K Available For Small Businesses - Small Business Trends