Social network service

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A social network service focuses on building online communities of people who share interests and/or activities, or who are interested in exploring the interests and activities of others. Most social network services are web based and provide a variety of ways for users to interact, such as e-mail and instant messaging services.

Social networking has encouraged new ways to communicate and share information. Social networking websites are being used regularly by millions of people.

While it could be said that email and websites have most of the essential elements of social network services, the idea of proprietary encapsulated services has gained popular uptake recently.

The main types of social networking services are those which contain category divisions (such as former school-year or classmates), means to connect with friends (usually with self-description pages) and a recommendation system linked to trust. Popular methods now combine many of these, with Facebook widely used worldwide; MySpace, Twitter and LinkedIn being the most widely used in North America; Nexopia (mostly in Canada); Bebo, Hi5, StudiVZ (mostly in Germany), Decayenne, Tagged, XING;, Badoo and Skyrock in parts of Europe; Orkut and Hi5 in South America and Central America; and Friendster, Multiply, Orkut, Wretch, Xiaonei and Cyworld in Asia and the Pacific Islands.

There have been some attempts to standardize these services to avoid the need to duplicate entries of friends and interests (see the FOAF standard and the Open Source Initiative), but this has led to some concerns about privacy.

For more information about Social network service, read the full article at Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.

News tagged with social networking sites

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HP researchers try to tell you who your friends are

Technology / Computer Sciences

Dec 17, 2009 | 1 / 5 (1) | 0

Most people have scores of contacts, scattered around their mobile phone, e-mail address book and multiple social networking sites. Scientists at Hewlett-Packard can tell you which of those contacts are your closest friends.

Cyber crooks tarketing banks-social networks: Cisco

Technology / Internet

Dec 08, 2009 | not rated yet | 0

An annual security report being released Tuesday by technology titan Cisco warns that banks and online social networks are prime targets for increasingly sophisticated cyber crooks.

Facebook creates online safety board

Technology / Internet

Dec 07, 2009 | not rated yet | 3

(AP) -- Social networking site Facebook on Monday said it is creating a global safety advisory board to protect its users against online predators such as sex offenders.

Facebook Lite On its Way

Technology / Internet

Sep 15, 2009 | 3.8 / 5 (4) | 1

(PhysOrg.com) -- The social networking site Facebook has begun testing a simpler, no-frills alternative to its regular interface. The cleaner, uncluttered interface is particularly aimed at entry-level users ...

Online social networks leak personal information to tracking sites, new study shows

Technology / Computer Sciences

Aug 24, 2009 | 5 / 5 (7) | 4

More than a half billion people use online social networks, posting vast amounts of information about themselves to share with online friends and colleagues. A new study co-authored by a researcher at Worcester Polytechnic ...

Microsoft unveils motion control for Xbox 360

Electronics / Consumer & Gadgets

Jun 01, 2009 | 3.5 / 5 (4) | 3

(AP) -- Gamers, get ready for your close-up.

Researchers were still able to find the deleted photos 30 days later

Social networking sites 'keep deleted photos' - research

Technology / Internet

May 21, 2009 | 4.3 / 5 (3) | 0

User photographs can still be found on many social networking sites including Facebook after people have deleted them, British researchers said Thursday.

Carrier Pigeon Faster Than Broadband Internet

Technology / Telecom

Sep 11, 2009 | 4.5 / 5 (12) | 7

(PhysOrg.com) -- In South Africa, a carrier pigeon carrying a 4GB memory stick proved to be faster than the ADSL service from the country's biggest web firm, Telkom. Winston the pigeon took one hour and eight ...

Study finds widespread privacy failings in online social networks

Technology / Internet

Jul 21, 2009 | not rated yet | 1

(PhysOrg.com) -- Furious competition between social networking sites is compromising the protection of users' data, a Cambridge University study has concluded.

Facebook says it passed key financial milestone

Technology / Internet

Sep 15, 2009 | 5 / 5 (1) | 0

(AP) -- Facebook Inc. said Tuesday it achieved an important financial milestone, bringing in more money than it spent in the last quarter. The social networking site previously had said it didn't expect to ...

Twitter to overhaul user list seen as partisan

Technology / Internet

Nov 17, 2009 | not rated yet | 0

(AP) -- Social-networking site Twitter plans to end a service that links prominent message posters with new users, a service that was criticized in California because of perceived unfairness toward GOP gubernatorial ...

Campus Party, the world's biggest on-line electronic entertainment festival in Valencia

Cyber-criminals targeting social networks: experts

Technology / Internet

Jul 30, 2009 | 5 / 5 (5) | 0

Facebook, MySpace and other social networking sites are inceasingly being targeted by cyber-criminals drawn to the wealth of personal information supplied by users, experts warn.

Study Finds Link Between Facebook Use, Lower Grades in College

Other Sciences / Social Sciences

Apr 13, 2009 | 3.5 / 5 (2) | 4

(PhysOrg.com) -- College students who use Facebook spend less time studying and have lower grade point averages than students who have not signed up for the social networking website, according to a pilot ...