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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

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New model details why some information 'goes viral'

New model for social marketing campaigns details why some information 'goes viral'

Physics / General Physics

created Aug 06, 2009 | popularity 4.2 / 5 (16) | comments 2

(PhysOrg.com) -- Marketers dream of finding ways to get something to "go viral" on the Internet. Indeed, viral marketing, whether it be through email, YouTube, Facebook or Twitter, has become the Holy Grail ...


Inequality, 'silver spoon' effect found in ancient societies

Other Sciences / Social Sciences

created Oct 29, 2009 | popularity 3.7 / 5 (15) | comments 22

The so-called "silver spoon" effect -- in which wealth is passed down from one generation to another -- is well established in some of the world's most ancient economies, according to an international study coordinated by ...


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Verizon says Droid smart phone goes on sale Nov. 6

Electronics / Consumer & Gadgets

created Oct 28, 2009 | popularity 4 / 5 (5) | comments 0

(AP) -- Verizon Wireless' answer to the iPhone - the Droid - will go on sale for $200 next week as the company taps into the growing appetite for smart phones that go far beyond making calls.


Facebook Lite

Facebook Lite On its Way

Technology / Internet

created Sep 15, 2009 | popularity 3.8 / 5 (4) | comments 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 ...


Congress weighs landmark change in Web ad privacy

Technology / Internet

created Sep 07, 2009 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (3) | comments 6

(AP) -- The Web sites we visit, the online links we click, the search queries we conduct, the products we put in virtual shopping carts, the personal details we reveal on social networking pages - all of this can give companies ...


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

Technology / Computer Sciences

created Aug 24, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (7) | comments 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 ...


Google Wave Client

Google Wave to Launch Public Beta Service by End of September (w/ Video)

Technology / Internet

created Jul 23, 2009 | popularity 3.8 / 5 (4) | comments 3

(PhysOrg.com) -- Google has just announced it will be opening its public beta release of Google Wave Service on September 30. Google Wave is a real-time communication platform that combines aspects of email, ...


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Social security numbers can be predicted with public information, researchers find

Technology / Computer Sciences

created Jul 06, 2009 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (14) | comments 3

Carnegie Mellon University researchers have shown that public information readily gleaned from governmental sources, commercial data bases, or online social networks can be used to routinely predict most — ...


Microsoft unveils motion control for Xbox 360 (AP)

Microsoft unveils motion control for Xbox 360

Electronics / Consumer & Gadgets

created Jun 01, 2009 | popularity 3.5 / 5 (4) | comments 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

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

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


 eStadium application brings multimedia sports features to smartphones

eStadium application brings multimedia sports features to smartphones

Technology / Software

created Nov 06, 2009 | popularity 2.5 / 5 (2) | comments 0

The intimate and spirited quarters of a stadium offer perhaps the most ideal venues to experience an athletic event. Or do they?


Study: Internet use leads to more diverse networks

Other Sciences / Social Sciences

created Nov 04, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

(AP) -- A new study confirms what your 130 Facebook friends and scores of Twitter followers may have already told you: The Internet and mobile phones are not linked to social isolation.


In this undated image scientist Leonard Kleinrock poses with the first Interface Message Processor

Internet 'a teenager' at 40

Technology / Internet

created Oct 25, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 0

Leonard Kleinrock never imagined Facebook, Twitter, or YouTube that day 40 years ago when his team gave birth to what is now taken for granted as the Internet.


Looking for privacy in the clouds

Technology / Internet

created Oct 13, 2009 | popularity 4 / 5 (3) | comments 0

Millions of Internet users have been enjoying the fun -- and free -- services provided by advertiser-supported online social networks like Facebook. But Landon Cox, a Duke University assistant professor of computer science, ...


Cisco has launched new software that shines light on potentially troublesome websites

Cisco shines light on dark corners of the Web

Technology / Software

created Oct 09, 2009 | popularity 2.3 / 5 (6) | comments 1

Cisco launched software that shines light on potentially troublesome websites hidden in what the US computer security firm dubbed the "Dark Web."