Yachats Oregon Writer Rick Schultze

A few years ago people met new acquaintances at schools, workplaces, church gatherings, neighborhood events and from friends and relatives who would introduce them. In smaller communities like the ones we live in on the Central Oregon coast your opportunity for social networking was somewhat limited by population; you could only meet so many people unless you went to the bigger cities. There has always been the scenario of kids graduating from high school then leaving for college and never returning thanks to exposure to a big new world outside of their small towns.

However, if you have a computer and accesses to the internet there is no longer social isolation in small communities. Email was the first online way to reach friends and acquaintances, old and new, from anywhere with a few clicks on your keyboard. But email move over; Social Networking is a more popular online activity than email, according to a new survey. The survey by market research firm Nielsen Online found that on an average one of every 11 minutes spent online around the world is devoted to social networking.

Facebook ranked first with a unique global audience of 108.3 million people, followed by MySpace with 81.0 million. Classmates Online was in the second tier with a substantially smaller audience of 19.7 million. That’s a lot of people and I’m sure you know at least one person who is using one of those formats to communicate. An interesting aspect to Nielsen’s findings was “growth in social networking is being driven not by the young but by the middle-aged. The category of men and women aged 65 and above moving to social networking grew by 7 percent, while the 12-17-year-old category dropped by 9 percent. The most popular age group with Facebook in terms of growth is the 35-49 category, which increased by 24.1 million people.

So it now seems that social networking will be an enduring part of everyday life as valid ways to stay in touch with former classmates, ways to connect with friends and meet new people. Although social networking is possible in person, especially in schools or in the workplace it is most popular online. The internet is filled with millions of individuals who are looking to meet other internet users to develop friendships.

Of course with the volume of social networking sites growing daily there are concerns that there are people using the sites for questionable reasons. There have been complaints about MySpace users luring underage kids into bad situations and on some of the other sites there have been allegations of illegal opportunities being offered by both males and females. And as you’ve no doubt heard, what you see on the internet is not necessarily what you get. The picture often doesn’t match the real person.

But in the end social networking and the use of the internet is here to stay and I know lots of people who do network and have nothing but good things to say about it. I find it interesting and positive that people remain curious about other people and will take the time to communicate with them even though they may be miles and even countries apart and it is definitely a great way to stay in touch with family and friends.

It’s there for all of us to use but use it at your own risk!!!

To reach Rick Schultze email: yarick@pioneer.net