Hi5, a meeting point for what and for whom?
July 19, 2008 at 2:04 pm (social networking) (friend request, friendship, Hi5, social networking)
Lately I signed in my Hi5 account. I was curious to see whether I had any new notifications. Surprisingly I did have many, regarding friend requests. I had about 10 requests from totally unknown people asking from me to become friends so as we can get to know a little bit more with each other. This is quite natural these days since lots of people with the rise of internet seek to socialise through social networks such as Hi5. However the strange part was that the requests had been made from children aged from 12 to 16 years old. Honestly, tell me, what kind of relation or friendship can be developed from people who belong to such different generations? What kind of discussions can we have?
In an attempt to understand their logic of asking me to become their friend I visited their pages. There I discovered lots of colours, amazing pictures, numerous applications and hundreds of posts written by their friends and from themselves. So, trying to see how they reached me and whether we had any common friends I saw their friends. But I quickly discovered that they had made hundreds of friends from all over the world and from any age rank.
I guess that this is a new tendency between friends, to make as many friends as possible. The one with the greater number of friends is the coolest and the greatest, the ‘leader’. So, I feel that although Internet has brought people together, is also bringing them apart. In the seek of making friends and searching people we forget our true friends and neglect them. The term friendship, as I have known it till today, is going to be distorted. We are going to hang out around with unknown people, through the screen of our computers, and we are going to feel happy and satisfied with this, because lots of people today find it difficult to spend their time the way they used to in making friends.
Researching social networks: Facebook, Hi5 and MySpace
May 22, 2008 at 1:01 pm (social networking) (Facebook, Hi5, MySpace, social networking)
In the beginning it was MySpace. Then totally unexpectedly Hi5 came up in my life, and now I have settled in my most favourite social network, Facebook.
And the most reasonable questions are then arisen: Why did you join both three networks, Why do you prefer Facebook more than the others and finally but not least, what do you do in such networks?
It was around the beginning of 2006 when I first obtained an internet connection at home. The reason was simple. I had to study through the Internet and keep track of my tutor’s demands as an undergraduate student of a technological department. You might think how it is possible not to already have an internet connection in my home just like everybody else, but keep in mind that my home is in Greece and the internet penetration was quite low at that time and it did cost a lot to have a broadband line.
So, through trial and error I was making my first steps in the “magical” world of internet. I was so happy and excited to discover so many things through a simple click on my computer. To watch any video and picture I wanted; to download anything useful for my school work and even communicate with my friends!
As you might have guessed I discovered MySpace. I immediately became a member and I spent quite many hours for settling up my profile, decorating my page and adding my musical preferences. MySpace as you might know is a social network in which music is its central theme. Many bands advertise their music in there. So, except for my friends I also added for friends some musical groups. I visited their pages and listened to their music. Sometimes, these groups even invite me for events, where they play music in different venues in Athens. But I quickly got bored and I abandoned my page as a friend suggested me to try Hi5.
I found Hi5 much more interesting and easier to use for communicating with my friends. It is quite simpler and more convenient to handle than MySpace. Someone can choose a background profile, add personal details and interests and is ready to make friends from all over the world. Another difference between MySpace and Hi5 is the privacy level. What I mean is that in Hi5 only your friends can see your profile since you can set it to be a private profile. Moreover, you can upload photos, comment on them, give and take fives which describe you and write journals.
However, I did not have enough time to spend on Hi5 and I abandoned it for quite a lot time. It was not until this year that I signed in again where I noticed quite many changes in there. Many new applications are added and there are lots of things that one can do. But I noticed that the people in there had changed too. When I firstly joined Hi5 I could find people from all age ranks but now it was not the same. Children aged from 14 to 17 were asking my friendship and after becoming their friend I discovered that they had made Hi5 a meeting point where they tried to make the best profile with as many applications as possible and showing off through the photos they had uploaded. Moreover, there is a relentless chatting between them through the profile comments, where they even discuss other friends in Hi5 and the story so goes on …
Finally I joined Facebook when I was here in London around the February of 2008 as a friend did talk about it all the time. She was so excited finding old friends and communicating with them even after ten years of losing touch. I was so curious. What a magical network is this that can even reunite you with friends that you haven’t seen for years.
So, I became a member …
In contrary to the other two networks I had to post my real name and I soon was faced with privacy matters. How safe is it to post my real data, exposed to anyone who might want to become a friend? What if I do not post my real data? But then how my old friends will track me? I was in a great dilemma. Then I made a choice. “I will post my real name but I will set privacy rules in my profile. Only my friends and the network I belong will see my profile. My pictures will be visible only to friends and as a result I will make friends whom I already know”. So, I managed to overcome privacy problems and create my own account.
I have found some old friends, I added friends from Greece with whom I “talk” a lot after being in London for 5 months and I would have missed them a lot if we did not speak at all. I even joined some groups where I made friends with whom we have the same interests and finally I have added a variety of applications which are so funny. I can send requests to my friends to use them too and it is a kind of interaction through which we have a nice time. We compare our answers and send many more requests for much more applications to use. Moreover, one can upload an unlimited number of photos, create albums and tag the people on them. As a result, when someone is tagged this photo appears to his photos too!
Finally, someone can create a journal through the message box where he can let a number of certain people to read and comment on it. So, keeping in touch even being miles away from them is much easier.
The question now is what is next? Which network am I going to join after I get bored from Facebook too? Is it going to be Bebo, Twitter or Second Life?
Well, at least for the moment, my answer is that I totally love Facebook and I will never abandon it. I don’t need any other network as long as I feel satisfied with this one…
Of course there is the other side of Facebook, just watch the video
