Networking for the New Generation of Internet users
By Zhang Wan-ling
Translated by Ann Lee
These days, almost everyone I meet asks me, "Do you have Facebook?" or "Do you have MySpace?", or "What's your [insert social networking site here] name?" If you've never heard of these tools, you're in trouble.
Today's generation is online--all the time. We meet new people, make business contacts, get to know our friends, plan our parties, browse through each other's pictures, and get major and minor life updates--all at the click of a mouse. If a relationship is official--it's going to be on Facebook. If someone gets a puppy, there will be photos on PhotoBucket, Flickr, or MySpace within the hour.
If you're not quite young enough to already be spending hours a day on these sites, and if you're not quite old enough to have given up on the Internet entirely, let this article be an easy introduction to networking sites in general and also some of the premier social networking sites available in Taiwan.
Statistics tell us that the most popular social networking site in the U.S. is, in fact, MySpace; the users of this site are mostly teenagers and young adults in their 20s. In MySpace, users can share their personal information, photos, music, video clips, blogs, and favorite links with their friends, as well as strangers. Not only that by the site also stands as a great tool for personal promotion--used over 200,000 bands and 8,000 comedians-as well as thousands of celebrities and wannabes who have their own MySpace page and use to site to announce tour dates, upcoming work, etc.
Rivaling MySpace to become the most popular networking site is Facebook, the brainchild of a student at Harvard who thought connecting Ivy League campuses across the United States would be a cavalier idea. After a few years in business, Facebook, which is also a free service, went beyond the typical profile page, enabling users to add applications and real-time chat. And, of course, the heart of the site is for sharing your likes, dislikes and pictures with your friends and the greater online community. It is not uncommon to be out with a group of teens or twenty-somethings who are snapping pictures left and right and saying, "Wow! That's gonna make a great profile picture!" or "You need to uploads these tomorrow!"
Though most users regard the networking sites as harmless fun and a brilliant way keeping in touch with friend and family, big business sees these sites as a bottomless goldmine of market research and sales potential. Yahoo! Kimo, which also purchased the Taiwan Wretch website, purchased MySpace for NT$580 million; Microsoft spent NT$240 million to purchase 1.6% of Facebook's stocks. Both of these companies are hoping to cash in on the "targeted advertising" that networking sites like this offer.
Targeted advertising has helped revolutionize the industry. A lot of the time, agreeing to the terms of service or agreeing to certain options in these sites allows companies and advertisers to harvest information from the users--from favorite books to religious views--and place ads accordingly. For example, if someone states that they are "engaged" in the marital status section of Facebook, then he or she might notice several wedding service ads crop up as they browse. Or music promoters might post information on The Killers' upcoming concert in Chicago on the profiles and in the groups that specifically list the band as one of their favorites. Or, if you're a fan of Domino's pizza, you might see the phone number of the branch nearest you. This personalized advertising can mean millions of dollars for investors and companies that are trying to tap into the up-and-coming young and affluent market.
This type of information harvesting can lead to a lot of controversy about privacy, however, and disillusion some users. As it turns out, not everyone wants their information to be collected, not every user wants personalized advertising, and not every young person wants big business to seen them as a "potential for market research" instead of an individual human. This clash of interest is part of the ugly side of the networking site movement and has acted as a force to turn scads of people away from what others consider to be simple fun.
No matter what camp you stand in on the online networking issue, the fact that these sites are the way people connect nowadays is undeniable. And, even though this trend started in the United States, it has been making its way around the world and websites like these are available in a rainbow of languages, all over the globe.
In Taiwan, there are quite a few personal websites that are accessible to everyone and many are topical; site subjects range from professional networking and expansion and making friends, to nightlife and dating or finding singles parties. Here is a list of some networking sites available in Taiwan and a little information for each one. If you're looking to join an online community, it wouldn't be a bad idea to browse through these recommendations and find one that is most suited to your goals and lifestyle. |
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Taiwannights.com
Reference Sites for Social Activities
By far the most comprehensive site around for finding where to go and what to do around town is our sister website, Taiwanfun.com. There are event details, restaurants, pubs, cultural sites and much more. The site is also bilingual. Popular with clubbers is Taiwannights.com, which is a great site to find out about the latest parties and nightlife activities.
We as humans are prone to enjoy living life with other people; this includes interacting with and showing support for one another. As these social networking sites grow and expand globally, they provide a chance for people to bond and to exchange cultural ideas. All in all, they act as a tool for unlimited networking opportunities, so that people of different backgrounds and interests can come together, share what they love the most and, most importantly, have plenty of fun while doing it.
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