The Future of Social Networking

Fred Tuner’s “Where the Counterculture Met the New Economy” discusses the use of the Whole Earth Catalog as an originator WELL or the Whole Earth Lectronic Link. The Whole Earth Catalog was served as a medium in which users would share their critiques about new technologies they’ve used. However, this was done through a magazine and took several months to be published. The WELL was later introduced and served as more than an upgraded version of the magazine. The WELL allowed people to connect and communicate their ideas from any location. Turner argues that the WELL united technology and society while simultaneously aiding the progression of both-possibly producing the first social networking site.
This article also reminded me of Facebook and MySpace. The evolution of social networking has drastically expanded over the past several years. Now it’s rare if someone isn’t on Facebook or has never “tweeted” and now in the business world, “LinkedIn,” to various networks. I feel that the social aspect of society heavily depends on the involvement and use of social networks because they are widely used by all ages. The use of the basic principle of social networking has expanded from social networking to business and dating networking sites. Recently, social networking has gone one step further as some news publications have given sole credit to social networking sites for igniting revolution in Cairo, Egypt. Revolutionists are using technology to their advantage, organizing protests and demonstrations. I think this is telling of the future uses of social networking.