Practicum(8)-Allison

For my final post I will wrap up some of my final thoughts about social networking. Before this project I used Facebook and Twitter for my social networking needs, and now I am a member of 43things, last.fm, and bebo as well. Honestly, after this project I don't think I will keep up with any of these new sites. Because I do not know anyone on these sites I felt it hard to make connections. On 43things however I did feel a small connection with people who reached out to help with my goals. Overall, I think the three main aspects of class to draw on for this assignment are identity on the internet, online community, and web 2.0. For most social networking sites it is essential to feel part of a community or else you won't get anything out of the site. Also, I think it is important to represent yourself truly or else you may make connections that are not real and will not translate into real life. In regards to web 2.0 I do not think social networking sites would be around without this shift. Keen may thinks this brings about amateur content and it loses professionals, but I think it draws back to community and identity. Blogging or goal setting may give someone an identity that they never had before and this may build a community they were never a part of. Overall, I am glad I got this as my topic and I think I have learned a lot.