Social networking sites and our lives

Social networking sites and our lives

New Media is defined as the 21^st century catchall
term used to define all things that are related to the Internet. With the rise of New Media, there came a change in the way Americans socialize. The Pew Research Center has launched a project called, "Internet and American Life" project, that studies the effects of social networking sites. The study found that the average age of internet users has increase from 33 to 38 in the last 5 years. They also found that a whopping 92% of internet users, use Facebook. 

     

The Internet and American Life project also targets the speculations that many have wondered about. The question of whether Social network use leads to social isolation. The study found that use of internet and cell phones was associated with larger and more diverse social networks. Overall, Americans have more close friends via Social networks than ever before.

Network Laws and the Future

A network is defined as "2 or more computers that are linked in order to share to share resources, exchange files, or allow electronic communications". Today networks are very valuable commodities. The ways networks are measured is very important to determine the full value of the network. The 3 main network laws each very specifically measure a different type of medium.

     Sarnoff's Law states that "the value of network increases linearly with the number of people in it. This measurement only really works for television and radio, because these mediums are very direct and much easier to measure. This measurement also does not account for the number of people who could be watching a TV or listening to the radio at a time. It leaves out some of the value of the network.

     Metcalfe's Law states that "a communication network with n members, each member can make n-1 connections, which means that the value of a communication network increases roughly to its connections." This measurement is pretty good for measuring all types of media at it's most basic level.

     Reed's Law states that "the utility of a network with n members increases exponentially or 2 to the nth power". This law is a very accurate measurement of social media. This measure doesn't quite translate to TV and radio.

     I think Metcalfe's Law is the easiest way to measure all forms of media. In the future I think people will use the Internet more and more for everything.