According to Danah Boyd and Nicole Ellison Social networking sites are commonly defined as web based service that allows people to 1) create a public profile 2) articualte a list of other users who share a connection 3) view and navigate their list of connections within the system. However Boyd and Ellison point out that “Networking” is not an accurate term for most sites, since most people use SNS not strictly for making connections. Also the connections made are not always between strangers.
David Beer points out the difficulty of Boyd and Ellison use of the term Social network sites by saying it is too broad and stands for to many things. They are numerous activities that are limted to Networking interactions between friends.
I would have to agree with Beer in the point he made about SNS being in a large umbrella of media web 2.0. Social Networking is evolving rapidly with less emphasis on “networking” there are more functions of the sites then making new friends and its shouldnt be limited to the term social networking.
I, too, agree with you and Beer that the term networking is too broad and that it should be categorized into smaller categories so all the functions of the sites would be equally introduced to people who are looking for new online freindships. However, I still think that Boyd and Ellison’s difinision of the social networking is a valuable one.
You make an excellent in your post when you state “there are more functions of the sites then making new friends.” I know a lot of people who promote their bands, art shows, even furniture restoration businesses via social network sites. People are really starting to understand that they can use instagram, facebook and even twitter to promote their projects or passions, and SNSes help them branch out to people they wouldn’t meet in their offline life.