Social Networking Sites Essay

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ukessays.com http://www.ukessays.com/essays/english-language/social-networking-sites-impact-language-standards-english-language-essay.php Social Networking Sites Impact Language Standards English
Language Essay
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This chapter aims to examine existing literature on social networking sites and their impact they have on language standard features. Section 2.2 provides a short overview of social networking sites, who uses them and what they use them for.
2.3 discuss the standard and non standard features of language. 2.4 discuss the possibility of deterioration of indigenous languages. Section 2.5 offers a conclusion to this chapter.

2.2 Definition of Social Networking Sites
Social networking online involves using Web sites to share information with others and connect with them by creating a profile. SNS allow users to add friends, send messages and comment on others' profile pages. Communicating with others is a key aspect of using SNS. SNS users may post public messages or may use bulletins or private messages to communicate with those on their friends list.
“Social networking websites function like an online community of internet users. Depending on the website in question, many of these online community members share common interests in hobbies, religion, or politics. Once you are granted access to a social networking website you can begin to socialize. This socialization may include reading the profile pages of other members and possibly even contacting them.” boyd and Ellison (2007) define SNSs as
“Web-based services that allow individuals to (1) construct a public or semi-public profile within a bounded system, (2) articulate a list of other users with whom they share a connection, and (3) view and traverse their list of connections and those made by others within the system”.
SNS’s typically provide users with a profile space, facilities for uploading content (e.g. photos, music), messaging in various forms and the ability to make connections to other people. These connections (or „friends‟) are the core functionality of a social network site (Ellison et al, 2006, Donath & boyd, 2004).
“This ability to make connections or establish networks with people that one may be meeting for the first time through joining a group, raises a series of difficult issues in research into SNS, in that two terms ‘social network sites’ and
‘social networking sites’ are commonly found in the literature. Given this ambiguity, boyd and Ellison (2007) attempt to clarify the relationship between them: ‘Networking’ emphasizes relationship initiation, often between strangers. While networking is possible on these sites, it is not the primary practice on many of them, nor is it what differentiates them from other forms of computer-mediated communication (CMC)… What makes social network sites unique is not that they allow individuals to meet strangers, but rather that they enable users to articulate and make visible their social networks. This can result in connections between individuals that would not otherwise be made, but that is often not the goal, and these meetings are frequently between ‘latent ties’… who share some offline connection. On many of the large SNS, participants are not necessarily ‘networking’ or looking to meet new people; instead, they are primarily communicating with people who are already a part of their extended social network. To emphasize this articulated social network as a critical organizing feature of these sites, we label them “social network sites” (boyd & Ellison 2007:

n.p.) cited by Harison and Thomas (2009).

2.2.1 Who uses SNS’S and what do they use them for?
“Beyond profiles, uploading photos, friends, comments, and private messaging, SNSs vary greatly in their features and user base. Some have video-sharing capabilities; others have built-in blogging and instant messaging technology. There are mobile-specific SNSs (e.g.,
MXit), but