Initially networking was aimed at military command, control and services. However, it has expanded far beyond the privileged hub. The idea behind this kind of connectivity was to unite on a forum for discussing mutual topics of interest and getting more acquaintances.

Social networking has set its roots in the late 70’s and the early 80’s when computers were a rare commodity. The popular phenomenon started with the Bulletin Board System (BBS). In this system, users used to communicate with a central to download files and post messages for other users. This small level social interaction used to take place via a modem.

With the advent of the Internet in the 90’s, social networking kicked into high gear. With the idea of virtual reunion, classmates.com proved to be an immediate hit. People used to create profiles in search of their long lost friends. Some other sites during this period were based on niches or demographic-driven markets.

Social networking hit a really big stride in 2002 with the launch of Friendster.com. It employed a different concept that promoted the idea of rich online community. It made sure that a rich community exists between people with common bonds, and also showed ways to discover those bonds.

With more revolutionary features in social networking, MySpace and Facebook came into the picture. Among the two, Facebook boasts about having millions of users in hundreds of English-speaking countries. The reason for its attraction is the funky, feature-filled environment. Leaving all other social networking sites behind, Facebook is currently leading the global social networking pack.

This was the history of social networking, yet you must be wondering about the future of such sites. Well, deciding whether this social networking fever is a temporary phenomenon or has unlimited potential is up to you.

Do you know what the most popular thing on the internet is these days?  Not hard to guess, it’s obviously social networks. A social network provides the medium for social communication where everyone has the freedom to say or post whatever they like. But the matter of concern is that the information you are sharing is open to the public. This may require for a little extra caution on your side while you create your social network account. Listed below are a few ways that can help you safeguarding your account information:

• Your unique password is the key to the integrity and security of your account. Make sure that you have memorized it and change it regularly after some time just in case. Moreover, you should log into your account from trusted computers only.
• In case you don’t remember your password, you don’t need to worry about a thing. You can still secure your account. All you have to do is create a question that only you would know the answer to. If you set your account with the answer to a secret question, intruders will be prevented from entering into your account.
• You can also have privacy on social network sites customized to suit your needs. You can set your account to display your posts to selective people only. If you don’t want your content to be available to everyone, then you can easily prevent this through privacy control. This will help you maintain the privacy of your account within your trusted social circle.

With these steps, you can ensure the protection of your social network account. Once these security issues are tackled, you can continue communicating with your social circle without having to worry about your account getting hacked or suffering from undesirable people accessing your content information.

Twitter has taken the world by storm since its creation in 2006. The numbers from Alexa Internet, a service which measures the traffic of different websites, announced that Twitter is the 14th most used social networking website globally.

Twitter’s creator, Jack Dorsey, has achieved his goals because his creation can be used as a social network as well as an information network. Today, Twitter is used by individuals of all ages and races to communicate with one another. Teens, especially, have welcomed this phenomenon and are setting up accounts like wildfire.

On the other hand, businesses and media figures have been able to gain popularity and exposure through this social networking service. Fans can subscribe to the profiles of different celebrities and products, thus are informed of the latest developments in each. Plus, this creates a bond between the consumer and the brand, or the fan and the star.

Twitter’s mechanism is quite simple. All you need is an account through which you can be part of a global conversation that consists of “tweets”.  A tweet is a short message of 140 characters which can be sent, or tweeted, via Twitter’s websites, short messaging service (SMS) or other external applications. Whereas text messages may cost users, the other two methods are completely free.

Although Twitter is rivaled by Facebook in cyberspace, a new collaboration has been struck between both. Apparently this is a case of “If you can’t beat them, join them.” Facebook has initiated a service that can publish the status updates, links, photos, notes and events of a Facebook user onto his Twitter profile page.

As one of the best modern means of communication, Twitter has become popular with different individuals for different reasons. Now, being far doesn’t mean that you will be cut off from everything and everyone you care for.