Have you ever hear the world 'unfriend'? It was chosen as the word of the year by the New Oxford American Dictionary in 2009. 'Unfriend' was defined as a verb that means to remove someone from the list of "friend" on a social networking site such as Facebook. It might not be familiar to Koreans because many of us use Cyworld which is the biggest social networking site in Korea. We would be much more familiar with the words, 'Ilchon' or 'Minihompy'. "What is your Cyworld address?" is the most common question among Korean when they get to know each other. It is hard to two people are very close if they are not Ilchon and from a relationship by adding a new friend in Cyworld. Using computers or mobile devices, you can chat with your friends and experience a world. Most people are influenced by Social Networking Service(SNS) in their lives. Nowadays, people cannot imagine their life without it.

 

The Connection of an invisible Window 
    According to Wikipedia, a social network service(SNS) is an online service, platform, or site that focuses on building and reflecting social networks or social relations among people. Statistically, 60 percent of all Internet users use an SNS. Also, more and more people are joining social network sites such as Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and Cyworld. Each person has different reasons why they use it, bot the main reason for using social network services is so people can meet and find new friends. Anytime, anywhere, they are able to com municate with each other. This concept has emerged with the development of the Internet. It had been gathering strength via community and blogs on internet site. Anyone can express him/herself to others through this invisible window.

 

Why SNS? Every Tom, Dick and Harry
    A new generation of social networking sites began to flourish and soon became a part of the Internet mainstream. 48% of all Koreans use Cyworld. Twitter, which was created in 2006, has gained popularity worldwide and currently has more than 100 million users worldwide. Then, why are people so crazy about SNS? Due to the nature of SNS, individuals are the focus of SNS systems. Usually, SNS consists of programs, writing, or UCC that are uploaded by users. Therefore, People can reveal their own personality and interests through the internet. Each person can have a sense of ownership and a chance for self disclosure. Also, in SNS, all people are equal and have the same rights as each other without regard for age or sex. Diversity is the driving force of SNS systems. Users of SNS take advantage of its various features that allow them to do different things. Another reason why SNS are useful is thai it lets people share or promote their business, individual talents, help with problems and enable people to voice their concerns.

 

I know you're just bluffing!

 
    Amid SNS allowing people to interact and congregate, some problems have emerged. SNS become a larger portion of our lives and they have begun to damage their users, both mentally and socially. The practice of logging on to SNS daily to see hundreds of new photos, comments, and user statuses takes away our ability to keep our focus on other valuable things. Those people who are addicted to SNS can lose their real life. When they see something cool or funny, they are immediately willing to post it on their SNS blog or homepage. Despite the lack of human interaction, they want to create nice images to interact with people on the internet. It may cause depression and loneliness if they cannot be satisfied through it. Narcissism, the excessive love or admiration of self, also has become one of the largest problems in SNS users. This wav of self-centered thinking is very dangerous fur any person. This can negatively affect how we see ourselves, as well as how we treat and perceive others. Moreover, with the increase of people using it, malicious invasion of privacy is also on the rise.

 

"One man's poison is another man's meat"
    'SNS' are being signified in everyday life. SNS have an effect un the culture that we actually experience in our common life. Therefore, there will be a bright future for SNS. In order to develop SNS, we must be concerned about the negative effects from SNS. The way we use SNS will cause different results. Therefore the right way to use SNS must be discovered and conveyed to the next generation.

 

 

By Cha Yoon-jae CP Reporter
yukixiah@cnu.ac.kr

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