By Guy Hervier
In the evolution towards the Global Village, Social Networks are accelerating the process. Tools like Facebook are shrinking the world. I can be friends with my neighbor and a Hmong peasant from the Guizhou region, in southern China.
Is this sustainable in the long run? It is hard to tell because these tools stretch much farther than our ability to handle them directly. Anthropologists explain that it is impossible to maintain stable social relationships with more than 150 people. Can Barack Obama keep a personal contact with his 6,000,000+ Facebook supporters or 2,000,000+ Twitter followers?
In a few years, how will we use Social Networks in our professional and personal lives? The Web is only 15 years old, Facebook 5 and Twitter 3. The quick evolution of these technologies makes things a lot more challenging. The GenY generation, who grew up with cell phones and the Internet has difficulties imagining – even understanding – that there was a life before all that.
We are still at the experimenting and tinkering stage:
1. For starters, these tools are spreading across all age groups; not long ago the only ones using them were 18-24 years old.
2. On the issue of privacy, the Canadian magazine Cyberpsychology & Behavior recently published the results of a study on the implications of the use of Facebook. The study shows that users who tracked the activities of their partner on the social network became more jealous and suspicious. There was a correlation between the amount of time spent and the level of distrust.
3. Political movements are using these tools a great deal. As everyone knows, social networks were a main part of Barack Obama’s Internet strategy in the presidential election. Today, the White House is increasing the use of such technologies.
4. In the business world, the employees who used these tools for their personal needs are beginning to use them for their professional life. And the difficulty of separating the professional from the personal is causing some problems. An article recently published by the Wall Street Journal showed that the IRS (Internal Revenue Service) and other tax departments in the US are gathering some information from Social Networks to detect possible fiscal fraud.
5. Enterprise Software vendors - SAP, Oracle, Microsoft, Open Text or Telligent to name a few - are integrating some social network functionality into their enterprise applications.
Guy Hervier, is Editor in Chief, ITRmanager, a leading publication for IT managers.
More than 90% of new graduates believe that they will be exposed to more geographic mobility than their parents. In a global world, international mobility and employment across borders will continue to increase, and in many cases the applicable legal terms are still evolving.