Social networking sites are one of the best man made creations of last decade and now they have gained their height. Social networking is like a cherry on the cake where the internet is a cake and social networking a cherry. Just as without cherry a cake is incomplete, in the same way internet without social networking is incomplete. With the single click we can connect to our friends or our family members, no matter where we are or how far we are. Today distance is not a hindrance in the path of communication. With social networking, making new acquaintances and friends is not a big deal. Social networking has influenced our lives in many ways. It has helped individuals in making new friends and also finding old friends who might not have been in touch for years. In simple words, it has helped in reviving old relations and building new ones. It has helped in breaking boring life of individuals as these sites are filled with activities and really have interesting applications which never let you get bored which is great since people need enjoyment after hard day’s work which these sites provide.

The first recognizable social network site SixDegrees.com was launched in 1997. SixDegrees.com allowed users to create profiles, list their friends and, beginning in 1998, surf friend’s list. Each of these features existed in some form before SixDegrees, of course. Profiles existed on most major dating sites and many community sites. AIM and ICQ buddy lists supported lists of friends, although those friends were not visible to others. Classmates.com allowed people to affiliate with their high school or college and surf the network for others who were also affiliated, but users could not create profiles or list friends until years later. SixDegrees was the first to combine these features. Nowadays, Facebook is the most popular social networking site.

We can easily share our views; send immediate messages and much more. It also helps in expanding your business because there are millions of people who are on these sites and there is no better medium to promote your business among your friends, family and others than social media. One never feels left out due to it because you get to know about your family and friends’ birthdays, anniversaries and other important things which are happening in their life. Getting started with social networking is much the same as starting at a new school. At first, you don’t have any friends. But as you join groups, you begin to meet people, and you build a friends’ list of those with similar interests.

As we know we are developing day by day and people are becoming busier nowadays so they have no time to meet with their friends. So, social networking sites help them to connect with friends all the time. Social networking sites have given us a great platform to share knowledge, ideas, and to unite on various topics of national importance like building of dams, corruption etc. and many more.

Popular methods now combine many things on Facebook, Google+ and Twitter widely used worldwide. Web-based social networking services make it possible to connect people who share interests and activities across political, economic, and geographic borders. Facebook, most popular social networking site, has now increased its users to the peak. Users can create profiles with photos, lists of personal interests, contact information, and other personal information. Users can communicate with friends and other users through private or public messages and a chat feature. They can also create and join interest groups and "like pages" ("fan pages"), some of which are maintained by organizations as a means of advertising. To allay concerns about privacy, Facebook enables users to choose their own privacy settings and choose who can see specific parts of their profile. The social networking sites generally have features like user’s profile, friend list, message box, photo download and upload, status updates and many other facilities.

Prerana Shrestha

BE Third Year

Himalaya College of Engineering