Literature Review

Facebook and twitter are some of the examples of social networks which are widely used around the globe. Since the introduction of social networks, they had attracted millions of users with its interesting features. It is possible to note the increasing number of social networking sites during the last four/five year (Cecconi, 2007). The first recognizable social network site was launched in 1997. (Boyd, d. m., & Ellison, N. B. (2007). SixDegrees.com allowed users to create their own profiles and also make profiles. Its founders encouraged members to bring more people into the fold (Goble, 2012). Unfortunately, this encouragement became a bit too pushy for many, and the site slowly de-evolved into a loose association of computer users and numerous complaints of spam-filled membership drives.

There are other websites such as Classmates.com , AIM and ICQ. However, most of them didnt qualify the specified social networks characteristics. To be called as a social networks, they must be web-based services that allow individuals to (1) make a public or semi-public profile in a bounded system, (2) articulate a list of other users with whom they share a connection, and (3) view and control their list of connections and those made by others within the system (Boyd, 2007). For instance, in the early years of Classmates.com, users cant create their own profiles and view friends lists.

In 2002, social networks start to become a phenomenon as Friendster is launched. While most dating sites focused on introducing people to strangers with similar interests, Friendster was designed to help friends-of-friends meet, as friends-of-friends would make better romantic partners than strangers (J. Abrams, March 27, 2003). As its popularity increases rapidly, this sites was not well-managed to handle lots of users, it always faltered and making the customers unsatisfied. Not so long after that, myspace.com quickly overtook the roles as the biggest social networks site.

Then, lots of social networks emerged on the web, such as linkedin, netlog and also facebook. In 2008, facebook became the leading social networks with 600 millions of users and still dominating the social networking scene (Goble, 2012). In sum, the social networks usage has doubled since 2007, thanks to facebook, twitter and other social network sites (Parr, 2011). According to the web analytics firm, the average online user in the U.S. now spends nearly 16% of his or her time on social networking sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Tumblr or Twitter. All the facts above can prove us to show the increasing of social networks usage.

Two-third of adults use social networks in their daily life (Smith, 2011). Their major factor using social networks is staying in touch with current friends and family members. There are reasons like reconnect with old missing friends, searching for a new friends and finding a potential dating partners. While some of the teenagers prefer to use social networks as they can interact with their idols or enjoying some music (Boyd, 2007). It can be that teenagers use it as an entertainment source.