What's the Buzz About Social Networks?
By Andrew Doan, MD, PhDDo you want to connect with old friends? Would you like to collaborate on business, academic or personal opportunities with like-minded individuals? Then I encourage you to explore Internet social networking.
An internet social network uses software to build online social networks for communities of people who share similar interests and activities. Social networking on the Internet is primarily web-based and provides a collection of various ways for users to interact, such as text chat, messaging, email, video, voice chat, file sharing, and discussion groups. Social networking has revolutionized the way individuals communicate and share information with one another. Various social networking websites are being used by hundreds of millions of people every day on a regular basis, and it now seems that social networking is a part of everyday life.
The most common foundation for internet social networking services is providing modalities to combine individuals into common categories and then providing ways for introducing trusted people to others within a network. For instance, if a friend is looking for a practice opportunity in Southern California, I can introduce my friend to an ophthalmologist in San Diego that I know well. Before the Internet, I would introduce my friend at the annual AAO meeting, with a phone call, or by arranging a lunch meeting. With an internet social network, I can introduce a friend with a click of the mouse and let the social network facilitate the introduction and meeting. Social networks are convenient, save time, and are effective methods for meeting others and conducting business.
Popular websites for social networks include MySpace, Facebook, LinkedIn, The Student Doctor Network, and most recently, our American Academy of Ophthalmology. What’s the buzz about these social networking websites?
MySpace (www.myspace.com)
MySpace is a popular social networking website offering an interactive, user-submitted network of friends, personal profiles, blogs, groups, photos, music and videos for teenagers and adults internationally. The 100 millionth account was created on August 6, 2006 in the Netherlands and a news story claimed 106 million accounts on September 8, 2006. The site reportedly attracts 230,000 new registrations per day. There are approximately 200 million users on the website. Users create personalized homepages that display their pictures, writing, music, videos, and everything of interest. Individuals invite “friends” to be added on their MySpace homepages. As the network grows, there is an increased opportunity for people with similar interests to find each other. While fun and popular amongst young people, MySpace is drawing interests from business and organizations as a way to market their services and products.
Facebook (www.facebook.com)
Facebook is a social networking website launched on February 4, 2004. Users join networks organized by city, workplace, school, and region to connect and interact with other people. People add friends and send them messages, and update their personal profile to notify friends about themselves. The website's name refers to the paper facebooks depicting members of a campus community that some American colleges and preparatory schools give to incoming students, faculty, and staff as a way to get to know other people on campus. More than 400 million people are using Facebook.
LinkedIn (www.linkedin.com)
LinkedIn is a business-oriented social networking site founded in December 2002 and launched in May 2003 mainly used for professional networking. As of December 2007, its site traffic was 3.2 million visitors per month, growing at an annual growth rate of about 485%. As of May 2008, it had more than 20 million registered users, spanning 150 industries. LinkedIn is an effective way to find employment, business and professional opportunities. The success of LinkedIn is based on the premise that an e-mail request is more likely to be answered if introduced by a trusted source. LinkedIn also facilitates the grouping of individuals belonging to a specific company or professional organization. As users publish their curriculum vitae on LinkedIn, others can search for individuals with similar professional, business, and personal interests.
Student Doctor Network (www.studentdoctor.net)
The Student Doctor Network (SDN) is a nonprofit web site that started as a grassroots Web community at the University of Kansas in the mid-1990s. Since then, SDN has emerged as one of the most comprehensive and most useful student-driven resources on the Internet. The Student Doctor Network is operated by the Coastal Research Group, a nonprofit 501(c)(3) tax-exempt charitable organization. As part of CRG’s mission, they provide the Student Doctor Network as a free and independent resource to the pre-health and health professional student community. SDN hosts discussion forums and is the largest premed and medical student community on the Web. The website has over 30,000 active members and a thriving forum of over 4 million posts willed with advice, information and support.
I have volunteered as the ophthalmology forum moderator since 2002 on SDN, and it is amazing to see that over half of the people applying for ophthalmology residency each year use the discussion forum to discuss politics, medical economics, admissions procedures, and topics about residency training.
American Academy of Ophthalmology (www.aao.org/community/)
The latest addition to the social network offering is from the American Academy of Ophthalmology. The social networking buzz is infectious, and the American Academy of Ophthalmology has implemented software solutions to facilitate online communication between members. The YO Committee has worked closely with the AAO's Social Networking Task Force and the Clinical Education Committee to implement a new professional networking solution and to add exciting functionality to the Academy’s website. I encourage you to explore professional networking on the Academy’s website: www.aao.org/community/. Currently, it's a three-way race between Drs. Melendez, Kitchens, and myself for the number one contributor on the AAO's online professional network.
Social networks on the internet are here to stay because they facilitate an enormous number of interpersonal interactions not possible in the physical world. The success of social networks is simple: people enjoy human interaction and internet tools that facilitate discussion, interaction, and sharing of common interests lure people in by the millions around the world.
An internet social network uses software to build online social networks for communities of people who share similar interests and activities. Social networking on the Internet is primarily web-based and provides a collection of various ways for users to interact, such as text chat, messaging, email, video, voice chat, file sharing, and discussion groups. Social networking has revolutionized the way individuals communicate and share information with one another. Various social networking websites are being used by hundreds of millions of people every day on a regular basis, and it now seems that social networking is a part of everyday life.
The most common foundation for internet social networking services is providing modalities to combine individuals into common categories and then providing ways for introducing trusted people to others within a network. For instance, if a friend is looking for a practice opportunity in Southern California, I can introduce my friend to an ophthalmologist in San Diego that I know well. Before the Internet, I would introduce my friend at the annual AAO meeting, with a phone call, or by arranging a lunch meeting. With an internet social network, I can introduce a friend with a click of the mouse and let the social network facilitate the introduction and meeting. Social networks are convenient, save time, and are effective methods for meeting others and conducting business.
Popular websites for social networks include MySpace, Facebook, LinkedIn, The Student Doctor Network, and most recently, our American Academy of Ophthalmology. What’s the buzz about these social networking websites?
MySpace (www.myspace.com)
MySpace is a popular social networking website offering an interactive, user-submitted network of friends, personal profiles, blogs, groups, photos, music and videos for teenagers and adults internationally. The 100 millionth account was created on August 6, 2006 in the Netherlands and a news story claimed 106 million accounts on September 8, 2006. The site reportedly attracts 230,000 new registrations per day. There are approximately 200 million users on the website. Users create personalized homepages that display their pictures, writing, music, videos, and everything of interest. Individuals invite “friends” to be added on their MySpace homepages. As the network grows, there is an increased opportunity for people with similar interests to find each other. While fun and popular amongst young people, MySpace is drawing interests from business and organizations as a way to market their services and products.
Facebook (www.facebook.com)
Facebook is a social networking website launched on February 4, 2004. Users join networks organized by city, workplace, school, and region to connect and interact with other people. People add friends and send them messages, and update their personal profile to notify friends about themselves. The website's name refers to the paper facebooks depicting members of a campus community that some American colleges and preparatory schools give to incoming students, faculty, and staff as a way to get to know other people on campus. More than 400 million people are using Facebook.
LinkedIn (www.linkedin.com)
LinkedIn is a business-oriented social networking site founded in December 2002 and launched in May 2003 mainly used for professional networking. As of December 2007, its site traffic was 3.2 million visitors per month, growing at an annual growth rate of about 485%. As of May 2008, it had more than 20 million registered users, spanning 150 industries. LinkedIn is an effective way to find employment, business and professional opportunities. The success of LinkedIn is based on the premise that an e-mail request is more likely to be answered if introduced by a trusted source. LinkedIn also facilitates the grouping of individuals belonging to a specific company or professional organization. As users publish their curriculum vitae on LinkedIn, others can search for individuals with similar professional, business, and personal interests.
Student Doctor Network (www.studentdoctor.net)
The Student Doctor Network (SDN) is a nonprofit web site that started as a grassroots Web community at the University of Kansas in the mid-1990s. Since then, SDN has emerged as one of the most comprehensive and most useful student-driven resources on the Internet. The Student Doctor Network is operated by the Coastal Research Group, a nonprofit 501(c)(3) tax-exempt charitable organization. As part of CRG’s mission, they provide the Student Doctor Network as a free and independent resource to the pre-health and health professional student community. SDN hosts discussion forums and is the largest premed and medical student community on the Web. The website has over 30,000 active members and a thriving forum of over 4 million posts willed with advice, information and support.
I have volunteered as the ophthalmology forum moderator since 2002 on SDN, and it is amazing to see that over half of the people applying for ophthalmology residency each year use the discussion forum to discuss politics, medical economics, admissions procedures, and topics about residency training.
American Academy of Ophthalmology (www.aao.org/community/)
The latest addition to the social network offering is from the American Academy of Ophthalmology. The social networking buzz is infectious, and the American Academy of Ophthalmology has implemented software solutions to facilitate online communication between members. The YO Committee has worked closely with the AAO's Social Networking Task Force and the Clinical Education Committee to implement a new professional networking solution and to add exciting functionality to the Academy’s website. I encourage you to explore professional networking on the Academy’s website: www.aao.org/community/. Currently, it's a three-way race between Drs. Melendez, Kitchens, and myself for the number one contributor on the AAO's online professional network.
Social networks on the internet are here to stay because they facilitate an enormous number of interpersonal interactions not possible in the physical world. The success of social networks is simple: people enjoy human interaction and internet tools that facilitate discussion, interaction, and sharing of common interests lure people in by the millions around the world.
posted by MedRounds Publications at 2:32 PM
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