SN Sites

I remember when recently I was sitting in Starbucks and there were two guys sitting next to me with their laptops. They were working on some new social networking site and asked my opinion about SN sites in general. I said I had never used them and did not have an account with any of such sites. They were so surprised with the answer and kept asking how I then communicate with my friends and relatives. I said- in person, by phone or e-mail. They were looking at me like I am from another planet…
So, until now I have never had any experience with SN sites. I just registered with a couple of them and here are my first impressions. To me all SN sites are similar with slight differences. The main purpose of these sites is to find friends, coworkers, relatives, or just people with the same interests and form your own networks. Facebook as well as MySpace and Friendster are free access “open” memberships; anyone can become a member by registering. Most sites require only a valid e-mail for that purpose.
As far as I’ve heard from friends and classmates, people use Facebook more than MySpace. There are many reasons for that but the main one I think is the security and privacy issue. Facebook has more enhanced privacy settings that allow you to control who can see your profile, contact and interact with you and you can block your profile from certain people. MySpace in this regard is a little weaker. Also, in MySpace you can personalize your profile using graphics, design layouts, special text, etc. which is not available on Facebook. Friendster did not impress me that much as I could not find anyone I know on it. I should probably use those sites for a while to be able to give better details about each.
Also, I have found an interesting SN site, Myworkster.com, for those college students who are looking for a job. It allows only students to register and network with the potential employers. I find it very cool.
An interesting video on this topic...