Chapter 17. Social Networking

As you may have gathered from the previous three chapters, the Internet offers all sorts of ways to make contact with people. Email, chat rooms, and discussion boards all facilitate connections in the virtual world. But some folks want more than electronic pen palsand that's where social networking sites come in.

Some are dating sites, which combine the old tradition of personal ads with some of the Internet's great strengths: the ability to post pictures, search for whatever you're looking for, and do it all whenever the mood strikes. Others are business networking sites, where professionals can get to know each other, share job tips and consultant contacts, and discuss business matters. Last, but not least, are the personal-profile sites, where people (mostly young ones) create highly personal autobiographical sites and link to their friends ' sites, creating massive (and massively addictive ) catacombs of people and their quirks .