Matt Bush

CS73N

April 27, 2007

Intent of project:

• My website will document and present a study of current social networking sites, as well as an analysis of the coverage they get in news and blogs.
• I hope to provide an organized and thorough analysis of today’s biggest social networking sites in terms of the social impact they have on their clients.
• I am excited to do research in a topic that is current, relevant, and full of potential, yet something that has not been explored academically. I believe there is a lot to be learned about social behavior by viewing social networks from a scientific and a consumer perspective.
• Ideally, this site will be a stepping stone into larger-scale Internet content research for me. In the long run, I want to explore the idea of social networking sites as social services instead of commercial sites.

Content I will include:

• One section will provide basic data on major social networking sites. The sites’ population, their target users and audiences, their core philosophy, their growth over time, major features they offer, and milestones they have reached are all important facts to consider when making a deeper analysis.
• The next section will be the in-depth analysis of website features. I hope to compare sites’ multimedia potential, their profile layout and customizability, the presentation of their privacy policies, and anything else that sets them apart. I can use news articles and blog sites to get outside opinions on these sites’ development. I can also explore and analyze social issues websites have faced such as online harassment, password theft, child safety, use in schools.
• Lastly, I want to present a prediction of the social networking sites of the future, based on my findings in the above sections. In general, sites will most likely provide a broader range of features such as project collaboration, online trading, etc. Sites will branch out to new audiences such as a broader age group. And sites will be accessible and fully-functional through external devices such as cell phones.

Benefit to my audience:

• My primary audience is social networking clients. Clients can look through my data to learn more about the sites they hear about every day. They can learn more about the social issues that websites face and what that means for their own safety. Parents and teachers can make informed decisions about what websites they feel their children or students should be using.
• My secondary audience is website entrepreneurs and developers. I provide easy access to the knowledge of and perspectives of social networking sites found on Internet news and blogs. By comparing and analyzing site features and policies, I give them brainstorming material for creating powerful, stable new sites.