What is social networking and is The Network involved in it?

MySpace and Facebook are two examples of websites to which the expression, social networking, is applied. See the 2006 article (published by Knowledge@Wharton): MySpace, Facebook and Other Social Networking Sites: Hot Today, Gone Tomorrow? The following quote is from the article: (Social networking websites) ... are changing the human fabric of the Internet and have the potential to pay off big for investors, butgiven their youthful user base -- they are unusually vulnerable to the next 'new new' thing. As quickly as users flock to one trendy Internet site, they can just as quickly move on to another, with no advance warning, according to Wharton faculty and Internet analysts.

Our (who we are) definition of social networking online states that it is the building and maintenance of relationships through the formation of virtual communities in which people share common interests. Websites (social sites) attract members who want to place their profiles online, with contact data readily available, so that they reach out to others with similar interests.

The Internet emerged in the mid-1990s as the new frontier of free and open information flow. People in more levels of society around the world than ever before suddenly had a means of connecting, communicating and networking. The rise of the search engine benchmarked the next global informationalization dynamic. Following that was the blog. The ability to virtually build and maintain relationships was there at the beginning of the Internet, so it is yet to be seen whether social networking websites will be attain benchmark status following the blog.

Find Me Here.com was introduced online in 1997 as one of three websites of The Network. By virtue of its name alone, Find Me Here made its statement about the building and maintenance of relationships. A mission statement that focused the combined websites put business networking in the forefront. For more about the development of The Network, CLICK HERE. It appears that social websites are becoming hybrids or, at least, spawning business networking websites. The Network is not a hybrid. From Day One it has been in the niche of business networking that facilitates enterprise and economic development worldwide.

The Global Registry of Contacts is suggested as a place to begin as a member of the target audience of The Network interested in using Find Me Here as a networking resource.

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How does one qualify for a record in the Global Registry of Contacts? ... answer

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How does one apply for a free record in the Global Registry of Contacts? ... apply

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I found a broken link while using The Network. Now what?

Email us a memo by (who we are) by copying and pasting the URL address string of the problem webpage along with the text line or identity of the graphic element where you found it. Graphics used to navigate through The Network are defined in Appendix H of glossary.

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Why are there instructions for sending an email?

The old adage which says, the idle mind is the devil's workshop, holds part of the answer. As you are likely to already know, there are Internet users whose minds are not in gear. Some are children with devious minds and some are cripples whose minds are inexplicably impaired There are certainly cyberthugs in both categories who either spam or perpetrate crimes and create virtual chaos. All of these make it impractical today to operate a free and open online information service with an email address that is a text link as The Network was able to do for several years. Instructions are necessary, in our case, to allow serious email inquiries to be easily separated and prioritized. We regret any inconvenience but you'll need to follow instructions to send us (who we are) an email or run the risk of having your inquiry trashed upon arrival at our server. FYI. the idle mind quote was found at www.worldofquotes.com/author/Proverb/36/index.html.

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What is the best search engine for querying the Global Registry of Contacts?

The original search tool which was installed when Find Me Here.com was introduced in 1997 remains available. It's useful because you can search for words that begin with capital letters, such as the names of contacts and the names of locations. We (who we are) suggest trying a Find Me Here search first. The Google/.network search engine is also available to search inside Find Me Here. Also, there are other search engines accessible through The Network.

It really doesn't matter what search resource you use as someone who joins in on our mission because we make a commitment to provide personal assistance for free at anytime you request it. Our aim is to help you be successful in using The Network as an online information service.

What is social networking?

... This definition of social networking coverers interactions of sociability in the real world as well as those online. It is an information exchange that goes beyond a social introduction during which one learns who another person is within the context of community or an event. Social networking is the communal activity which establishes and maintains mutually agreeable relationships beyond that of meeting and greeting. It is a process of sociability in which people become acquainted by sharing common interests, for example, exchanging information about family, friends, neighborly news, hobbies and so on. In other words social networking is about creating and/or sustaining friendships outside the exchange of information for business purposes.

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information from www.findmehere.com/search/infohelp/webpage_explus.htm#hp

The paragraphs below are copied from the webpage represented by the above URL address string. The duplication aids searches for keywords which were at one time published here in answer to a question that is no longer frequently asked. Page up for answers to other questions that continue to be often asked of The Network or to Google the Web for answers to other questions. If you have a question for The Network, CLICK HERE.

More than 50% of visitors to websites never get past home pages according to Marketing lessons from E-failures reported in The McKinsey Quarterly (2002). At about the same time another report stated that 60% of visitors never bother to use the scroll barmore.

According to the last report we've seen, 40% of the people online don't select linked graphics, even those images which are clearly buttons that aid navigationmore.

According to key findings from several years of surveying business decision makers (members of the target audience of The Network) building and maintaining relationships with peers ... is the leading source of information influencing. The surveys also indicated that visiting with decision makers is the most effective way to promote ... business networking is more effective for generating interest in a place seeking economic development than is advertising. See comments about publishers of business periodicals and directories for more information about the status of advertising and how to best draw the attention of prospects to locations.

The last report from the subject surveys was done at a time when area and local development contacts were rushing to publish information, such as their community profiles, online ... sixty-five percent of respondents indicated a strong likelihood that they would use an economic development organization’s website in their next site location searchmore.

There is also a paragraph about politics and economic development with notes taken from comments in a blog by an executive, Ted Levine, of DCI/Development Counsellors International, New York, NY. Andy Levine (Andrew T. Levine) is the DCI executive who has made presentations regarding the findings of the surveys mentioned in the two paragraphs above.

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