Social Networking and Virtual Worlds

What are some ways (corporate and otherwise) that these technologies can be used?

In our time the Internet is one of the fastest growing methods of communications, used for a variety of reasons. Because people can remain anonymous in a virtual world they can also feel free to explore with different types of their identity. You can alter your style of being just slightly different or indulge in wild experiments with your identity by changing your age, history, personality, physical appearance, and even your gender. Building networks is of great importance as it allows us to build relationships between like-minded people. It is not surprising that MySpace and later virtual networking sites, such as FaceBook have become popular. Teens and young adults spend a great deal of time on the computer. Professional recruiters have started hunting for job candidates using social networking technology - like the kind found on the popular sites MySpace and Facebook.("Social Networking Technology Boosts Job Recruiting by Frank Langfitt"). Another form of online social sites that is beginning to gain momentum in the ad industry is virtual worlds. These sites are hybrids between games and social networks. They allow members to develop characters called avatars and then explore worlds and interact with other avatars. One of the leading avatar sets is Secondlife. Toyota, CSI, and other big name companies have put a lot of money into developing sites in Secondlife.
A large hotel chain has built its own hotels in Second Life to test-market a new brand. They’re modifying their hotel designs based on suggestions from their users and how they react to these virtual models.("What’s Next? Your Future in Social Networking"vol 121, p. 42.) National Geographic is currently considering launching sites in Secondlife in order to spread awareness and encourage travel.

What are the benefits of these technologies to society?

Virtual social technologies reduce the cost of doing business. You can pull together an innovation very, very quickly by leveraging thoughts and expertise from around the world.

"Dark side":

NBC News: "The Dark Side of the Web is Second Life"

http://www.centernetworks.com/ second-life-dark-side
NBC News: "The Dark Side of the Web is Second Life" Written By Allen Stern - August 27, 2008 I am not an expert in virtual worlds but on the news tonight there was a segment on Second Life which I thought was worth sharing. The NBC news anchor starts by saying, "The Dark Side of the Web...is Second Life". The segment discusses how parents should keep their teenagers away from Second Life because of all of the sex, porn, drugs, and suicide that occurs in the virtual world.

My opinion of the way these technologies might evolve in the future:

I believe that in the future, social networks will be using everywhere and by everyone. I think it's will be improved in some way, and hopefully became more secure. But any way real life and real communication is better and more enjoyable thing!