Following the SNS trend

SOCIAL NETWORKING Service (SNS) has evolved in the direction of broadening our extent of social networking. In addition to providing the virtual space for communication, SNS has now become a route for creating added value of information and media contents: it is well known that even the news about the Haiti earthquake was spread for the first time through Twitter. With the advent of the second and even the third generation of SNS such as me2DAY and Twitter, most Yonseians must have experienced at least one kind of SNS. The Yonsei Annals asked Yonseians "How do you make the most out of your SNS?"

I do Twitter everyday because I am a big fan of indie bands. Some members of indie bands use Twitter to show their daily lives like their concert schedule or news about releasing new albums. Moreover, I could have a chance to communicate with many celebrities like Ahn Chul-soo or Lee Oe-soo. At Twitter, I can just "follow" them and they can also "follow" me to exchange comments if interested. One day, I wrote a comment on the Twitter of Kim Su-hyun, the famous drama script writer in Korea. To my surprise, she "followed" me and replied on my comment on my Twitter. I was able to discuss drama with a master of drama script writing! I think this is possible because "twitting" is very flexible and you can choose to "follow" or not to "follow."

 

I think SNS does no good when I need to focus on working on assignments or studying for exams. The sense of being together which I feel while constantly communicating with my friends online makes me keep using SNS, but this also serves as a disturbance for me to concentrate on something. Sometimes, I feel isolated when none of my friends respond to my contents. Therefore, I try not to log on SNS or messenger programs when I study or do my homework. I do not understand how some people can use SNS and do their assignments at the same time.

 

I think I am literally addicted to Cyworld, one of the most popular SNS in Korea. Whenever I have spare time, I log on to Cyworld right after I turn on the computer, and stay there all day chatting with others and waiting others to write a comment on my diaries or photos. However, I do not think using SNS is always conducive to socializing. Sometimes, communicating with friends too often makes you tired of them. Also, I do not feel much pleasure after meeting people who I haven't seen for a long time because I have kept in touch with them whenever I wanted.

 

I am currently running a blog in Nate. The theme of my blog is "My Green 20s Time," and is mostly composed with my travel stories. I post my pictures taken during the trip and scrap travel spots I wish to visit someday. Since I entered college, I have visited domestic tourist attractions and took many pictures of sceneries there and also myself. I wanted to preserve my beautiful days of 20s and capture the passion of my youth. My blog is invisible to other people unless I invite them to read it. It is like having my secret on-line space, and I love it especially when people who visited my space envy me for visiting those eyecatching spots.

 

In my home country, Kazakhstan, I had my own homepage at a Russian portal site called "Mail." It is a popular SNS provider among many Kazahstani and I shared my daily lives through my homepage. After I came to Yonsei University, Facebook is the one I found very useful among my foreign friends. They use it not only to share news for international students, but also to maximize their social network based on its unique feature. At the front page of one's homepage, you can see the whole connection he or she has and check the updated contents. I saw a lot of foreign students who were not familiar with it also follow this global trend not to be left behind from others.

In regard to socializing with people, I prefer talking face-to-face because SNS has too many distractions. Also, I cannot see any advantages of having my ownonline space. I can be more intimate with others when I meet someone off-line as I get to fully concentrate on the person in front of me. On the other hand, I found many times that online friends just ended up as online friends because through online networking societies, many people do not communicate with others sincerely. Rubbish talks and cheap jokes come and go on the web, such as some people using flattery to woo a girl. Although I do not enjoy using SNS, sometimes I feel compelled to use them, especially when I have meetings for group work in class.

저작권자 © The Yonsei Annals 무단전재 및 재배포 금지