Social Networking-Is It The New Trend?

In the past few years we have seen the emergence of the “Social Network” which, according to Wikepedia is “a social network made of individuals or organizations. It indicates the ways in which they are connected through various social familiarities ranging from casual acquaintance to close familial bonds.”

Recently, the term social networking has referred to a category of Internet applications which use a variety of tools to help to connect friends, business partners or other individuals. Online social networks date back to 1995 with the emergence of Classmates.com, followed shortly after by Company of Friends in 1997, then SixDegrees.com. By 2005, MySpace was getting more page views than Google.

There are many discussions about where social networking is headed next. Social networks today are mainly Web pages where people begin with an address book and expand their network by adding friends. Protuo takes this to a new level by opening the network to employment circles and providing an entire Web site for each individual blogger.

According to Richard MacManaus of Read/WriteWeb, in June 2006, 2 out of every 3 people online visited a social networking site. Since January 2004, the number of people visiting or taking part in one of the top online social networks has grown by over 109 percent. Social networking sites are now approaching the traffic of Google and Yahoo. As seen in the graph below, social networking is now part of the Internet user’s mainstream.

Aware of the growth and potential of Social Networking, Protuo designed its product to not only help aggregate information, but capitalize on this growing trend and take it one step further to help companies and jobseekers connect with each other. Each Web site provides a blog for the individual, a place where a person can inquire about a job or type of work or even a corporation. This is an open forum for the free flow of information. It is important to understand that this is a community, not just a job board. It goes back to the old adage, “Getting a good job is partly dependent on whom you know.” While education, experience and reputation certainly play their roles, Social Networking allows people to strike up relationships and educate themselves to better prepare for their future employment.