Going back to the roots...
Since first discovering their siblings, humans have had the urge to converse with other humans. Whether happening in the woods around a camp fire, in caves or on mIRC and Twitter, social networking has been a part of our lives since the very beginning.
Although the term “social networking” is generally only used for social activities performed on the Internet (forums, Twitter, hi5 and such), we should not forget that it is another way of saying “socializing.” And that is what got us where we are today. Even if, basically, any form of human interaction is a way of socializing, I'll talk about those that resemble today's definition of social networking. Keep in mind that this subject is due to be less objective than others.
I guess the first social network was the camp fire. A gimmick used even today by people all around the world to interact with others. In the past, cave men would use camp fires to prepare the game they had previously hunted. I'm pretty sure I remember seeing some wall paintings a while back showing cave men interacting with one another while around the camp fire.
And by interacting, I don't mean speaking (although cave men did develop a form of speech, as specialists would tell you). Because interacting, socializing and communicating are done in more ways than just opening your mouth and making a sound that is processed by another's brain into a recognizable word. Anyway, the camp fire is perhaps the oldest social network in the world. Today, we use camp fires for socializing when we're at the mountains or spending a night on the beach. The purpose that camp fires served a long time ago has been replaced by the barbecue.
Another form of social networking and human interactivity, believe it or not, is the theater. Well, at the theater, people meet up and discuss the play that is to follow, daily news or any “common ground” subject. People may go to the opera, or cinema, it’s the same principle. If I were to generally describe this kind of social networking, I guess it would be “people meeting up in order to perform a scheduled activity.” Being a part of the crowd at a soccer match or perhaps supporting your favorite boxer, if it involves a lot of people meeting and interacting, that's social networking.
If we were to talk about social networking as a means of talking to people that are not present in person, I'll enumerate a few. A while back, people used animals such as carrier pigeons to send messages or they even sent people on horseback to deliver their messages (imagine how long you would wait for a Buzz! or Wedge! from someone?).
These methods evolved together with technology. People would send letters via stagecoaches, telegraph and later on via trains with attached mail carts. People around the world would be pen pals, writing letters to each other and getting to know cultural habits and experience things that they were unable to in real life.
Today, however, we have so many forms of socializing that it's pretty hard to keep track of all of them. Going to the club to have fun and meet new people, or meet up with people that you only see in the club are forms of social interaction. Talking on the phone using specialized chatting services is another.
In the beginning, there was mIRC
One cannot write about social networking and forget about the greatest tool for socializing that humanity has ever created: the Internet. Although its use as a tool of live “world wide” human interaction was limited at first, it all changed in 1995, when a guy called Khaled Mardam-Bey created the most versatile Internet Relay Chat client. Its name was mIRC. What made it so popular was that its integrated scripting language made it very easy to modify and use. Users could create their own scripts, channels and commands.
This little fellow created a world wide revolution in social networking (in a good way). People all over the world would connect to the IRC client and chat at night (or day... or night and day) with friends that were continents away. The e-mail started being more than just a way of sending important information and it became a form for people to keep in touch when they were not logged onto the mIRC.
Forums would then become the next thing in social networking. There would be online places where people met and posted opinions regarding a specified subject or just talk like they would on the mIRC except without the live answers (their comments would be read at any time).
Pretty soon after, different social service websites started to appear (although the first were mainly adult-oriented). And this finally brings us to the current generation of social networking and social networking services, that focus on building online groups of people who want to share their interests and activities with others.
The biggest such online social service is most definitely Facebook, a website where people can join freely and connect, interact and share stuff with other persons around the world. Which is basically the idea behind mIRC except on a larger, more complex scale. Of course, if you don't like Facebook, you can always choose from a huge number of services such as Hi5, Twitter and so on.
Social networking on the Internet has been and will be a very disputed subject especially because of the net's “free” nature. As anything someone posts on his or her profile is public knowledge, the general public may freely (although often illegally) use it for their own purpose. This often leads to litigations from different parties that have had materials taken and used in ways not previously intended. After all, socializing is not always a pleasant thing to do.
Even if I have barely scratched the surface on this subject, I'm afraid I have to end here. Should you wish to discuss upon the subject of social networking (or anything else) I am looking forward to reading your e-mails, comments and, why not, forum threads. Let's socialize a bit, shall we?
