The Growth of Networks

This week task is writing a review on the reading - Why Networks Matter by Manuel Castells. 

Power does not reside in institutions, not even the state or large corporations. It is located in the networks that structure society
Castells, M. (2004) 'Afterword: why networks matter'. In Network Logic: Who governs in an interconnected world? (pp. 219-224)
< http://www.kirkarts.com/wiki/images/5/51/Castells_Why_Networks_Matter.pdf >




 
Various platforms and services that available for social networking.
Eng-Tips.Nethawk, (2011). Social Network Checklist for Big Technology: branding vs lead generation redux. [online] Nethawk.net [ URL:  
http://eng-tips.nethawk.net/blog/social-network-checklist-for-big-technology-branding-vs-lead-generation-redux ]

[Image retrieved on 11th August 2011]

First, I would like to talk more on phenomena of networks and communication technologies in nowadays. From the image above, we could see there are more than 50 platforms, technologies, and services for networking. I do not even know 80% of them. This is to show how big the network is in our society and the rapid growth of networks in recent.

Facebook is one of the most-trafficked sites in the world and it have over 750 million of active users in 2011.

Danny Yoon, (2011). Social Network Marketing Online Revolution Explosion. [online] betternetworker.com. [URL: http://www.betternetworker.com/articles/view/marketing/social-networking/social-network-marketing-online-revolution-explosion ]

[Image retrieved on 11th August 2011]

One of the famous social networking sites Facebook founded in 2004 with nearly 1 million active users and the active users have been increased to 250 million on July 2009 but now Facebook have over 750 million active users. Facebook increased 500 million active users within 2 years. We could clearly see that, there is a sudden growth of active users between year 2009 and 2011.  According to Manuel Castells, network structured globalization and networks are unlimited. We take Facebook as example, over 750 milllion active users are from worldwide and yes, networks link people together without limitation.  Facebook’s active users may increase in the coming year.

So, what factors push the growth?  In my opinion, facilities of the network could be one of the factors. Facebook with live feed updates, applications, games, and pages increase the efficiency of communication. Thus, more users choose Facebook and Facebook became one of the most trafficked sites in the world. Moreover, peer influences do affect the growth. More friends are switched to Facebook and those who are not using Facebook and who have not use Facebook will start to use it because they want to stay connected with their friends. In addition, the growth and improvements of electronic gadgets, Internet connection, and speed make the networks to become greater. Ways to access to the networks are increasing day by day and we have various electronic gadgets which allow us to do social networking. For example, we are now could use smart phones to log in Facebook, compare to the phones in 2006 which only could make calls, texting, multimedia messaging.  Therefore, we could connect to the networks at anytime and anywhere.

Then, what do networks do? Basically, networks serve as a social utility. People use networks to communicate with friends, family, and coworkers. Certain organizations use networks to expand their business and marketing purposes. Furthermore, politicians could practice communication with public via networks. Networks are good platforms for organizations and individuals publicize or promote information such as events, promotions, cultures, and many more. Furthermore, networks use sophisticated technologies which ease us to communicate people from worldwide. Another interesting function is networks could involve media. We could share music, video, pictures and even live broadcast could take place within the networks. More broadcast organizations use social networks to communicate with their audiences because they could receive direct responses by using live feed or chat within the networks.  All these functions do influence our society in terms of culture, history, economy and many more. It is because networks create more interaction between various parties. For example, DELL use Facebook page to share product knowledge and latest promotion which could attract people from different countries pay more attention to DELL. This could stimulate more desires to buy DELL’s products among the people.

What would happen if the networks are not grown up in 2011? Maybe we are still using the old style of platforms and technologies which forbid us to share more media, no live updates, and bring us boring experiences.  We will lack of some good sources to obtain information and short of the interactive ways to connect with each other. The networks will survive for certain purposes but I believe the efficiency of communication within the networks is not that ideal. Therefore, I think the networks will not be so popular like todays.

In conclusion, Manuel Castells “predicted” networks will grow due to new technologies especially the media and in fact it is true. The high demands to improve quality of lifestyle and communication make the networks grow faster. Now we need to use networks to communication in daily life and also at workplace.