Title: LinkIn to Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter
Short Critical Reflection Paper

Arlene Dix

INF103: Computer Literacy (GSD1326I)
Instructor Patricia Anderson
07/19/20013

LinkIn to Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter
We live in a digital age, when being wired in seems as normal as inhalation. Social networking Web sites like Facebook and MySpace cashed in on the computer-toting generation by creating online “social graphs” that allow youths to socialize in cyberspace. Now, with thousands of professionals flocking to these sites as well as to business applications like LinkedIn, some feel it’s becoming necessary to use social networking sites (BusinessWeek, 9/4/07) to stay fresh in a new age of business interaction.
The evidence to substantiate this notion, however, is slim. Although the number of professionals connecting online surged recently, social-networking sites remain inadequate for successfully making new business contacts. Eric Clemons, professor of information management at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, notes that serious business users associate the online social matrices more with spam than substantive relationship building. Unless you’ve already made previous contact, it’s difficult to discern with whom you’re really dealing. The computer screen, after all, offers little more than a résumé with a head shot.
Social-networking sites prove more of a distraction than a tool. The inundation of friend requests and insignificant news feeds on sites like Facebook eat up valuable time that could be spent solidifying contacts in person. “The most effective networking is face to face,” says Stanford business professor Jeffrey Pfeffer. “There’s no substitute for real human contact. It’s less personal online.”( Armstrong, J. Scott. (2011).
Plus, sometimes a level of cyber-anonymity is more convenient than total Web exposure. While sites like LinkedIn and others allow old colleagues, acquaintances, and business