(title)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_networking
I chose to analyze the Wikipedia entry on Social Networking, a huge part of “New Media.” The article summarizes Social networking services, citing that they usually contain representations of users and a means of connecting them. It was created in January of 2005 and has a total of at least 1000 contributors.
I believe the site is a fair representation of what social networking services really are. The wiki page takes a reasonable approach to the subject, first defining social networking, providing examples of social networks, and then explaining applications and controversies regarding social networking tools. The definition of social networking is factual and does not appear to be biased. The article explains typical structures of social networking sites, which again seems factual, as live sites are linked to demonstrate various structures.
The article as a whole takes an unbiased approach. Both positive and negative aspects of Social Networking are explained factually, leaving a reader to determine if networking is something that they’d like to do.
I think a big reason the article is so unbiased is because of the large number of contributors. Having such a large number of views and visitors means that any opinion placed into the article will be countered or deleted by someone of the opposite opinion. Over time, all bias is boiled off and all that remains are the indisputable facts. I think this theory would hold true for most highly trafficked pages.
The most controversial discussions on the discussion page seem to be about the extent of the dangers of social networking. Some claim that users should be warned more severely about the lack of privacy available on some sites. Other discussions involve the concern that many “experts” are simply self appointed social networking experts, and know less than they claim to.
from 3 votes
