Online Communication
The online communication boom has given rise to an incredible variety of tools that connect people from every corner of the globe. Among the most prevalent of these tools are e-mail and social media. The incredible fact of the matter is that just a decade ago, these online platforms were in their infancy. Since then, web-giants like Facebook, Twitter, and Google have risen the ranks to become among the most recognizable icons of technology. To this day, the online communication continues to evolve with the implementation of new video chat capabilities and even faster speed. The future seems bright, as these sites show no signs of slowing down.
Types of Online Communication
Blogs
Short for "web logs', blogs are a personal log of thoughts, or online diary. The rise of the blog and its introduction into mainstream popularity coincided with the advent of web-publishing tools that allowed authors to post content without advanced technical knowledge of HTML and other codes. Blog topics vary from personal thoughts, to technical advice, to philosophical outlooks on life. They often feature a steady stream of content and are displayed in chronological order so that most recent posts appear first. Many blogs now feature an interactive aspect such as the ability for readers to add comments, making blogs, in a way, a form of social networking. Though the typical blog is text-based, some focus on art (art blogs), photographs (photoblogs), or are in the form of videos (vlogs). There are over an estimated 150 million blogs in existence, each taking its own unique form and shape. If you are considering starting a blog, visit blog-builders such as Wordpress or Blogger. When blogging, keep in mind that frequent and captivating content is key to maintaining a healthy follower group. Keep in mind your intended target audience and base content around that.
Email, or electronic mail, is possibly the greatest achievement in communication since the invention of the modern telephone. It's purpose is to allow an author to send a digital message containing text, image, sound, links, or even video, to another person over the internet. Early precursors to email required both the sender of the message and the recipient to be online simultaneously (similar to current instant-messaging applications), however the modern email server system eliminates that hassle. Standard current email service-providers feature an inbox for received mail as well as the ability to compose and send mail. Users are required to register an email-address, which acts similar to a real-life address for tangible mail to be delivered to. Since the inception of email, it has become a crucial tool in business and long-distance communication. The growing pace of globalization has also been partially attributed to the widespread adoption of email as a communication medium, as opposed to long-distance phone calls or even face-to-face contact and discussion. Companies now frequently use email because of its speed, flexibility, reliability, and unrivaled convenience. As email continues to grow and solidify its position as a tool critical to society, competition between email service-providers has skyrocketed, resulting in new features as each service attempts to win your choice. Also, email is typically free nowadays, giving it yet another advantage over postal mail. Though email has certainly gotten us one step closer to a paperless society, it also has one major drawback: spam. Sent in ridiculous amounts, spam is online junk mail sent by companies. It clutters your inboxes and gets in the way. Thankfully, spam filters have become increasingly effective, bringing email one step closer to the perfect medium of communication.
Social Networking
Put simply, social networking is a way for one person to meet up with other people on the internet. People commonly use social networking sites for meeting new friends, finding old friends, or locating people who have the same problems or interests they have, known as niche networking. The concept of the web-based social networking service is to connect people with similar interests across political, geographic, and economic borders, and to provide an additional mode of communication over the internet. Most social networking sites include the option to create a profile, as well as the ability to post updates and other information about yourself while viewing that of others. Social networks are currently seeing a spike in popularity, as more people adopt social networking sites as their own digital scrapbooks. Recently, they have also become a critical tool in the arsenal of freedom fighters abroad, a recent example being the Twitter Revolution in Iran.
Popular Social Networking sites include Facebook, Twitter, and the emerging Google +, among countless other up-and-coming sites.