Ever wondered what Facebook and Twitter are all about and how it applies to you?  .

Such sites are called social networks and consist of an electronic network set up to link individuals who want to connect on-line through their work, their school, their friends, their hobbies, or their relationships. 

Twitter is similar, but in a more immediate way.  Twitter updates are often used to capture quick thoughts or impressions, and is not a place to really expound on deep issues. Facebook isn't either, but at least you get a bit more space to expound your ideas there. 

Social networks in general are based on network theory which studies "nodes" - in our case the individual and "ties" - their relationships.  If you are on any of these sites, you will see how complex the relationships can get within a very short time. 

You may be getting "friend" requests or "tweets"  from the girlfriend of the son of your friend...or your neighbor's realtor's daughter's cheerleader fan page...and so it goes...proving what we've known all along - we're all connected in some way.  If you've ever played that game called Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon...you know how this works. 

Surprisingly, these networks are playing a huge role in how America does business these days.  More and more users are using these social networking sites to look for jobs, to advertise their business or product and to organize grass roots political messages.  They have taken hold in surprising places - such as with senior citizens who are getting more and more tech savvy, and want those instantly uploaded cell phone pix of their grandkids! 

All kinds of imitators are popping up as well.  In the general social network category there's Aardvark, MySpace, Bebo, Tagged, and many others. But there are also subject specific networks like Flickr for photographers, Imeem, Buzznet,  and Gogoyoko for music lovers, and Anobii, Goodread, and LibraryThing for booklovers, not to mention the business links like LinkedIn, Cake Financial, FledgeWing, and Meet the Boss.  There's even a special network for babyboomers called Eons, one for Moms called CafeMom, and one for you scifi and fantasy lovers called Elfland.   

They are springing up everywhere, and people are loving them.  Bosses are begining to monitor Facebook usage, and disallow texting during work hours because they have become so popular.  Like any new fad, one can get carried away with "posting" in the beginning, but the point is we are all finding ways to connect.  And we are doing it more often.

If any of these ways of connecting bother you, and you yearn for face to face interaction....there's still video blogs! 

Enjoy your connections!