Main Page | See live article | Alphabetical index See also: Chat Client Social Networking describes the process of connecting individuals via friends, relatives, and acquaintances--a person's "personal network." These networks can then branch out and allow friends to connect with people inside their accepted social circle, allowing for a perceived greater sense of security, compared to someone perceived as being anonymous and random. Social networking has emerged as a phenomenon in 2003, allowing the newly-populous Internet to serve as both a buffer and a safety net for introduction to friends by friends once possible only in person. This type of social interaction on the Internet is a logical extension of the Blog and Instant Messaging phenomena: blogs allow for a more community of personal inquirry and thought while IM systems allow for only accepted users to chat. Being Choosey Some users of networking systems choose friends quickly and seemingly indiscriminately. However, previous authors have recommended users of such systems be more choosey: picking only persons they know and trust. External Links Examples of Social networking systems Friendster - a social networking website. (Wikipedia) Huminity - a social networking downloadable client that requires less work by the server. This allows them to handle growth better than Friendster but the program is not cross-platform; available only for Windows. This article is from Wikipedia. All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.