Good dialogue everyone, especially Sage
There's a lot of questions based on this, especially since this technology is so new and has not been studied for a a long time.
To answer 'What gives ?' Many things (some of which have been answered by others), one other factor that drives people to use these social networks results from the natural human tendency (some people have it much stronger than others) that we want to display ourselves to other people in order to create and strengthen friendships and relationships.
They're especially big among the 13-25 demographic when our identities are fluid and we're experimenting with our identities. Plus, at that age, we're trying to meet as many people as we can, and the networks really help with that. So, 'friending' people that are randomly
This results in people updating their profile pretty often and it brings up a lot of questions like 'how do I want to appear myself to others ?' (when updating your profile) or 'what does mean when your identity is displayed by your choices of media consumption (categories like 'favorite music/tv show/book/movies' are listed in your profile)' ?
I'm undecided in my major so far, but I'm definitely interested in studying the social/cultural/physcological aspects of newer technologies, especially the internet, and its newest function - online social networks; upon individuals, people's relationships, and society as a whole
I gave a presentation on Facebook a few weeks in my media and pop culture class; and wrote a paper (2 or 3 pg) on it. If you're interested in reading, I'll post it; but be warned, I'm a poor grammatical writer
Catcha back on the flipside,
will.