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Organizational Behaviour and Organisational Design Prof Dr.Piotr Ploszajski

The new emerging social networksin the World Wide Web

Today investors valued an American company, which is 4 years old and has annual revenues for about 150 million US $, to around 15 billion US $. Incredible what Microsoft just did, they spent 240 million for 1,6 % of the shares of the new emerging social network company so called “Facebook”. We could assume that this is part of the new financial bubble, with all the greed and enormous growth rates, but we have to go deeper with our considerations. There is a business and a private approach to this topic of the new emerging social networks. I want to focus on the private and individual angel. I believe “Facebook” is documenting right now a deep change in our western society. The new networks announce the end of privacy. What is it all about? In the western developed countries, more or less 400 million people use such new networks which are only available online. On their websites you can find yourself and your friends. At first everybody has to create his “own” personal page. You have to publish at least your name and your friends, to “who” you are connected! On top of that, everything is possible. Many users expose themselves to the world. They tell their friends and everybody who “gets lost” on their website what they love to eat & snack, what fashion brand is “cool” and everybody shall have. They write down their own thoughts, post comments about other “friends” and show in this way, which their best friends are,

visible for everybody. What is their favourite song; this is played while you are “checking out” the friend’s page in the background. An enthusiastic application is the “group” sector. Everybody can create one and you can discuss and chat about casual topics like snowboarding, school, anorexia and nightlife. “Facebook” is famous to be open to new applications, created by their users; experts say that this option will...