Despite the fact that The Strength of Internet Ties was somewhat outdated and did give conclusions that were not surprising, it was interesting and important to actually address the impact of social networking sites and email on how people communicate these days. I would agree with the conclusions that these new digital media outlets have not actually affected how much we keep in contact with cores ties and significant ties. It was interesting to see results when this has been a debate that has gone on through much of my life. I feel that at this point if one was going to do such a study today it would be much more focused and difficult to come to conclusions because the ways in which people have their lives online and offline differ so much and are so extensive these days.

Today, probably the easiest way to look at the way in which people try to keep in contact is what method works best for that particular method. I also feel that certain digital media has to grow out of a certain age group/ generation. I feel that new digital media has gone both ways, sometime starting with a digital media that was made more for adults but over the years has come to be obsessively used by younger age groups and vice versa. I feel that these mediums take time to work themselves in to our culture but that the ways of using digital media are ultimately accessible and can be used by anybody.

MySpace and Facebook are good examples of this. I mentioned in class that it is funny when adults have say Facebook. My generation tends to associate Facebook with our age group but its purpose is beneficial for everyone and so it is not surprising that adults would eventually find their ways on to such a social networking site. Another aspect of this that is interesting to think about is the idea of adult people on Facebook compared to younger age groups on Facebook is how the different generations represent themselves. I have personally found that adults that I know that have added me treat Facebook in a different way in which younger people do. The way in which I have found adults to use Facebook is probably how it was when it was first branching out. Today Facebook is a playground of childish stuff that many of us tend to enjoy. Basic things that are intriguing to us are on Facebook. Considering that Facebook seems to be at this point geared toward the younger groups I wonder if it will consider making a Facebook completely geared toward adults.

Someone in class the other day asked what people would do after college with their Facebook? I thought that we had some interesting comments on this. Somebody mentioned that it would be great to look back on it in years to come. This was interesting because it made Facebook seem like a scrap book but just online. I thought that this was an interesting way to think about it especially considering that this "online scrapbook" is public. I guess it makes one also ask the question of how many of us are going to leave our Facebook's online and allow the internet to retain information on years of our lives. I personally like to keep my information relatively private but just having a Facebook is me having my life online and probably for ever. It is interesting that we don't look at it this way. So many of us are exposed and will probably never get out of the web yet we continue to shove that idea to the back of our heads and enjoy being stalkers, keeping in contact and doing whatever else it is that Facebook does to entertain us.