ABSTRACT
Social networking or connector websites are one type of virtual community. These sites “allow users to create self-identifying profi les, while also empowering them to search for others based on needs, interests, mutual “friends,” contacts or other points of focus” (DiPerna 2006, 2). There are three components to a social networking site: (1) allows individuals to create a public profi le within the site, (2) allows users to identify a list of other users they are connected to, and (3) allows users to view and navigate through the profi les of those they are connected with and view the connections that other users have made (boyd and Ellison 2008). Social networking sites have been around since the mid to late nineties with the second generation of social networking sites appearing in the early 2000s. This second generation of sites, including sites such as Facebook and MySpace, has increased networking options for users, allowing them to interact with each other in more ways. The increase of interaction has in turn increased the options for creating identities online (boyd and Ellison 2008; DiPerna 2006).
