Social networking ’shifts’ online communication
Social networking sites may represent a shift in how people communicate online, a data analyst suggested.
According to Reuters, author Bill Tancer, who is also the general manager of Hitwise, asserted that in analysis of search data from over ten million users, a number of social trends have emerged.
He suggested that social networking sites have surpassed the popularity of many other internet sites and added that the search data indicates several new social trends.
For example, the author of What Millions of People are Doing Online and Why It Matters, stated that since Hurricane Katrina, more people have carried out searches for information about tropical storms in the US and that presidential election campaigns in the country have also boosted searches about the candidates.
In addition, Mr Tancer asserted that people are using search engines to double-check information that may potentially be false.
He explained that he expects a new type of software filter that searches for the most accurate information to be developed in the coming years.
"Maybe accuracy is the next thing we will all search for," he said.
In other social search news, YMR Research analyst Jonathan Yarmis said that many firms are still in the first stages of incorporating social software into their websites, Network World reported.
