Seventy-six percent of American adults online ###### social networking sites such as Facebook, ######, Twitter, LinkedIn and Pinterest, as of ###### 2015, up from 26 percent in ######. On social media sites like these, ###### may develop biographical profiles, communicate with ###### and strangers, do research, and share ######, photos, music, links and more.

Proponents ###### social networking sites say that the ###### communities promote increased interaction with friends ###### family; offer teachers, librarians and students ###### access to educational support and materials; ###### social and political change; and disseminate ###### information rapidly.]]>
History Of Social Networking Sites

SixDegrees.com, which existed from 1997-2001, is ###### the first social networking site because ###### allowed users to create personal spaces ###### connect to friends online. Friendster, created ###### 2002, popularized social networking in the ###### States but was quickly outpaced by ###### social networking sites such as MySpace (######), Facebook (2004), Twitter (2006), Pinterest (2009), ###### Google+ (2012).

Facebook reached one billion ###### users worldwide on October 4, 2012, ###### it the most popular social networking ###### with 1 in 7 people on ###### planet as members.]]>
User And Advertiser Demographics

As the sites have ###### increasingly popular, the user base has ###### from teenagers and young adults to ###### more people over the age of ######. Although Facebook began in 2004 as ###### site for college students with logins ###### to those with .edu e-mail addresses, ###### September 2006 it opened registration to ###### and as of January 15, 2014, @@.@ percent of users were 18-24 years ######, 24.4 percent were 15-34 years old, @@.@ percent were 35-54, and 15.6 percent ###### 55 and older.]]>
Role Of Social Networking In Politics And Social Change Social networking sites play a large ###### in shaping the political landscape. In ###### 2016 presidential race, candidates Hillary Clinton ###### Donald Trump consistently campaigned via social ###### sites.

The first presidential election to ###### significantly affected by social media was ###### 2008 presidential race between Barack Obama ###### John McCain. More than a quarter ###### U.S.]]>
On June 12, 2009, the White ###### announced via the White House Blog, ###### it was joining Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, ###### and Flickr in order to "create … unprecedented opportunity to connect you to ###### government in order to obtain information ###### services and to participate in policymaking." ###### the social media sites was part ###### the administration's efforts to meet President @@@@@'@ call to "reform our government so ###### it is more efficient, more transparent ###### more creative."

Twitter's then-CEO Dick Costolo ###### the 2012 election the "Twitter election."]]>
The protests ###### Tunisia, which spawned the Arab Spring, ###### fueled and organized by social media, ###### were protests in Egypt and Iran. ###### governments of those countries censored and ###### to shut down the social media ######. In response to the censorship, Hillary ######, then the U.S.]]>
Loss Of Productivity And Security Concerns

Companies ###### struggle to balance employee social network ###### at work for business purposes, which ###### raise revenue and the company image, ###### employee access for personal use, which ###### lead to lost revenue from decreased ###### and security breaches. In 2012, 64 ###### of employees reported visiting non-work related ######, with 41 percent saying they visited ######, 37 percent visited LinkedIn, 28 percent ###### Google+, and 8 percent visited Twitter.]]>
A January ###### study published in the Journal of ###### Developmental Psychology found that college freshmen ###### over two hours a day on ######, a habit that harmed their grades.]]>
Social media is now pervasive ###### our world with existing social networks ######, niche social networking sites being created ###### educators, medical professionals and other groups, ###### new social media sites popping up ######, all accessible 24 hours a day ###### computer, tablet, smartphone and Internet-enabled devices.

###### of social media cheer on the ###### and possible advances to society, while ###### worry the dangers and wasted time ###### outweigh any benefit.]]>