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Throughout
the history of man, socialization methods and trends have changed
with the turn of each century and even decade; the old ways of
socialization have become archaic and useless. As the world becomes
smaller due to globalization, social trends have shifted more
towards social networking websites such as Myspace or Facebook to
satisfy the social needs. These social networking websites have
become among the fastest growing industries in the new world
economy. Myspace and Facebook, as best examples for the emerging
trends, have made it easier for different social barriers that have
existed in the past to be broken. The websites themselves allow
their users to freely personalize and share the ideas among each
other.
As the age of
digital technology grows, YouTube has emerged as a leader in the
industry of digital video sharing. YouTube has made it possible for
its users to globally share digital made videos of memorable
moments, events and experiences that the user has encountered. This
social networking site has shifted some considerable power from
large corporation such as Viacom to the average individual.
Like with
every new technology, this new social trend comes with its share of
problems. The main problem behind Myspace and Facebook so far has
been the amount of negative exposure some of the younger users have
faced. These websites have enabled harmful characters to have easy
access to minors who before this were protected from such contact.
Although
YouTube has empowered the Individual, it has done so at the
detriment of large corporation by infringing on some copyright laws
in place. Large corporations such as Viacom, MSN, and fox have filed
large suits against YouTube and its mother company Google for
various violations of copyright laws.
Social
networking websites as a concept helps to fill the void created by
the departure of the old socializing trends, and the new global
market. In order to eradicate the major problem of negative exposure
behind websites such as Myspace and Facebook, parents and other
authority figures need to exercise some kind of influence and
control to the younger users. Also although the sites are protected
by 1st Amendments rights, government monitoring would
help deter such harmful characters.
As for the
problem with copyright infringement, YouTube and the big media
giants should enter into a strategic alliance where the copyright
would not be violated. As an industry, YouTube generates revenue,
and if it enters in an agreement where it would buy the license from
the copyright holder, that should hopefully avoid violating
copyright laws since all parties would be satisfied.
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