The Optimist
  • Home
  • About
    • Advertise
    • Policies
    • Staff Contacts
    • Jobs
  • News
  • Sports
  • Opinion
    • Columns
    • Editorials
  • Multimedia
    • Photo Galleries
    • Videos
  • Features
  • Print Edition
    • The Pessimist
    • Special Projects
  • Police Log
  • Classifieds
You are here: Home / Opinion / Columns / Social networking gains popularity

Social networking gains popularity

January 13, 2010 by Sondra Rodriguez

Since 2000, I’ve had the ability to meet my potential spouse without leaving the couch. Since 2003, if I think I look particularly hot, I can take a picture in my bathroom with the towel rack in plain sight and post it online. Since 2004, I’ve been able to rekindle elementary school friendships and discover my best friend’s roommate during sophomore year dated the older brother of a girl I sat next to on the bus in sixth grade.

And since 2006, I can take my virtual friends along during my night out with a play-by-play that usually goes something like this:

“This is what I’m doing now.”

“This is what I’m doing five minutes later.”

And, “Nothing has changed – this is still what I’m doing.”

The past decade birthed a few of the most popular social networking sites today: eHarmony, MySpace, Facebook and Twitter. They allow us to portray an identity we choose and keep up with news and gossip without having to read a newspaper, watch the news or ask around. Who needs any of that when we receive Tweets summarizing a 350-word news story in 140 characters or less?

Now, suppose these four networking tools are destroyed in the coming decade. People are forced to date like they did in the ’90s. They will only wonder what happened to their best friend in high school. And they’d have to find another way to feed their desire to receive news right this second. We’ve become quite addicted to instant answers with an iPhone in hand. We’re pros at editing a profile picture and compiling quirky self-defining quotes.

But as social networking continues to develop, we must remember how we used to survive. We must remember that before the Internet, people managed to fall in love. People managed to maintain relationships and be aware of the world around them. People managed to get by.

Keep in the mind the danger of letting our personability lag behind our ability to flirt via instant messenger because eHarmony will not last forever, and I might outlive Facebook, MySpace and Twitter. Networking does indeed open doors for intellectual, social and personal development, but in the coming years, don’t forget how we managed all of that 10 years ago.

Filed Under: Columns

Other Opinion:

  • Tariffs are the last thing struggling students need

  • Gen Z won the election for Donald Trump

  • A Swift rebuke: When it comes to politics, celebrities just do not get it

About Sondra Rodriguez

You are here: Home / Opinion / Columns / Social networking gains popularity

Other Opinion:

  • Tariffs are the last thing struggling students need

  • Gen Z won the election for Donald Trump

  • A Swift rebuke: When it comes to politics, celebrities just do not get it

Follow us online

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Optimist on Twitter

Retweet on Twitter The Optimist Retweeted
optimistsports Optimist Sports @optimistsports ·
26 Jun

The United Athletic Conference is officially taking the place of the Western Athletic Conference in the 2026-2027 athletic year. The UAC is a joint football effort between the WAC and the ASUN but will now extend to all sports. #acuoptimist #acuathletics #wac #uac

Reply on Twitter 1938240320854008109 Retweet on Twitter 1938240320854008109 2 Like on Twitter 1938240320854008109 7 Twitter 1938240320854008109
Retweet on Twitter The Optimist Retweeted
ashleyh1607 Ashley Henderson @ashleyh1607 ·
3 Jun

My second year at ACU was full of opportunities that grew me as an individual and a journalist.

In my first year as editor in chief of @acuoptimist, we published six print issues, filmed a 3-hour live election show, and revamped our newscast, all while producing news weekly.

Reply on Twitter 1929734328445178254 Retweet on Twitter 1929734328445178254 1 Like on Twitter 1929734328445178254 1 Twitter 1929734328445178254

Optimist on Facebook

The Optimist

1 years ago

The Optimist

Video

View on Facebook
· Share

Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linked In Share by Email

The Optimist

2 years ago

The Optimist
"Ending my college education early was always the plan for me, but the things that I have been able to see, experience and examine about ACU’s community were not. I have found immense growth in ACU over the past three and a half years, but ACU still has a long road to climb if it wants to keep catering to students as the world changes around them." To read more of this article visit acuoptimist.com or click the link in our bio. #acu #abilenechristianuniversity #privatechristianuniversity #collegestudentopinion #acuopinion ... See MoreSee Less

Photo

View on Facebook
· Share

Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linked In Share by Email

Videos

Optimist Newscast Feb. 28, 2024

Our top stories today include a recap of The Musical Comedy Murders of 1940, the ... [Read More…]

  • Optimist Newscast Feb. 21, 2024
  • Optimist Newscast Feb. 14, 2024
  • Optimist Newscast Jan. 24, 2024

Latest Photos

  • Home
  • About
    • Contact
    • Subscribe
    • Policies
    • Advertising Policy
    • Letters to the Editor and Reader Comments
  • News
  • Sports
  • Opinion
    • Columns
    • Editorials
  • Multimedia
    • Videos
    • Photo Galleries
  • Features
  • Advertise
    • Paid Advertisement
  • Police Log

© 2025 ACU Optimist · All Rights Reserved