Appendix E. The History of Social Networking, the Internet, and Smartphones

Not so many years ago, when a new college student drove off to college for the first time the parents asked, "Do you have enough change to use a payphone and call home in an emergency on your trip?" Today, this concept of carrying change for a payphone is largely a thing of the past; the vast majority of us carry cell phones. Payphones used to be on the side of every highway and in the parking lot of every gas station. Now, these payphones are becoming rare. It is just assumed that everyone has access to a cell phone. In fact, a lot of people do not even have land lines in their home. After all, why should you pay for two phones when you are always reachable on your cell phone?

Now, when your child sets off to college, you warn them, "Do not text while driving". The cell phone is not just an instrument for making phone calls. Texting has become a preferred use.

Texting allows the user to quickly communicate with another person without interrupting whatever they are doing. It is quiet and has even resulted in the creation of a new language. Instead of telling someone that their comment was funny, one might text LOL (laughing out loud). Do you need to take a quick break? Just type BRB (be right back). The list of acronyms can seem endless, and is changing at a breathtaking pace. Among some, these acronyms have even begun to leave the mobile space and enter our daily conversation, as commonly used words.

Another significant cultural force in recent decades has been the phenomenon of the so-called social networking sites. For example, if someone wants to keep up with you, the first thing they might ask is, "Are you on Facebook?" Families keep up on Facebook, sharing photos or videos of the baby's first steps. In fact, it has become rare for people to exchange phone numbers, because many would rather communicate online than by voice. With many modern smartphones, phone numbers have actually become relatively unnecessary, as you can simply click on the username or the Facebook ID of your friend, and then automatically get connected to them, through the account's associated phone number. Another primary advantage of social networking sites is that you can communicate on Facebook regardless of the time; no more worrying about waking your friend up in the middle of the night if you want to send them a quick message.

Another use that has become popular is to find people you may not have heard from in a long time. You can search Facebook and resume old friendships, and you can even rekindle old romances.