The early-August suicide of a 14-year-old British girl and her father’s anguished Facebook posts about it has prompted the website Ask.fm to beef up its anti-bullying tools and practices. It has also reignited the debate over the extent of online bullying and its impact. Ask.fm is a Latvia-based site that allows users to pose and […]
Social networking has spread around the world with remarkable speed, and large numbers in many nations are posting their views about pop culture online, while community issues, sports and politics are also popular topics. Meanwhile, as cell phones have become nearly ubiquitous, people are using them in a variety of ways, including texting and taking pictures, and many smart phone users also access job, consumer and political information.
Cell phones are owned by large majorities of people in major countries around the world, and they are used for much more than just phone calls. In particular, texting is widespread in both wealthy nations and the developing world. Social networking is also popular in many nations around the globe.
In regions around the world – and in countries with varying levels of economic development – people who use the internet are using it for social networking. Other forms of technology are also increasingly popular: cell phone ownership and computer usage have grown significantly across the globe over the last three years, and they have risen dramatically since 2002. Consistently, these technologies are especially popular among young people.
Although still a relatively young technology, social networking is already a global phenomenon. A 22-nation survey finds that in regions around the world, people who use the internet are using it for social networking. Cell phone ownership and computer usage are also increasingly popular across the globe.
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