
JANUS.NET, e-journal of International Relations
ISSN: 1647-7251
Vol. 2, n.º 1 (Spring 2011), pp. 70-92
Social networks: communication and change
Gustavo Cardoso e Cláudia Lamy
77
possibilities. Users can support causes, institutions or people, and they also have the
opportunity to join debate forums. They can also communicate through asynchronous
messages (a priori, only visible to them), chats, and through public posts, accessible to
all their contacts. In the case of the latter, users’ direct contacts (or indirect, if so
determined) may comment on content and have the possibility to share it.
Currently, Facebook is the social network on the Internet that brings together a greater
number of supporters (517.480,460 users worldwide, and 149.976,980 individuals
registered in Europe alone
3
), giving rise to such devotion as to elicit the emergence of
p
athological behaviours
45
. As a result of this success, its advertising revenues have
been increasing exponentially, surpassing the highest expectations: in 2009, they
reached $ 800 million, with net income of tens of millions
6
. Thus, Facebook becomes a
"mediated communication from one-to-many", since each user knows who his/her
"friends" are, as he/she authorizes their "friendship." Only after acceptance by the
friend can he start being a "friend" to the person who invited him.
Twitter has other characteristics, because it is a form of microblogging
7
based on the
instant publishing of text of up to 140 characters. Twitter allows the use of instant text
messaging, primarily to share experiences and opinions among communities of citizens
(Java, Song, Finin & Tseng, 2007: 2; Miard, 2009: 2). However, not everyone uses it in
the same way: whereas some are constant sources of information and commentary,
others just watch the dissemination of opinions, without active participation.
According to a study conducted on these microbblogers, the most common posts focus
on the daily routine, on what the user is doing at the moment and on his/her particular
mood (Java, Finin, Song & Tseng, 2007: 6/7). In what regards talks, there is no
possibility for direct response to a message posted by a third person, as with Facebook,
which is why users have chosen to use the "@" symbol followed by the username of the
user with whom they want communicate.
The dissemination of constantly updated daily information is also one of the most
interesting applications of Twitter, and has already proven to allow a very rapid
awareness of the user population, apart from being a simple way for those who do not
have other ways of communicating their indignation with regimes that are dictatorial or
restrictive of freedom of expression
8
(Correia, undated: 4). In fact, due to the media
c
onvergence , it is now possible to use mobile phones for text messaging instead of
accessing the homepage, enabling the dissemination of a variety of content from any
location.
Of course all this ease of access and unrestricted content has less positive implications:
the danger of misinformation, especially if propagated by the strongest hubs. Rumours
3
See.: http://www.facebakers.com/countries-with-facebook/
4
Obsession medical clinics: http://www.ionline.pt/conteudo/52583-viciados-no-facebook-ja-ha-clinicas-
tratar-obsessao.
5
See.: http://www.facebakers.com/countries-with-facebook/
6
See:h
ttp://www.tvi24.iol.pt/media-e-comunicacoes/facebook-redes-sociais-media-internet-agencia-
financeira/1171052-5239.html.
7
It differs from blogging, particularly because it only allows a small number of characters and because it
i
s related to a rate of updates that is much greater than blogging (Java, Song, Finin & Tseng, 2007: 2)
8
The organisation Reporters Sans Frontières (v.g. http://en.rsf.org/) fights for press freedom. It has
headquarters in Paris and offices in several countries. Its site, built in three languages, maps out the
aggressions of authoritarian governments against journalists and the media (Moraes, 2001: 8).