Social software

What is social software?
Social software is a category of software systems primarily used to enable collaboration and communication between users. Examples of social software are:

- instant messaging
- Email
- Internet forums
- Chat rooms
- Wikis (websites that viewers can edit)
- web blogs
- Social network services (participants who communicate about common interests such as hobbies or causes)
Social software is often defined as bottom-up social development. Usually the participants are classless and voluntary and have earned respect and trust among one another. Often lasting and lasting relationships are created by members with common interests, goals, mindsets, tendencies, factions or associations.

Other less common categories for social software include the following:

Search engines for social networks: A class of search engines that filter results, usually in one of two categories - Explicit, that explicitly have social relationships (like friends, relatives, or coworkers) and Implicitly, people find other, indicated a trusted social network (like one with a shared Point of view that may be political or religious).

Deliberative Social Networks: Designed for discussion, discussion, and decision-making. They are often used to create relationships between individuals and governments.

Commercial social networks: Designed to create brand loyalty and use customers to source ideas for improving products, product deliveries, and services.

Social guides: Recommend places for travelers to visit, eat, and be entertained.

Social bookmarking: Individuals share their bookmarks or "favorites" so that they can share with others who can choose from favorite websites. Businesses may have similar social software that enables sharing of relevant websites, known as enterprise bookmarking.

Social cataloging: Common among academics, these consist of collections of quotations or sources of information on common research or study subjects.

Social online storage: File archives of many types and often peer-to-peer (P2P) technology that enables the public distribution and sharing of files.

Virtual worlds: Allow individuals to meet and interact with other people in a fictional virtual environment. Chat or voice functions are often used, sometimes referred to as virtual reality.
But there are also social software critics, especially in the business world, where social software employees can be very time consuming. Perceived social obligations through diverse communication can create distractions from daily work and responsibilities - affecting dozens and sometimes thousands of employees. While any communication can be very brief, the cumulative impact on an organization can be significant enough to impact productivity.