Jeronimo Plata English Composition 1 Professor Wendy L.

Lym 9/30/11 In Reading and Writing About Social Networking Sites: Making Friends and Getting Poked, Cristina DeLuca writes in favor of social networking sites, saying they offer new college students . . .opportunities to remake identity. . . and provide . . .a flattering first look into a students personality (100, 101). The article was written in 2009, amidst the recent social networking phenomenon among college students in the Unites States. The article serves to highlight the beneficial nature of social networking sites; in particular, their ability to help students make friends and or remake identity. Throughout the article, the author emphasizes the role profile pictures play in making a first impression on a social networking site: The profile photo on the top of the page is the key component of all social networking websites and sets the tone for the entire profile (DeLuca 101). In the main body of the article, the author seems to categorize profile pictures into three groups, corresponding to the users they regard: . . .the profile photo exists in three varying forms: the photo of the user surrounded by friends or in a social situation, the artsy self-portrait, and the irreverent photo. All three types of images represent the first impression of the profile page, summing up the site user in one single frame (Deluca, 101). The article gives valuable insight into the ways social networking websites are used by students, and how those students are subsequently perceived through their use of those websites. While DeLuca makes a good argument for the beneficial nature of social networking sites, one wonders if the efficacy of these websites to affect a users social life and or identity is not exaggerated. Work Cites

Deluca, Cristina. Reading anf Writing About Social Networking Sites: Making Friends and Getting Poked The World Is A Text. 3rd ed. Eds. Jonathan Silverman and Dean Rader. Upper Saddle Rider, NJ: Pearson/Prentice Hall, 2009. 100-102. Print.