SOCIAL NETWORKING

What are some ways (corporate and otherwise) that these technologies can be used?
There are many ways in which social networking sites can be used like: to keep in contact with old fiends, make new friends, manage your network of friends. It is also great opportunity for business to advertise. Social networking are also used in the corporate level. For example, facebook offers networks, where users can join if they belong to those networks. MTV has a network in facebook. Only workers from MTV can join this network. Once in the network, the users are able to interact only with the members of that especific network.

What are the benefits of these technologies to society? Be specific.
Personally, I dont think there are real benefits from using social networking sites, except from Twitter. Twitter is different because users in Twitter share specific infromation or ideas that are relevant to other users. For example, CNN has a Twitter account and they update their statuses with breaking news. Followers of Twitter benefit by checking the statuses and being informed about wolrdwide news.

Is there a "dark side"?
There as been numerous cases in which social networking sites such as Myspace and Facebook
were used in other to intimidate, stalk and even kill. Several cases have been brought that involved theses networking sites.
There are also risks as mentioned in "A Freakonomics Quorum by Stephen J. Dubner" where employers are now googleling future employees and checking their profiles and pictures. So if you have pictures that are unappropiate its better to delete them and not post them at all.

Make sure to include your opinion of the way these technologies might evolve in the future.
The only way that i can picture social networking sites evolving is by the development of mashups that include social networking and and some other forms of API.