I didn’t realize the full impact that social networking was having on our lives until yesterday. I have spent most of my growing up years and teenage years with social networking all around me to some extent. Myspace was popular when I was just starting middle school, so in the years that I actually cared about talking to other people my age, social networking was right there with me. Thinking about how things changed as time went on concerning social networks is kind of a blind spot for me. I’m part of that age group that didn’t have internet as a main function while I was little, but by the time I was old enough to care about using a computer, the internet was there in full force.

I came across an app yesterday though that shocked me. Social networking is a big thing. I get that, but I didn’t realize that it had worked itself into just about every single aspect of life that we use. Twitter for quick blurbs, or micro blogs. Facebook for complete connections. Linkedin for business and official use. Flicker for sharing photos. And then I ran across an app called Waze. It is a social networking powered GPS app for the iPhone. The app is internet based, so no data, no maps. Which is not as good as having the maps loaded onto the phone as TomTom does, but this has great features in other ways. Of course the app is free, and once you sign into an account you can see all the features that it has.

The turn by turn directions aren’t bad. They get the job done, and you go from point a to point b without much issue. What I really liked though, was the fact that as you drive, little blurbs pop up all around you. Letting you know where people are running into traffic, or see a cop sitting on the side of the road. By monitoring your speed and seeing if you are in stop and go traffic, it has a pretty clear indication of what the traffic patterns around you are. The thing that really surprised me though, was the amount of people around me that were using the App. While I know I live in a very populated city, and that affects how well the app works, I still was surprised at the numbers.

Social networking is starting to make real changes in how people connect and do things. I didn’t see it before. I really didn’t. But I’m starting to now.