Green IT: A Study and Analysis of Environmental Impact of Social Networks and Search Engines

Green IT is a hot topic today and will continue to be an important issue for several years to come and Social Networks and Search Engines too. The use of IT has exploded in several areas, improving human lives and work and offering convenience along with several other benefits. Today in particularly the social networks and search engines are the seventh sense of IT users and professionals. Users are passionate about advances in and widespread adoption of social networks. However, SN (Social Networks) and SE (Search Engines) has been contributing to environmental problems, which most people don’t realize. SN and SE servers need huge amount of data centers and other IT infrastructure. It consumes significant amounts of electricity, placing a heavy burden on electric grids and contributing to greenhouse gas emissions. Additionally, IT infrastructure hardware poses severe environmental problems both during its production and its disposal. Greener Social Network and Green Search Engines benefits the environment by improving energy efficiency, lowering greenhouse gas emissions, using less harmful materials, and encouraging effective use of social networks and search engines. This paper brings out the secret of power consumption and environmental impact of social networking and search engines and it proposes methodology to greener IT.