If you have heard of facebook, Myspace, and twitter, chances are you have probably heard of the recent trend that has swept the world. Social networking can keep people close together, even if they live down the street or across the world. Critics agree that social networking sites can serve as a positive role in the users lives, especially in the lives of the primary target, teenagers. But, critics will argue that it can also provide a dangerous environment, not just for teenagers, but for adults as well.
The positive side of social networking is a place where the user can chat with friends and stay up to date on current events. Users can keep their current relationships strong, connect with people from their past, or do a little of both. Users can also join groups that spark their interest or can relate to something, such as a group based on the town you live in or the high school you went to.
The negative side to the whole social networking bit is that users can be stalked very easily by people. This happens when users just put their personal information out there in the public. The information doesn't have to be just words, it can be what is in the pictures posted online. Pictures can give out clues where the users location is and what the user looks like.
Another negative is the most recent, cyber-bullying. It happens when a user posts their thoughts online and then get slammed into rejection by other users, just in the same fashion in schools across the United States.
So, even though the bad out-weighs the good, as long as a user take the appropriate precautions of not giving out their personal information, users should have fun while on social networking sites. That is the reason why they are there, so users can discover new people and have fun in the complicated world of the Internet.
Picture reference:
http://williamtodd.us/blog/2009/02/testing-blip/
I won't allow my children to have their own accounts. It is just too easy to give out the wrong information. Besides class mates, they can just send messages to family through my wife and I.
ReplyDeleteI see what you mean Nate. It isn't the sites themselves that are part of the cons, but rather, how people use them.
ReplyDeleteIt amazes me that the American (and other Countries I'm sure) public assumes that just because a product is available it must not be capable of causing harm.
Like Blankenfurter comments, no matter what the product, parental and adult self-regulated censorship still needs to be exercised.
There are a lot of benefits to an apple, but if a kid picks one up at the super market and wields somebody in the head with it, it becomes harmful.
Good post, Nate. I believe that social networks are going to continue to become more sophisticated, but we'll always need to be vigilant about security.
ReplyDeleteI think that this is a really good post! You show both the positive and the negatives to social networking. And the main reason for these sites...to have fun and meet new and interesting people.
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