I use facebook very often. It’s the best way to communicate and connect with my friends and family members. I only have a facebook account which means that it’s my only means of keeping in touch with my distanced friends. I only check my facebook whenever I have my laptop and it’s hard not to log on whenever I have access to my laptop. When I first opened my account I critiqued facebook addicts because I found it pointless to share your life on the web. However, slowly but surely I began to realize how great of a resource this social network can be in a college environment. It opens doors to more community involvement and it allows you to meet people similar to you. I also notice that if don’t contribute then people won’t connect or network with you. Part of having this facebook page is that you have to comment, post, share, and find friends in order to effectively create connections and have others connect with you. I probably spend two hours checking my facebook and texting every day.
I think that social networking, constant access, and loss of privacy brings a positive trend as a whole because it enables communication and interaction of humanity. Social networking allows you to talk to someone in real time like if they were next to you, but they are actually somewhere else in the world. Having this creates a sense of a world community because we have no constraints and information can be communicated within seconds. Unfortunately, not everyone has access to a computer or internet excluding some from this world wide community. As far a privacy, we choose to be create an account and we agree to their terms so if you’re sensitive about your privacy then it’s probably not a good idea for you to use a social networking site. Another problem is that a lot of the teens think they are proficient at a technology they don’t fully understand. For example, many don’t know that you can switch your privacy settings on your facebook account or that facebook legally owns everything you publish. However, some of the drawbacks are that you feel like you’re entitled to share your information or else others won’t share with you. This causes people to leave their comfort zone which may be good, but generally it can make them more vulnerable to the outside world. I don’t recall of a time where I felt that I over-shared, but a couple of my friends had to go through some pretty embarrassing times because other friends posted inappropriate pictures of them. They allowed the publication of the pictures thinking that no one would care until they realize that they had become the biggest scandal in high school. Anytime I post something online I ask myself if it’s appropriate, can my friends and family see it, and can my boss see it.
I thought you made a good observation when you mentioned the fact that communicating through Facebook is a two-way street. You noticed "that if you don’t contribute then people won’t connect or network with you." I have also have noticed this and agree that if you don't make an effort to talk to your friends and post on their walls, you usually won't get conversations started.
ReplyDeleteI also like the fact that you ask yourself if what you're putting up online is appropriate for your friends, family and boss to see. I do this as well and think it's a great way to avoid getting in trouble or being embarrassed. And like you, I can't think of a time I have over-shared or posted anything that I have regretted, thank goodness! I think it would be very beneficial for everyone if more people took a little time before they upload information and pictures to fb to ask themselves these simple questions: "can my friends and family see it? And can my boss see it?"
I was never a facebook addict or one that really spent a lot of time on facebook, but now in college, I find myself logging in more often. I too only have a facebook account, so I keep in touch with a lot of my friends through it. My friends and I created a page for our group and we keep in touch by writing short stories or interesting occurrences and respond to each other. It has been a great way for all of us to keep in touch since there are fourteen of us and that would be extremely hard to have been in communication if we were just texting or emailing. You do have a point about the privacy issue that it is the individual’s choice to choose to create a facebook or any other social network account. Everyone should be responsible for how much or how little information they make available for the world to see and should know the risks before releasing anything on the Internet. It is good that you are conscious when it comes to choosing what you post online because it will definitely be better in the long run.
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