Social networking has become not only a community gathering, but also an individualistic process. Social networking websites, such as Facebook, Twitter, Linkedn, Pinterest, and Myspace, are used by millions wanting to communicate with family, friends, customers, fans, and business associates. Because the Internet is a big, individualistic medium, people are putting their information, pictures, and writing blogs to advance themselves into job recruitment, and vice versa with businesses looking for new recruits. Dating websites are increasingly trendy, with people who have no time to mingle outside of work, but find a convenience in displaying their information and interests in hopes that someone else will share their same values. Celebrities and powerful leaders connect with their fans and followers, gaining personal trust as well as insight on what the people want. Barack Obama collaboratively used social networking websites to promote his "Change" campaign (profiles, media clips, updates, etc.), correspond with various masses (teachers, unions, other celebrities, organizations, etc.), and fundraise campaign funds (Carr, How Obama Tapped into Social Networks' Power). Can you imagine where that got him?
The benefits to social networking are infinite. It is simple to renew old friendships and make new ones. In accordance to individualism, a person has a chance to build an image, displaying their best qualities and experiences, thus enhancing their reputation for prospective employers and peers. Businesses are looking through Facebook pages and profiles to gain better intel of their candidates. If they like what they see, they will hire the person. On dating websites, individuals would want to meet someone with common interests, thus perhaps lead into relationships. Organizations can advertise events or online contests that encourage community participation. Generally, the more involved and dedicated people are, the more fun and enticing it becomes.
However, there are disadvantages to social networking. Employers are overlooking candidates' social networking profiles and pictures, it could cost them the job, if there are posts or pictures that reflect a poor sense of character. With the amount of networking online, it is difficult to monitor fraud or stalking. There are several impostors posing as celebrities or political figures, or worse, predators with false accounts. There is a risk to social networking, in which it is necessary to take caution with whomever we're networking with. In addition, individuals can suffer from cyberbullying and harassment from peers as well as strangers. Social networking websites are overly exposed to "hate" comments that are not always monitored nor filtered. In reality, constantly venturing through social networking websites takes a toll on individuals' communicative or interpersonal skills, and it creates an addiction or dependence over smartphones (Stout, How Does Technology Affect Kids' Friendships?).
It is difficult to foretell the evolution of social networking. Social networking seems to advance as fast as technology's changing. Earlier, people would communicate through instant messengers and email. Today, we have social networking widgets that are easy to use, so communicating with others is convenient and more expressive. But I can see that more conference meetings or collaborations are happening online (Dubner, Is Myspace Good for Society? A Freakonomics Quorum), and possibly could be held through virtual reality.
You bring up an interesting point that I had not considered. The rapid adoption of social networking has provided criminals a means to exploit the people who participate, but do not have a strong grasp of how to maintain internet security. I feel that a significant portion of those people must be the very young, i.e. age 13 and younger. To safeguard against exploitation of those in that age group, parents should educate their children on online safety. This is likely to become an even more important lesson for children as time passes by and criminals develop more sophisticated techniques.
ReplyDeleteCyber bullying has recently been in the news as well. While the anonymity of the internet has always allowed people to make unsavory comments, the emergence of social networking has made it even easier. Individuals can now target people because finding them is so simple when nearly everyone has a Facebook. Moreover, there are many younger children on social networking sites who may bully without a care for anonymity. In addition, children tend to be less emotionally mature than adults and thus more prone to bully and be harmed when bullied. You now have me thinking a lot about the social implications of social networking when previously I had been more concerned with business applications.
I agree with the fact that cyberbullying still exist and is not prevented by networking websites' administrations. They seem like working on it and the guilty are caught in most cases but their victims, who could not bear negative comments of cyber trolls and ended up committing suicide, cannot be brought back to life. I believe that all the current security and privacy policies are useful and remind the Internet users about their responsibilities online but, unfortunately, they are still not enough to prevent the problem.
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