Social networking has become an integral part of many people's lives today. Particularly in high school and college demographics, sites such as Facebook, Twitter and innovations such a texting are invaluable aspects of communication, attainment of information and knowledge and staying connected with peers. Such innovations allow individuals to be connected to others, ideas and news immediately, as it happens practically.
For me personally, Facebook, email and texting are irreplaceable aspects of my life. I check my email probably between 10-30 times throughout the day. On average I probably send between 20-40 texts a day and I probably check Facebook between 5-10 times a day. I use these innovations for a lot of work and homework based purposes. As a community facilitator, I communicate with other staff members, my residents, my supervisors and other entities on campus primarily through email. Email is one of the fastest ways to send out mass amounts of communications, flyers, and information. I also use text messages for both work and personal things. Texting is the most efficient way to connect with friends about getting dinner, verifying homework, connecting with staff members about events or resident issues. Texts can be answered in a matter of seconds and in my opinion are often more efficient than calling and leaving a voicemail.
In general, I think the immediate response that Facebook, texting and email offers is a very effective means of communication for basic information and in this way has had a positive effect on the global community. For instance, it would be virtually impossible to do the work I do with a nonprofit organization in Seattle if I did not have access to these three innovations. In the span of five minutes or less, I can text the director of the organization to check email, send him a flyer, video spot, radio interview etc and have him look at it and respond back to me. These tools allow me to get answers and information as fast as possible which allows us to do what we need to do here at Santa Clara to allow the organization to grow.
On the other hand, I can also think that social networking innovations, particularly Facebook can have negative ramifications on society. The fact that someone has the ability to post personal information about themselves or others and that information can reach literally thousands of people instantly has some scary implications about privacy and ultimately a damaging effect on people's ability to communicate. For instance, there have been numerous times my friends have posted something about my personal life, either a success I have a had or something as frivolous as a trip I went on before I have even told other individuals. This has had a negative impact on some of my relationships because certain people have become very upset and hurt that I haven't shared the news with them first and they heard it second hand through other people. Status updates on Facebook and the ability of people to see every person you communicate with on Facebook is revolutionizing the way people stay connected with one another. It is important that with these revolutionary changes, we have an understanding of what we are putting online and at least a limited understanding of the large reach and impact such information can have.
This is critically important when it comes to the contact information people place online. Without thinking about it, many people post cell phone numbers, and other contact information that makes it relatively easy for people to find them online. We learned just how easy it is to track people from information posted online in high school. A police officer came to our school and explained how from simply gaining a name off our high school's sports website, they were able to find her on Facebook, obtain enough info from simply her profile, which did not have a home address, to find her house within twenty minutes. Things like this concern me about how private Facebook really is. Moreover, the access and ability other websites can gain to your information through Facebook is a little concerning.
It is hard to tell how accurate it is but the concern around the Facebook websetting, instant personalization that would connect you through Facebook to different websites and post your activity on those websites for your friends is a what I consider too much an invasion of privacy. This concept relates to the ads that appear on gmail that take information from your emails to find ads specifically related. This concept is also a little unnerving and I have found myself trying to limit what comes through my gmail more and more with the understanding that whatever is on my gmail Google has immediate access to.
I think the overall conclusion that can be drawn from both the positive and negative implications of social networking and privacy is that social networking is useful and at times necessary but should also be used in moderation. I think that people need to be fully educated and aware of the reach the information they place online can have. They need to understand the amount of privacy they are comprising with sites such as Facebook and Gmail and to use them with that knowledge in mind.
I really enjoyed reading your blog entry regarding Social Networking and Privacy. It was nice to see that you addressed both the positive and negative effects of social networking rather than just devote yourself to one aspect and one aspect only. In my blog for this same topic I mostly focused on the negatives of social networks such as twitter and facebook because I am not a huge proponent of the two. However, in response to your blog, I completely agree with how texting, facebook, and email can really play a significant and efficient role in terms of communicating with others. They are very fast and easy ways to transfer information and they allow long distance associations as well. Although these things are very beneficial, it is also important that you addressed the privacy issue of having the capability to release so much information. Individuals who make use of these sites and means of communication, should be aware and conscious of the potential risks if they are not careful about the kinds of information they display to the general public.
ReplyDeleteSocial networks have become an integral and staple part of life, especially in the Western world. They do have great benefits, the most obvious being quick and efficient communication. However, there is the catch of a loss of privacy. The fact that others we do not know can see our personal information is very frightening. People can use social networks for communication, but they must be careful about what they put up on them.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your post in that there are definitely pros and cons to social networks. For some small issues or questions, texting/Facebook is so much faster and easier. In the end, it can be a huge time saver, making people more efficient throughout the day. However, you have to be careful as far as what you respond to on social networks as it is easy to forget how public information can be.
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