Many many years ago, technology did not give anyone the opportunity to interact with
others in the manner it does today; therefore, people had to go outside
their comfort zones to meet new individuals. Social networking sites, on
the other hand, now allow people to simply sit in front of a computer
and stare at it for hours—disregarding face to face interaction.
Particularly, Facebook allows individuals to author wall posts (as seen
above) where people can write whatever is on their mind. Whether it be
what Sara is doing, what Joe had for lunch, or who Cari loves, it is all
publicized to all users of Facebook (unless you’ve made sure that your
profile is private and only friends can view your page). Often, users of
social networking sites get on their profiles numerous times during the
day to “check up” on everyone’s statuses. How can one go on with their
day if one is not able to know what everyone is doing? It is the legal,
non-threatening way of “stalking” in the twenty-first century.
A lot of this can relate to one’s maturity level—how one may react when
seeing an unfavorable post, comment, photo, etc. For example, if Kyle is
dating Kelly and Jeff wrote “hey cutie” on Kelly’s wall, how Kyle will
react will depend on his maturity level. Will he just drop it and trust
his girlfriend? Will he start a fight with Jeff? Or may he take his
anger out on Kelly? In some cases, users may even have to get the police
involved and file for a restraining order on these uncontrollable,
obsessed users. However, restraining orders do not stop everyone. This
can cause the situation to reach the maximum, leaving the user that is
being harmed in a dangerous position. Surely, any individual should be
able to recognize that social networking sites are getting completely
out of hand if individuals’ actions are escalading to the extreme. Most,
if not all, users of social networking sites are aware of these
possible scenarios; however, we all just assume it will not happen to
us.
For example:
Wall Post 1: I am Going out to lunch with my husband
. Wall Post 2: Im doing my homework at home.who will pay me a visit?
SIX THINGS YOU MUST NOT SHARE ON SOCIAL NETWORK
1.Personal Conversations;On Facebook especially, users can send personal messages or post notes, images or
videos to another user's wall. The wall is there for all to see, while
messages are between the sender and the receiver, just like an e-mail.
Personal and private matters should never be shared on your wall.it is very risky.
2.Personal plans:Sharing your social plans for everybody to see isn't a good idea. Unless
you're planning a big party and inviting all the users you're connected
to, it will only make your other friends feel left out. There are also
some security issues at stake here.
3.Company info: You may be dying to tell the world about your new work promotion, but if
it's news that could be advantageous to one of your company's
competitors, then it's not something you should share. News of a planned
expansion or a big project role and anything else about your workplace
should be kept private.
4. Family pictures:Social networking sites are a common place for people to share pictures
of their families, but if you're one of the 40 percent of users who
don't restrict access to your profile, then those pictures are there for
everyone to see. It's a sad fact, but there are a lot of predators who
use the Internet to stalk their prey. If you post pictures of your
family and couple that with information like, "i just gave birth","my husband is out of town
this weekend" or "little Johnny is old enough to stay at home by
himself now," then your children's safety could be at risk.
5. Your phone number and address: This one is under security risk. If you share your address and phone
number on a social networking site, you open yourself up to threats of
identity theft and other personal dangers like burglaries. If you post
that you're going on vacation and you have your address posted, then
everyone knows you have an empty house.
6. Your password: This one really seems like its nothing wrong with it but if it didn't happen, then
Facebook probably wouldn't feel the need to list it in the No. 1 slot on
its list of things you shouldn't share. Even sharing the password with a
friend so he or she can log on and check something for you can be a
risk. This is especially true with couples who feel like there's enough
trust to share these kinds of things. Here's another scenario for you:
You give your boyfriend your Facebook password because he wants to help
you upload some vacation photos. A couple of months later, the
relationship sours, he turns into a not-so-nice guy and then there's a
person out there who doesn't like you and has your login information.
