The Flipside of Social Networking (Facebook, MySpace, Multiply, Friend

[RED2018]

Social networking is everywhere. It is common to find parents, children, coworkers and even the elderly on the networks across the social media world on sites such as Twitter, MySpace, Facebook, YouTube and LinkedIn. With social networks people across the world have access to tools and options that were previously non-existent. However, there are just as many new opportunities to connect as there are to get into potential danger. Social networking has opened up many new doorways for cyber-crime, and with all the people on social networks who are completely new to technology, it is more important than ever to make sure people are aware of the risks.

 

Your ideas...

[RED2018]

Social networking websites cannot replace your real friendships. You don't really communicate with people online as you communicate with real people whom you can see, hear and touch. However, if you think back and/or ponder, there have been times that real people were not available in your times of need, while online people were there outright or at your beck and call, and support you; and you did communicate with them.

So, it's not everything wrong about Facebook. However, there are real and perceived perils of ‘Facebooking.’ This is not to discourage anyone in using Facebook, rather give you cautions and information on the ‘tricks’ and ‘trades’ FB can offer. Here are its negative impact:

 

1) Facebook is addictive and time consuming

Okay, so it's not like being addicted to alchol or smoking, but it is a modern addition that has reached the young and old alike all over the world. There are even websites that offer information on 'Facebook Addiction Disorder," all aimed at trying to help you find out if are you suffering from Facebook Addiction Disorder (FAD), by asking questions such as: How often do you find that you stay on facebook longer than you intended? How often do you neglect household chores to spend more time on Facebook? How often do you check your email before something else that you need to do?

The negatives associated with facebook addiction include: a lot of time spent online instead of doing other meaningful activities you might have planned; less time spent on actual verbal and social interaction via person to person contact; and time wasted on reading details about people's lives such as what they ate for lunch, how they are feeling at the moment, etc, instead of doing something perhaps far more rewarding like reading, dating, and the like.

 

2) Procrastination

How many times do you find yourself checking your facebook profile as soon as you get up on a morning before heading to work, then checking as soon as you reach in work to see what your friends may have already posted on their profiles for the morning, or maybe just going online for a second to look a photo of a friend and end up browsing more than 120 photos of what your friend has done over the weekend or on vacation? Let's admit it's fun, and where I come from it is dubbed 'MacoBook,' meaning that it is a website you go to just to find out other people's business. All this time spent on facebook can lead to you procrastinating from doing other tasks at hand such as your job tasks, studying for exams, calling your mom, doing valuable research, or worst of all, the household chores for housewives; That's an easy one to procrastinate from doing.

 

3) Privacy issues

(a) Hackers

Facebook users are sometimes unaware of the dangers of the internet and issues such as hacking. Users feel obliged to share all the details of their lives down to where they are at, at a particular time. They give out details such as their location, phone numbers, and black berry pins etc. without thinking that somewhere one of the 'friends' you may have added, you don't actually know. Facebook users are at risk as hackers target the site and further noted that users were at risk from malicious hackers targeting the site, as thieves try to capitalize on the trust users place on the service. This can be potentially damaging based on what information you have stored on your 'About me page' or information shared with friends via private messages etc. You should try and refrain from sharing sensitive information such as bank account information and private passwords, your journals and escapades, etc.

( Surveillance and data mining

As part of a research project on Facebook privacy which was published in 2005, two MIT students were able to download over 70,000 Facebook profiles from four universities using and automated shell script. Furthermore, in May 2008 there was a case where the BBC technology program Click demonstrated that personal details of Facebook users and their friends could be stolen by submitting malicious applications.

© Problems with completely deleting Facebook accounts

There is also the issue of completely deleting your Facebook profile/account if you no longer want to be part of the social networking website. It is difficult to completely delete your user account. Previously, Facebook only allowed users to 'deactivate' their accounts which enabled their profile to no longer be visible. However, the problem with this is that any information the user had entered into the website and on their profile remained on the website's servers. However, as of February 2009, Facebook changed its account deletion policies which now allow users to contact the website to request that their accounts be permanently deleted.

(d) Beacon

Beacon is part of a marketing initiative that allows websites to publish a user's activities to their Facebook profile as Social Ads and promote products. However, Facebook was criticized for collecting more user information that initially stated would be done. This has now changed where you can select in your Privacy Settings not to share information with Beacon. However, I am not sure how many people are aware of this. I only discovered it after doing research for this article and then proceeded to fiddle around with my privacy settings and changed it so that my information is not shared.

 

4) Can cause problems at work

Many business places have prohibited the use of Facebook during working hours which is as a result of lack of productivity and a lot of time wasted online on non-work related stuff. Time is money and is of essence, after all! Employees have to be careful not to get caught constantly online updating their profile status, checking photos or chatting on Facebook chat, especially in this recession where people are getting fired.

 

5) Can lead to Relationship problems

Drama! That is all part of exposing your life on a social networking website. The pictures with friends who might be ex- boyfriends or girlfriends, messages from admirers, online flirting - it may all seem harmless to you but may have a different effect on your significant other. Several articles and interviews noted that for one particular girl, Facebook was destroying her relationship with her boyfriend which led to her having to delete her profile. The articles further noted that there were not the only one who has had to delete their profile or commit Facebook suicide as it is now being referred to.

[ricardo23]

Mag Mtc nalang , mas worth pa ng time

[mastertorero]

....you get to fvck more often than you can handle.

 

 

kaya goodbye myspace, goodbye friendster...

 

 

that's the downside of it.

 

 

or flipside.

[tequilasunrise]

I haven't seen my childhood friend since she handed me her wedding invitation nearly a decade ago... last Saturday, we coincidentally saw each other in the bus, that even if we missed each other personally, we realized we didn't miss each other much because we update our lives through Facebook.

[RED2018]

Mag Mtc nalang , mas worth pa ng time

 

If only for the 'Hot Topics,' we'll already be 'well educated/informed.'

[Mango Man]

PROS: renewing friendships/keeping in touch with people far away.

CONS: loss of privacy, esp. with Facebook.

 

Not a substitute for picking up the phone and calling someone, or meeting up for a meal.

[dt55]

PROS: renewing friendships/keeping in touch with people far away.

CONS: loss of privacy, esp. with Facebook.

 

Not a substitute for picking up the phone and calling someone, or meeting up for a meal.

 

magandang hangga't ito ay hindi kapalit para sa mga tunay na bagay

[audiman]

Potential employers routinely check Facebook and others and don't like to see that possible staff have posted pictures of themselves behaving disgracefully, and/or having made, shall we say, socially unacceptable comments.

 

There seems to be an amazing lack of awareness, among the young, (I'm 64 BTW), of personal security issues.

 

And every year, there's some stupid child advertises a party on the net, and wonders why 300 p155heads turn up and trash the house? Whatever happened to common sense - *shakes head sadly*

 

Whatever happened to Myspace? Not that long ago, it was the hottest thing, but now?

Edited July 18, 2010 by audiman

[RED2018]

Takes away from quality time spent with significant others

Always having to check your Facebook profile to see who has written on your wall, commented on your photos or commented on your status etc, takes away from time spent with friends and family. I also think that the popular use of Blackberry phones has also assisted in taking away from quality time with real people. For example, when we are out liming with friends at a restaurant having dinner and drinks, it is a natural thing nowadays for people to constantly check their Blackberries to see what is up on Facebook. I think this takes away from the conversations and distracts the person. Come on people, put away the phones. You can check it when you go to the bathroom or something!

 

Stalking

Well this is an obvious one. It is not limited to just Facebook but to all social networking websites. Beware that you may add someone you think is a friend but might turn out to be a stalker of some sort. Just be careful. Don't add people all willy nilly to your profile so that your tally for number of friends can be high.

[audiman]

Takes away from quality time spent with significant others

Always having to check your Facebook profile to see who has written on your wall, commented on your photos or commented on your status etc, takes away from time spent with friends and family.

 

 

 

Stalking

Don't add people all willy nilly to your profile so that your tally for number of friends can be high.

a. the technical term is "Get a Life"

b. bit like stamp collecting, IMHO

[RED2018]

Don't lose face because of Facebook

BUSINESS MATTERS (BEYOND THE BOTTOM LINE) By Francis J. Kong (The Philippine Star) Updated December 19, 2009 12:00 AM

 

 

I am in Facebook. Have been for a long time.

I’ve got people inviting me to be their friends in Facebook everyday.

The only problem is that my five thousand “friends” capacity is full. And so I opened a fan page so I can stay connected with others who want to connect with me too.

Facebook is phenomenal. I was able to locate a long lost college buddy and through it I was able to locate some friends from my high school days.

Talk about the phenomenon of social network marketing these days. Facebook will definitely qualify as one of the most successful avenues these days.

Social media has become the latest networking technique, marketers know how to use it as their tool for the latest branding strategy and then of course job  seekers use social media today as a tool for their untiring job searches.

People all over the world see what you post on your social media page and then there are the intelligent people who do stupid things with it, which I will explain in a moment. Some people are just doing their Facebook the entire day instead of doing their job. And then they wonder why their employment contract does not get renewed. Others do stranger things with it.

I got an invitation from someone I shall leave unnamed. When I clicked on to her site I saw the picture of a pretty young girl raising up her middle finger and sticking her tongue out mimicking the antics of a rock star. I read some things she wrote and I know she’s smart. Her thoughts were very provocative. Some of the words used are unprintable.

You know what makes her dumb? She doesn’t realize that one day she will be looking for a job. And some recruiter or HR assistant will check on her page and see the same picture, read her thoughts and gasp at the language she used. Social media will become her pitfall because social media are also fast becoming the latest way for people to find out job offers have been rescinded, to get  them reprimanded at work and even to get fired.

Many people are still clueless. They come out with statements like:

“I hate my job!”

“My boss is a jerk.”

“My boss is from hell.”

“My job sucks!”

“I hate my officemates.”

“They never pay me enough.”

“The moment I get a new job I will be leaving them for good!”

People who come out with these statements on their Facebook do not realize that employers are now increasing their online presence, logging into the same site using it for their recruitment and branding strategies, so they are more  liable to catch these terrible comments.

Want to get fired? Just put on comments like:

“I hate my job!” “I want to tell my bosses how dumb they are and how meaningless this job is, then quit, and be happy!”

“This job sucks worse than the economy!”

Don’t get yourself fired because of Facebook.

Don’t do dumb things when you are smart.

Facebook is good and it has its own advantages. But you should not lose face because of Facebook. The Bible is still right after all isn’t it? Jesus says: “Out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.” And that is what you put on  Facebook.

[deepdiverboy]

I have Facebook but only because every one of my friends have badgered me at one point or another to have it. And now that I have it, I don't log in for more than 5 minutes at a time. I just check for new messages, browse the first page of friends' updates, and add any friend requests. I don't feel the need to comment too much on other people's lives (unless I need to say something funny). Facebook is the electronic version of gossiping over the neighborly fence. It's what housewives did while doing house chores, but now everyone's doing it.

[audiman]

and aren't some of the "games" utter garbage? I mean "Farmville"....... Surely the idea of a game is to combine measures of skill and chance - Farmville has neither

 

ETA - possible marriage breaker as well. My daughter is on the point of leaving hur husband, (11th anniversary today) for some guy on another continent she met while playing Farmtown

Edited July 25, 2010 by audiman

[Seishi]

^ possible marriage breaker, huh? So what about Instant messengers(YM, AIM, MSN) or even ..... MTC?

 

Seriously, Facebook and other social networking sites "assume" that its users are responsible enough in realizing what details can only be shared online. It's true, it's easy to stalk. But, IMHO, isn't that the purpose of social networking sites? To reconnect with people miles away or even continents away from you in just a few clicks? And yes, to make "new" social connections?

 

For me, any technological advancement comes with pros and cons... always. And for its users, just be mindful and responsible on what to post as updates, or what photos to share as public. Lastly, don't forget to configure the privacy settings.