Social Networking Sites are gaining popularity by the day, especially among our teens. There are lot of positive as well as negative aspects of this latest trend among our youth.
The world has shrunk. Its a small global (or is it ‘glocal’ ) village. Things happening at the other part of the world reaches one within minutes. A few years ago socializing meant going out with your friends, a community gathering or becoming a member of a local club. Not anymore.
Enter the Internet age and welcome to the world of Social networking sites.
Some of the most popular social networking sites are Facebook, Orkut, MySpace and Twitter.
Advantages of Social Networking:
These sites are an easy way for anyone to reach out to their friends and family irrespective of the geographic location. It also helps to reunite lost friends-classmates. Its also a great way to connect to like minded people and to learn and share knowledge. Imagine having your own group on a particular topic and exchanging wonderful ideas which may lead to bigger and beautiful things.
Every individual need their own space in life. These sites provide that space and I believe this is one big reason why they are so popular.
Facebook today is so popular just because it provides the space to write about you, share not only your thoughts but also your photos, music, anything. It has some cool functionality too!
Similarly Twitter too is becoming one of the most popular tools. Can you imagine how so many people are taking advantage of this tool to improve their business prospects.
One of the greatest achievements of these sites is that they attract people of all personalities. Extroverts and Introverts both use these in their own unique way. Needless to say many people visit these sites just to kill boredom.
I would like to emphasis that all is not bad with networking sites. Students use it for their technological skills, creativity and receptiveness to diverse views and communication skills.
Black sheep’s can be found here too…
Can you get scammed and lose money when you rely on social network sites to connect with friends ? Unfortunately the answer is yes.
Fraudsters and criminals are always looking for the weakest link that can help them get access to your wallet. What is interesting about social networks is that it doesn’t matter that you protect your own passwords, use the latest and greatest anti-virus. If any of your social network friends make a mistake and lose their Facebook or MySpace password, now your private information is exposed to a stranger or maybe even a criminal.
Lack of privacy and authenticity is one of the major drawbacks. You might have heard about how celebrity fake sites are created. The chances of meeting wrong people who fake their background is very high. This can lead to a great deal of emotional turmoil for our youth.
Another aspect is use of abusive language and obscene images. Also some users misuse this platform to create hatred among groups or against certain sections of the community. Bad mouthing or spoiling a rivals reputation is very common on these sites. The greatest danger is when these websites become an addiction, when a lot of time is spent online, thereby neglecting important concerns such as academics.
Parents should understand that networking sites are a great tool to connect to the world but they have their share of negative things too. So anything is moderation is good. I know that it is not always possible to accompany your children while they go to these sites..neither is a total ban called for. Spending time socializing online cuts into time we’d otherwise spend dealing with each other in person — and that cutting down on real face-to-face human contact has health consequences What parents can do is to be in the loop of their child’s habits and communicate the right values to them on a regular basis. Teachers and School authorities have a similar role to play. Don’t deny these things to your children, but think of ways and means by which they could use these wonderful tools to learn more – more of technology, more of the world. Let them grow creatively.
All that said, I’m a strong believer in the value of social networks and the hundreds of millions of people accessing them cannot be wrong: the power of sharing information online is really here to stay and we have only seen the beginning of this social fabric that we are building on top of the Internet.
I also invite my readers to this article written by Steve Pavlina on this topic. (I have been following Steve for more than a year now and he was the first guy responsible for my first steps towards Personal Growth and Development) Hope you enjoy reading it http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2009/11/social-networking-rethinking-productivity/
