|
Feature Article: Social Networking: Boon or Bane? One of the top ten inventions of the last decade would have to be social networks. Many of us are familiar with sites like Facebook, Friendster, and MySpace; and have caught on the latest craze of signing up for these accounts. Even a movie entitled "The Social Network" hit cinemas across the world a few months ago. Just what is social networking and why has it become immensely popular? A social network is basically a structure made up of individuals who are tied together by something that they have in common; whether it's friendship, interests, or even things they dislike. Although social networking occurs in our schools, workplaces, or popular hangout locations, it has thrived over the internet since it brings together people from all walks of life and stature. In the past, it would take us several months just to look for another person with a common passion, for example, for 18th century art pieces. There might not be anyone in our circle of friends who delve into this sort of matter, therefore making it impossible to connect and share our ideas with them. Human beings crave attention and social bonds. When such an easy method is available for us to make new friends and connections, we tend to jump onto the bandwagon and go along for the ride. Social networking via the internet has opened a whole new frontier in the way we meet and interact with others. With a few clicks of the mouse, anyone and everyone can find people with the same interests ranging from aircrafts to zoology. We can now reach out to them while keeping others around us up-to-date on our latest adventure. Though social networking on the internet dates back to the 1990s, it wasn't until March 2003 that it really took off with the launch of Friendster. We could now set up a profile, update personal data, and invite other friends to join in as well. The servers would then keep a continually-updated list of our friends and our friend's friends. It is a popular notion that we are all somehow related to each other by six degrees of separation and with the growing number of users, this technology will enable us to meet and find people of similar background and inclinations. Nevertheless, the social website that is currently dominating the world is Facebook. With more than 540 million users, Facebook could easily be the third most populous country in the world. The reason it has become so successful over the rest is because its founder, Mark Zuckerberg, ensured that no new customers could come online until the servers were able handle the additional traffic. The website also incorporates many new features such as Multi-Feed, which continuously takes new updates from your friends' web pages and streams them into yours, keeping you in the loop of what's going on in their lives and staying in touch with them. On the other hand, visiting social networking websites has also caused much loss in productivity of workers in a company. Many tend to play games or post messages on these sites during work hours, forcing companies to ban or limit the access to these sites. While it may be fun and exciting to use social networking websites, one must always be aware of the dangers that are associated with them. Data theft is a very common occurrence and when people start to post personal information such as their home addresses and phone numbers online, they open up themselves to identity theft and hackers lurking to earn a quick buck. Worse still, stalkers can now have access to where they live and could harass them everyday through phone calls. We should also be cautious of people we meet through these social websites because an individual can claim to be someone he or she is not. We have all heard cases of conmen meeting their innocent victims online and turning them into drug mules or forcing them to be involved in other illegal activities. It is a good practice to limit the amount of personal information we post on the internet and to ensure that only a certain approved group of people can view our data. In addition, be extra cautious of those we add into our group of friends because we never know who might be waiting to pounce on our mistakes. In conclusion, social networking has redefined the way we connect with others. However, it has also opened up new ways for unscrupulous parties to conduct their scams. So to return to the million dollar question, is social networking a boon or bane? Ultimately, we as users will determine the outcome of using social networking. Make it work for us and not against us.
• • • © 2011 DreamCatcher • • • |