Social Networking and Privacy

          Social media has become as common as daily advertising.  An important difference, however, is the fact that daily advertising is thrown at our faces while social media is something that the public gravitates to.  We feel such a strong desire for social media that it can become an addiction, and with all addictions there are dangers.  

         The main social media form I use is Facebook and even then I do not go on and remain logged on for a long time.  Two years ago, I certainly was one of those people.  Wake up, check Facebook, go to class, check Facebook, lunch, check Facebook, soccer practice check Facebook, homework, check Facebook, get ready for bed, check Facebook.  Honestly, it was disgusting.  Fortunately, I quickly grew out of this lifestyle, but many of my peers, like most Americans (especially teens) have not.  I was praised by my professors and adult acquaintances for my “unplugged” lifestyle while at the same time being shamed by my peers for not being “up to date”.  No, I would not know the latest YouTube video or even know when my friends were getting together because I did not reply to the Facebook event.  Suddenly I found myself being caught between wishing to live an unplugged lifestyle and being plugged in to remain modern with current times.  Society has been moving towards social networking and I needed to decide whether I was on or off for the ride.  It was amazing really; there was the grand battle between Facebook and MySpace for social network power, now five years later we look to each other and think MySpace who?  No longer is the company that does ‘something‘ first the best, but it is whoever does that ‘something‘ the best first.  Facebook had a web platform that obviously was more appealing to a wider audience, not just teenagers and young adults looking for a good time.  Facebook invaded the home as well as the work place.  Every aspect of our lives can be, even without our knowledge, online.  I do not believe that social media and networking brings either positive or negative changes but merely fixes previous problems while creating new ones.  We are the ones that determine whether social media will have a positive affect on society in the way that we regulate it by law and through public/personal responsibility.  One must be proactive in their computer use because all of us now have a alternate world that we participate in.  Once anything is online, it can never be taken back.  

          Everyone at some point learns the valuable, but painful, lesson of “over sharing” information on Facebook, MySpace, AIM, Blogs, email, etc.  I am one such person.  I had recently met someone at a soccer game and the expected friend request followed.  But unexpectedly, dozens of hate comments followed the friendship post.  Apparently the girl was hated.  Caught completely off guard, I found myself trying to appease everyone through multiple messages on everyones wall, just to find out what is going on.  The problem with this is that everyone could see these.  I should have just talked to everyone face to face, not through the book.  Instead, people tried twisting my words and following my every digital move surrounding a simple friendship post...who knew.  There are many pros to social media, like there is with any new technology.  Social networking enables international collaboration, appeals to visual learners, removes the physical barriers in conversation, and clears the generation gap.  The cons are distractions, time consuming, limits the physical ability to focus in the brain, and less privacy.   At the end of the day we are becoming more collaborative and more public and we will need to decide whether we will fight the changes and learn to “like” it and keep moving forward.