Social networking sites are publicly accessible virtual meeting spaces where users present information about themselves and view information about others. These sites have created a new medium for public self-expression that allows individuals to connect with others who share an area of interest, but also possess the power to potentially shape public opinion, drive commerce, and change society (Klaassen, 2008; Wortham, 2009).
This social networking has its own pro and cons. Facebook is a great thing to have, but it goes back to the attitude of the users. If the users abuse the usage of online social networking, its will bring harm to the society.
Facebook has the highest user percentage of all social media sites, which means there is a good chance that most of your friends, co-workers, and relatives have a facebook account that you can interact with. Hence, it is a great way to reconnect with old high school and college classmates, keep in touch with friends, no matter how far apart and facebook will keep your friends and family members updated about what is happening in your life due to the status that had been update.
When we look from organization’s perspective, companies and individuals use facebook as a medium to promote their companies, products or services. Instead of that, if there are any charities event, facebook is the best way to get people to connect and hopefully supporting the upcoming event. In short, facebook has a lot of opportunities for self-promotion, making it a great outlet for anyone that really needs to find clients and to get supporters.
However, this social networking site has several disadvantages such as the users might mistakenly befriend an individual with dishonorable intentions and get bombarded with unwanted friend requests from many unknown people. It was proven when some studies have reported that the quality of online social interactions and relationships is lower than that of face-to-face ones (Bargh, 2002).
With security leaks happening on Facebook, I think, people supposedly worried about their personal information may be getting out on the web, however, people do not seem to be worried about their personal information getting out to other who they barely know. Like we guard our social security number and address from people online, we should guard our personal life from people who we barely know.
Reconnecting is not just about befriending everyone you knew from the past, but being selective about who you would share your personal information, and also your daily activities. We cannot easily put 100% trust on others especially those who are new with us. We should put some suspicion towards others in order for us to be aware with unexpected things in the future. Do not be like Rosy (name changed), 17 years old who had been rape by her online friend because her fault who easily trust online friend especially man.
In conclusion, we have to be more sensitive and careful before allowing people look at your Facebook page or acceptance as a friend and making your photos, comments, and other personal information available to them. In short, we supposedly are aware with this issue not only before allowing people to being your friend, but also who becoming your online friends for this time being. If he or she can bring danger to you, you can remove him or her from your friend’s online list for your safety purposes.
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