Social Networking is a huge part of everyday life for many working adults today. Establishing contacts and maintaining good relations with those contacts are very much the secret to success for everybody, no matter which industry one may belong to. Social networking today though, is unlike that of the past. Today, there are online platforms dedicated to serving this special purpose of facilitating networking between people. Today, cyberspace is the chosen medium for this networking to take place.
The numerous websites include Facebook, MySpace, Bebo, and the latest Twitter. These allow for users to sign up with an account and proceed to find others that they wish to make contact with. Sharing of files, pictures, videos and other content is as easy as a click of a button. People across the globe have been able to find long lost friends from childhood, classmates from elementary school, and even relatives that they have never met in person but live on the other side of the globe. Therefore, it is obvious that social networking is not only for professional, business reasons but also for fulfilling the social appetite of human beings. We are all social creatures who seek to belong to a community, albeit an online one, and these social networking sites undoubtedly help us attain that sense of connection with others.
Social networking on the web is unfortunately not without its dangers and problems. Due to a lack of privacy on these social networking platforms (which are improving but not quite there yet), things like cyber stalking, harassment and flaming are prevalent. People are ruthless when online because of the anonymity factor and they can defame others without reserve. Sexual predators also prey on victims online frequently, once again because the anonymity of the internet makes it so easy for them to do so. Social networking websites are filled with people who abuse the system for their personal, twisted aims and this poses serious dangers for users.
On the whole though, I believe the creation of social networking websites to be a positive thing. In this hectic day and age, it can become extremely difficult to keep in touch with people, even those you really care about. This is especially so if people are in different parts of the world, which is not uncommon nowadays given the globalization of societies. Therefore, for the simple reason that these websites offer us a medium to make things that much easier to stay in touch, they are a magnificent invention.
The numerous websites include Facebook, MySpace, Bebo, and the latest Twitter. These allow for users to sign up with an account and proceed to find others that they wish to make contact with. Sharing of files, pictures, videos and other content is as easy as a click of a button. People across the globe have been able to find long lost friends from childhood, classmates from elementary school, and even relatives that they have never met in person but live on the other side of the globe. Therefore, it is obvious that social networking is not only for professional, business reasons but also for fulfilling the social appetite of human beings. We are all social creatures who seek to belong to a community, albeit an online one, and these social networking sites undoubtedly help us attain that sense of connection with others.
Social networking on the web is unfortunately not without its dangers and problems. Due to a lack of privacy on these social networking platforms (which are improving but not quite there yet), things like cyber stalking, harassment and flaming are prevalent. People are ruthless when online because of the anonymity factor and they can defame others without reserve. Sexual predators also prey on victims online frequently, once again because the anonymity of the internet makes it so easy for them to do so. Social networking websites are filled with people who abuse the system for their personal, twisted aims and this poses serious dangers for users.
On the whole though, I believe the creation of social networking websites to be a positive thing. In this hectic day and age, it can become extremely difficult to keep in touch with people, even those you really care about. This is especially so if people are in different parts of the world, which is not uncommon nowadays given the globalization of societies. Therefore, for the simple reason that these websites offer us a medium to make things that much easier to stay in touch, they are a magnificent invention.
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