The Positive Benefits and Negative Drawbacks of the Dawn of the Facebook and Twitter Era - Assignment Example

The Positive Benefits and Negative Drawbacks of the Dawn of the Facebook and Twitter Era This brief analysis will objectively consider many of the positive and negative attributes that the introduction and widespread use of social networking sites similar to Facebook and Twitter have had on society as a whole as well as on individual groups within that society. Although this analysis is far too short to be considered an exhaustive study of all positive and negative attributes that social networking such as Facebook and Twitter might offer, it can still be seen as an appropriate tool to engage the reader and begin the discussion with relation to how these ever-present increasingly relevant forms of social media impact on our daily lives. As such, this brief analysis will make a short inventory of but a few of the most relevant positive and negative attributes that these forms of social networking engender. Negative: One of the Single Largest Wastes of Time Since the Introduction of Television There has doubtless been an overall decrease in actual inter-personal networking skills as people are more and more prone to spending massive amounts of time online; interfacing with virtual friends, playing mindless and time wasting games, reading trivial newsfeeds that detail in exhaustive form the mundane daily activities of multiple friends etc. In this way, rather than spending the evening going for a walk, eating at a café, or engaging in some form of physical activity, social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook have become the new and enhanced version of what the TV was to the generation before ours. Furthermore, the introduction of advanced mobile phone technology has greatly enhanced the ability of individuals to use these forms of social media sites at all times and in all places. Tangentially, sites such as Facebook and Twitter are closing individuals to many real world experiences they might otherwise have if they would simply shut down the computer and step outside to interact with real people in the real world. One cannot count the number of people during lunch, while on the bus, in a metro, on vacation etc that have their eyes downcast on their mobile device while the entire world seems to pass them by. This therefore comes full circle from a mere time wasting issue to one of sheer and total addiction. There exist support groups and books as well as counselors that work to help individuals with varying degrees of social networking addiction, dependence, and separation anxiety. The fact that groups that support people in letting go of their addiction in the same ways that AA (Alcoholics Anonymous) does is but part and parcel of the problem that is social networking. As it continues to play an even more important and prevalent role in our society, dependence and addiction to Facebook and Twitter (as well as sites similar to these) will doubtless become an even larger theme as individuals are spending a greater and greater percentage of their time online. This negative attribute of the sheer amount of time wasted as well as the addictive nature of such technology provides a convenient segue into one of the tangentially positive benefits of social networking which will be discussed next. Strength: A Platform for Discussion and Change Due to the prevalence of social networking (especially sites such as Facebook and Twitter), people around the world have access to a forum in which to discuss weighty and politically charged matters. One need look no further than the recent revolutions which have swept the Middle East to truly understand the gravity and the power that social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter espouse. These tools were used to such a great effect during Tunisia, Libya, and Egypt’s revolutions that the respective authoritarian government’s first actions was to block access to these sights entirely. Although this worked for a time, users soon found a back door to access these sites and continued to foment revolution while providing themselves with a stable and forum in which to discuss the ideals of self-determination and what type of future they would like to have for their country. In this way, Facebook and Twitter have the potential to be used for causes that are very grand in scale; not merely commenting on mundane and pointless status updates of classmates and friends. Weakness: Privacy Concerns Perhaps the most negative aspect of Twitter and Facebook especially is the horrendous and now famous privacy policy that these sites employ. Rather than working to expand upon the privacy of the user in an age where data theft has reached epidemic proportions, these sites work to extract every morsel of useful or potential useful information from their users. Sadly, most of this data theft (done under the guise of a privacy policy) is performed for marketing purposes. Central servers at these social networking sites crunch through massive amounts of data each and every day on their users. Most of this data involves the following: what page did the user come from to our site, what page did the user leave to from our site, what links/photos/videos/products has he/she viewed on the site and/or liked, what is his/her job, marital status, family status (children?), is there a marriage planned, are they shopping for a new vehicle, are they interested in seeking out a new career path etc? These sites expend a great deal of time, energy, money, and effort in tacking this data as it yields a gold mine of potential marketing revenue for them. By actively data mining the user, Facebook and Twitter (as well as sites like them) can target their products to the consumer in ways that other brick and mortar stores could only dream of. Sadly, the only drawback to such effective marketing is a complete and total disregard for the user’s privacy. Recently, this privacy battle has gone so far as to include a debate over whether it is appropriate for Facebook and the like to install tracking cookies on the computers/laptops/mobile devices of its users in an attempt to dredge even further and more complete information on their users. Strength: The Ability to Keep up with a Large Number of Friends and Family at Once Whereas keeping track of ten or more individuals used to be a taxing task, it is now possible to keep tabs on and maintain some form of meaningful relationship with hundreds of individuals at once. In effect this has broadened everyone’s social network to include multiple times the number of individuals that they would have otherwise kept in contact with. Such a drastic expansion in individuals social networks without the requisite functions, lunches, reunions etc that were traditionally required to maintain such a broad and expansive social network are now possible to the individual that leads a busy life and does not normally have time for such interactions in the real world. Although the quality of these relationships as compared to real life interactions are much in question, the fact remains that social media such as Facebook and Twitter allow for a much more diverse, large, and varied list of acquaintances than does traditional forms of social networking. Weakness: The Quiet but Dire Effects of Bullying on Social Networking The statistics regarding online and cyber bullying are alarming. According to one author, over 43% of children online have been subjected to some form or other of cyber bullying. One need look no further than the many recent news articles concerning teen suicide to determine a connection exists between online cyber-bullying and depressed and suicidal thoughts and emotions among the most vulnerable within our society. It is without question that the risks facing children on the World Wide Web are expansive. The risks associated with chat rooms and strangers on the internet have been the cause for many law enforcement investigations and new protocols and restrictions towards what minors can and cannot do on the internet. Likewise, even secondary schools have been instituting policies which ban educators from “friending” their own students on social networking sites due to the perceived risk and liability that this entails. However, although the risks to children online and more specifically in social networking are vast, growing, and varied, few studies have attempted to present what risks are the most prescient and to what extent. This type of analysis is beneficial in determining proper policies and procedures in order to mitigate these risks. As such, this brief analysis will make a cursory review of the risks associated with social networking as it applies to children and then construct a risk assessment of these threats in order to more succinctly describe the threats that children face in the social networking sphere. People are oftentimes less inhibited in the virtual world so the very worst of attitudes regarding racism, homophobia, sexism and other forms of insensitive and violent discrimination are more likely to take place. The hatred and anger that many users exhibit among their users is not something that the site administrators can truly work to amend. Further studies have shown that over the past 5 years, the sheer size and rate of cyber bullying on social networking sites has exploded to an average increase of around 10% per year (Osuagwu, p. 22, 2009). Of course the greatest difficulty with judging and assessing the size, scope, and severity of cyber bullying as it exists in social networking is that it is oftentimes impossible to judge the rates at which it occurring. This is primarily due to the fact that cyber bullying is severely unreported as the victim is having difficulties standing up for themselves in real life – let alone forcing them to approach the right channels for guidance and help which will then in turn help provide accurate statistics as to the level and rate of cyber bullying as it currently exists. As such, the respective social networking sites do not have the means necessary or the will to police their users and enforce goodwill and courtesy among their millions of users. Unfortunately, the social networking sites are not willing to expend the same amount of resources to ensure that site terms and conditions of use are followed as they are to ensure that adequate marketing information is mined from each and every user. Weakness: Identify Theft There is doubtless no more fertile a ground for identity theft wizards to ply their trade than that of the social network. Where before identify theft involved traditional means of physically applying for an receiving a driver’s license, Social Security Card, and Birth Certificate under another person’s name, now the process has greatly been enhanced by the introduction of the social network. Where before it could take weeks and even months of research into the individual in order to gain enough information for the identity theft to take place successfully, now that information is available freely and often shared without requite to a handful of friends or the community at large. Names, addresses, cell phone numbers, spouse’s maiden name, mother’s maiden name, pets, children’s names/ages, employment status and history as well as a host of other vital and personal information is available for many to see, steal and utilize in nefarious ways. Although site guidelines and terms of service alert the user to the implied threats of over-sharing personal information, again, no real action is taken by the site to correct or attempt to protect those users that simply over share too much personal information. In effect, the site administrators are acutely aware of the epidemic that exists of identity theft but are unwilling to take firm action to slow it down and since the personal information that the users are sharing to their friends and social networks are of great value to the site and their corporate sponsors/advertisers as they contain a treasure trove of marketing data which the site and its marketing partners can use to generate income. Weakness: The Risk of Child Sexual Exploitation Just as with the case of cyber bullying, there exists a greatly increased risk of child sexual exploitation as a result of unsupervised and/or unmonitored use of social media. Where before an improper relationship between a neighbor or a close friend with a very young member of the opposite sex was something that was usually fairly obvious to identify, social networking as made these interactions and exchanges nearly invisible. Oftentimes masquerading as individuals their own age, these predators work their way into the hearts and minds of the adolescent and then attempt to build a relationship and earn the trust of the other party. Finally, a meeting is suggested and the sexual predator is ready to make his/her move. Although Facebook and Twitter are not evil due to the fact that a small segment of society uses their services to bad ends, it is worth noting this form of child exploitation as a definite weakness that an explosion of social networking has brought into our lives. Additionally, it should be noted that although the horror of this particular incidence is high, the actual rate of occurrence as a function of some of the other strengths and weaknesses of social networking that have been hitherto mentioned is actually quite low. However, even though occurrence rates are low, child sexual exploitation is such a horrendous crime that it oftentimes is discussed on the first place when strengths and weaknesses of social media are discussed. Furthermore, technology should not be shunned do to the fact that elements of our society are inclined to use it for self gratifying and immoral purposes. There will always be segments of society that use even the most powerfully innovative and inherently good tools to further their own immoral and illegal intentions. However, it should be noted that the risk nevertheless exists and makes the crime much harder to detect as a function that the conversations are taking place in an online forum – usually between two individuals; not in the open in a place that it can be detected and reported to the proper authorities that handle such matters. Conclusion: One cannot simply weigh the positive and negative aspects of Facebook and Twitter to determine if the platform is a net good or a net evil for society as each of these items that have been listed in their respective credits/debits column are weighted differently. However, it should be noted that social networking, like any form of human interaction, has the ability to transform governments, start revolutions, weaken security, provide a platform for bullying as well as sexual predators, and ultimately become a very addictive form of leisure activity for its many millions of users. The fact of the matter is that a very small percentage of Facebook and Twitter users have utilized the platform to start a revolution, an even smaller number have used the platform as a means of child sexual exploitation, and perhaps an equally small number of users have used the platform as a means of extracting valuable personal information from its users as a means of identity theft. However, there are two factors discussed herein that are widespread and as such should be counted as the most salient and relevant isseus at hand with respect to the overall level of widespread usage. These include: lack of privacy concerns by the respective companies that utilized social media as a means to generate income, the inherent addictive nature of the platform among its users, and the ballooning effect that increased social networks has had on people’s lives as a function of who they interact with and how often. These two items, as discussed in this analysis, deeply and gravely affect a broad majority of all users of these respective platforms; as such, it is necessary to count these two items and weight them the heaviest as compared to the others in an effort to measure the net good or net bad of Facebook and Twitter. Of course, the main directive that one can infer from this analysis tis that Facebook and Twitter can be a net positive as long as their services are carefully used so as not to entangle the unsuspecting user in a web of implied consent that they neither know or understand. It is necessary to read the fine print, be aware of the aggressive marketing strategy, ensure that information is carefully and minimally presented, to be aware of the at risk individuals that use the service, and to use it sparingly so that a dependence and addiction will not take hold. Work Cited Osuagwu, Nnamdi. Facebook addiction : the life & times of social networking addicts. New York: Ice Cream Melts Pub, 2009. Read More