Social Networking
Social Networking has become a transformative
tool in our society. Not only does social networking have an influence over our
personal lives, but also noticeably more in our careers and daily interactions
with one another. Some ways these technologies are used are in social
interactions, as mentioned above. If you meet someone who is an opinion leader
in their community, or a professional in their respective careers, you might
want to add them to your social media following in an attempt to stay connected
with current events or to get in touch at a later date and for them in return
to gain a following. Another way social networking is used on a corporate /
business level is through platforms such as LinkedIn which attempt to connect
people within similar industries to one another for advice in their careers or
to get recommendations for jobs or even to learn more about a company.
I do believe that there is definitely a ‘dark side’ to social networking as well; that being the loss of our privacy and personal data. With the fields of big data and data mining growing in popularity and importance, our personal data is now much more than our own. Social networking and media cites sell our data essentially to the highest bidder with lack of concern of what this information is being used for. Many users unknowingly sign over the rights for these large conglomerate companies to do this without even knowing. This is due in part because of the working of privacy policies and the intricacies they entail, such as that of Facebook “And if Facebook's privacy settings are too confusing for a Zuckerberg, how are the rest of us ever supposed to post anything that's truly, completely private?(1)”. This is a crucial downside to social networking and affects billions of users on these platforms.
I believe that these technologies of social networking are at risk of evolving negatively into data hubs for larger companies with political agendas or such to sway the opinions of users without their knowledge. I also believe that there is potential, with heavy reforms and regulations, for social networking cites to be much more, and live up to expectations of keeping their users motivated and provide a sense of togetherness where people from different backgrounds can come together, forming a sense of community and find similarities with one another which may have otherwise gone unnoticed.
One benefit of these technologies on society would
be the interconnectivity of the world. Technology makes the world much smaller
and with tools such as social networking and platforms that aid in communication,
we are able to stay in touch with distant relatives or people overseas at a
much easier, sustainable level. Another benefit of social networking would be
that of research and purposeful deductions, that are contributed to on a
volunteer basis. An example of that being students conducting experiments where
“The winning team, announced on March 20, earned $2,000 for their idea of
blending social networking with the Delphi Method of forecasting to spot the
next Google or Facebook.” (2) through group consensus opinion.
I do believe that there is definitely a ‘dark side’ to social networking as well; that being the loss of our privacy and personal data. With the fields of big data and data mining growing in popularity and importance, our personal data is now much more than our own. Social networking and media cites sell our data essentially to the highest bidder with lack of concern of what this information is being used for. Many users unknowingly sign over the rights for these large conglomerate companies to do this without even knowing. This is due in part because of the working of privacy policies and the intricacies they entail, such as that of Facebook “And if Facebook's privacy settings are too confusing for a Zuckerberg, how are the rest of us ever supposed to post anything that's truly, completely private?(1)”. This is a crucial downside to social networking and affects billions of users on these platforms.
I believe that these technologies of social networking are at risk of evolving negatively into data hubs for larger companies with political agendas or such to sway the opinions of users without their knowledge. I also believe that there is potential, with heavy reforms and regulations, for social networking cites to be much more, and live up to expectations of keeping their users motivated and provide a sense of togetherness where people from different backgrounds can come together, forming a sense of community and find similarities with one another which may have otherwise gone unnoticed.
(1) Facebook
Privacy Is So Confusing Even the Zuckerberg Family Photo Isn't Private,” The
Atlantic Wire, Greenfield, R. December 26, 2012 http://www.theatlanticwire.com/technology/2012/12/facebook-privacy-so-confusing-even-zuckerberg-family-photo-isnt-private/60313/
(2) Carnegie
Mellon students to exploit social networks to predict success of Internet
startups By Bob Brown, NetworkWorld Newsletters, 03/23/10 . Available at: http://www.networkworld.com/community/node/58866?source=NWWNLE_nlt_web_apps_2010-03-24
I agree that social media has kept us more connected with distant families who live in the other side of the world. I believe the term "small world" has been supported by the use of social media because we have the ability to connect with so many people around us that our world has actually become before small. Social media really overcomes any geographical barriers and is very instant.
ReplyDeleteOur privacy has always been a target mainly because all of these social media accounts such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter are "free" but that also comes at a cost which is our privacy. That is the major "dark side" of technology that we should never forget. It is difficult to imagine a world without social media so I believe the best thing we can do is limit the amount of information that we make public. That way, we stay more in control of our lives.