Social Networking and Privacy

Social Networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and FourSquare are representative of how great innovation has become. It allows us to have the opportunity to interact with an expansive universe of new people or "friends"as we now like to call it. Globalization has taken such a stronghold all over the world that it is not surprising how interconnected our society has become via the Internet. Personally, I do not use social networking sites a lot because I try to moderate my 'online' social life with my 'real' social life. I am only on Facebook and I did not become a member until Thanksgiving break last year. I would say overall that I do a decent job of not making Facebook an everyday part of my life. The only reason that I joined Facebook was because once I came to Santa Clara everyone had an account. Nowadays everyone is on Facebook and in fact it has become the norm to be a member of an online social networking site. Overall, I would say that I spend about five hours a week on facebook checking status updates on my computer. I try to limit my time social networking because I feel that privacy is to some degree lost. A couple weeks ago, I bought my first blackberry and was taken back by how facebook and myspace applications were encouraged to be downloaded on a mobile device for a first-time user. Figuring out the buttons on a blackberry for the first time was confusing enough let alone learning how to download facebook. For that reason, I have chosen not to use my cell phone to access other people's personal information. I do not see why I have to see someone's latest picture or status update when I'm on my way to class, a restaurant, or going out.

I think that the cultural move towards social networking, constant access, and the loss of privacy has brought overall a positive trend. However, the positives do come along with it some degree of lost privacy. Social networking has allowed myself and millions of other people to stay connected and create new communities. Facebook, linkedin, and myspace represents a forum in which one can make choices about their identity. The freedom to represent yourself publicly must be expressed in a way that is not detrimental to your future. I have found that through facebook, I have been able to maintain and establish relations with people through sharing wall posts, pictures, and personal interests. From a business perspective, social networking has created positive trends such as LinkedIn's business community. Although I am not a member of LinkedIn, my dad who started his own company has mentioned to me that LinkedIn has been a competent way for him to gain contacts, clients, and an public awareness of what is going on in the business world. As I mentioned earlier, the success of social networking is dependent on someone's ability to to moderate their online activity. Social networking brings with it the negative effects of lost privacy. The degree of lost privacy is reflected by how much online interaction has taken over real social interaction. Online networking can only work if you treat it the same way as a face-to-face interaction. Being an active member of a community or site is only valuable as the amount of effort someone puts into it. The entanglement between our personal lives and technology must be moderated to a level so that it does not interfere with our personal skills. Personally, I have never "over-shared", texted, or posted something that I have regretted because I have learned to present myself as I would in a normal social interaction. With facebook's privacy settings and my ability to limit my time spent on the computer, I have never worried about my privacy. It is integral that all members of online social networking sites realize that whatever is posted reflects their identity to the online world.