Social Networking

Social Networking has many benefits. On paper it even sounds like there couldn't possibly be any downside. Who wouldn't want fast, easy access to friends, family, and an array of information, anytime or anywhere? The uses of social networks are vast, ranging from work collaboration, to meeting new people, and anything in between. The sheer easy of use and access has done wonders for companies, who use social networks such as twitter to instantly (and cheaply) inform hundreds of thounsands of people about upcoming events, sales, and other news, all of which could mean big profits for the company. However, there is most certainly a "dark side".
Possibly the biggest issue that comes up with social networking is the possibility of privacy issues. This is most definitely a big concern, and Wired Campus' article states that “engagement with privacy settings increased significantly” (between 2009 and 2010) (http://chronicle.com/blogs/wiredcampus/who-cares-about-facebook-privacy-students-do/25877). This statement, even though it's slightly dated, shows that the issue of privacy is a big issue, and is on the minds of a lot of people. Although this is a major concern, this doesn't stop people from using sites such as facebook. Nicole Ellison, an assistant professor of Telecommunications, attributes this to "“social capital,” which is to say, that the benefits gained from a social networking site, far outweigh their potential costs. (http://www.freakonomics.com/2008/02/15/is-myspace-good-for-society-a-freakonomics-quorum/) Even so, there are still incidents. Recently, there was the suicide of Amanda Todd, whose death was attributed to "cyber bullying", on facebook. So with social netowrking, as with any new technology, there are bound to be incidents, society as a whole seems to be accepting the role social networking sites play.