Social networking has become a means of communication in the present world and has become an important part of one’s lives. It is no longer in their infancy stage since its emergence it continued to offer its customers with a variety and meaningful ways through which they can engage people and events. Besides this, the social networking sites are creating some potential harm to the society. Students are becoming the main victims of them rather than anyone else. The main negative effects of social networking include cyber bullying and security issues and several techniques are to be practiced to protect from these dangers.
Social networking sites such as Facebook, Myspace, and Instagram have attracted millions of users since their beginnings, and user numbers continue to rise. Websites, such as these, offer a way of staying in contact with friends, establishing new friendships, sharing information, posting pictures, videos, and more. Since these options became available to us, many say that social networking has allowed for us to broaden our social landscape. Although many may believe this, it is far from true. Excessive media usage is now beginning to show negative effects in its consumers.
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Identity theft is the stealing and use of someone’s personal information and is one of the fastest growing crimes in the nation (Dole, 2005). According to Federal Trade Commission estimates, identity thieves victimize approximately 10 million Americans every year at a cost of an astonishing $50 billion (2005). Identity theft has been going on for years now and is easily done with the help of today’s technology. According to the Federal Trade Commission, there are six common ways that identity thieves get a hold of personal information. The varieties of methods that are used are dumpster diving, skimming, phishing, changing the victim’s address, stealing, and pretexting (Federal Trade Commission).
Facebook as changed the way young people today communicate. With over 800 million users and available in 70 languages Facebook is one of the fastest growing companies. Could Facebook be indeed taking over our lives? The answer for this question will try to be explored in the first part of this essay. It is certainly clear that Facebook has made an effect on how many people communicate.
The Ethics of Spam Prevention The user base of the Internet and World Wide Web grows by millions of users each year. In recent years this has created an explosion in the number of Internet email accounts and addresses. Companies such as Microsoft, Yahoo and Netscape have made free email accounts available for the world to use. Many people have multiple email accounts on the web, in addition to those that they may have for business purposes. This increase in the number of users around the world surfing the Internet and using email has created a new problem and a very disturbing trend.
MySpace gained popularity when businesses and bands began using it for advertising. Since the launch of Facebook, both have made social networking part of daily life for millions of people worldwide. Internet relationships have become more popular and face-to-face interactions have become more rare. Though these websites allow friends to stay in touch more easily, they also raise safety concerns. Predators have found ways to gain access to innocent bystanders.
Social networks have also been the cause of numerous people being victims of cyber bullying. Although social media can be used for positive activities like connecting with friends and family, or helping them with school, some of these tools can be used to hurt others. Cyber bullying occurs more than we think, it happens twenty-four hours, seven days a week, and can reach a person even when they are not logged in. It is becoming much more common for someone to sit in front of a screen and harass others than it is to do in person because you are able hide who you truly are. The masked identity that the internet provides also causes other concerns for the victim like anxiety and sense of powerlessness.