Final Assignment: Social Networking

INF 103 Computer Literacy

Introduction

As I reflect on my life, I see a life that is influenced by social media. I met my wife online on Myspace many years ago. Many of my closest friends that are still in my circle today I met online on social networking sites. I move around a lot from my time in the military to my current company and my family can watch our lives unfold in different countries and states without missing a beat. Now as the mother of teenage boys that have moved around and just 6 months ago left their friends behind in another state, social networking has allowed them to continue to nurture friendships from afar. While Social media has impacted my life for the positive there are times when I am terrified at the reach of Social Media. As a parent I often worry that my children will be lured away by some madman posing as a cute girl or lost friend. I worry that social networking could be a place where my children are bullied or exposed to things that they shouldn’t be. While I feel that there are more positive to Social networking from a personal and business aspect, there are many people that feel just the opposite. In this paper I will share various views on Social Networking and its effects on society.

What is Social Networking?

The Merriam-Webster dictionary describes Social networking as the creation and maintenance of personal and business relationships especially online. Our text book states that there are 2 networks people fall into 2 groups or networks. The first group or network would be your friends and family. This group knows you personally, you share those things that are the most important to you. They know your dreams, your likes dislikes and all the other stuff that only those within your inner circle will know. The other group would be your colleagues or co-workers, those people that you may know but you don’t share all aspects of your life with (Bowles, 2013). These are the 2 groups that define our social circles.

Before the internet if you wanted to see someone, you had to go where they were. If the distance was far, it made it difficult to get there. If you wanted to share pictures you resulted to printing them off and dropping them in the mail. Now you can see anyone virtually anywhere and the time to share a favorite photo is merely at your fingertips and seconds away. Looking for a job? Before you would hop in your car and travel to the place of business and drop off your resume and wait for a phone call. Or wait for a job fair to happen so you could show up and hand out your resume to company’s seeking to hire. Now you can literally apply online to as many jobs as you would like, but social networking has made it possible to take it step further by creating a platform for you to set up a profile with your resume where recruiters and those looking to hire can look at your qualifications. Social networking has grown to become one of the largest and most influential components of the web so it’s no wonder that there are so many social networking sites out there today. With the advent of Web 2.0, we now have Web applications that enable us to communicate with these networks in new and exciting ways. (Bowles, 2013)

Social Networking Sites

I mentioned earlier that my first interaction on a social networking site was through Myspace. I loved how I could create a personalize page, add pictures and music. I could even add my favorite movies and songs. My friends could come on my page and leave messages that they dropped by. I then moved to Blackplanet.com where I could connect with people that lived in my area and shared the same interest. For me and my generation those were the most popular Networking sites, we have Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat and Instagram and LinkedIn for your business networking needs. While there are plenty more, these seem to be the most popular sites.

With over 651 million users, Facebook is now a household name and one of the largest social networking sites around. Facebook (which can be found at http://www.facebook.com) originated in 2004. This Web application allows you to blog, establish private networks, share photos, and locate friends. You can form and join groups of people who share your interests. (Bowles, 2013) Facebook allows you to add friends, see what your friends have posted on their time lines. You can post your favorite video, pictures of friends and family and now you can go live on Facebook and record what you are doing in real time for the whole world to see. With all the amazing ways to share and have fun online with family and friends, the text cautions against the dangers of not using Facebook wisely. The text sends a reminder to use privacy settings and discretion when using Facebook, as there have been known instances where companies have terminated employees for their expressed views and behaviors on social networking sites as well as university that has denied admission to applicants based on what they posted on Facebook.

The post popular site for business networking is LinkedIn. According to the textbook, there are four main groups of people who set up accounts on LinkedIn. 1. professionals who want to share their skills. 2. Active Job Hunters. 3. Hiring professionals. 4. Entrepreneurs who have established a company and are looking to create an online presence, define a new brand, or find partners, investors, and customers (Alba, 2007) If you are in the business world, having a profile on LinkedIn is key.

Beware Social Networking side effects

In this article the author compares social media to the latest drug. She describes how addictive social media is and expresses the pros and cons of social media. One of the major points discussed is whether social networking sites are safe. In this article the author talked about the ability for social media to introduce criminals into your life. How people could create fake profiles just to pry into your personal like. The article warns against using social media sites like Facebook without protecting yourself. One way to do this is by enabling the privacy features. This could keep unknown persons from searching for your profile or seeing content on your profile without your permissions. The article also notes that everything you share on the internet is out there forever. In a time where everyone uses Social Networking it is important to take precaution to keep your private information private.

“Commentary: Beware of social media — its users can be anti-social.” Much that the previous article, the author of this article shared some of the same concerns and advice. He warns about having fun and being social on social networking sites but not too social. He warns that Social media has been around long enough that employers are getting smarter. Job seekers should beware of what’s out on the web as it could hinder career opportunities. He also talks about how things said and posted on Social Networking sites like Facebook and Instagram can be used against you from a legal standpoint. One thing you can do is perform a search on your name frequently to see what comes out there. This is called Narcisurfing. You should check multiple sites to be sure you are covering all of your basis.

Conclusion

In conclusion, from reading both articles I would have to agree that the benefits of Social Networking; the ability to be able to stay connected with friends and family, to connect with people that share your same interest and to connect with potential employers are positives to social networking. Those same positives are also cons. Sharing with friends and family is good, by oversharing or airing your dirty laundry could have dire consequences. Using social networking sites with caution, understanding that everything your put out on social media is equivalent to placing it on the web, and it’s out there forever. Social Networking has it’s pros but when used irresponsible it can become something negative.

References

Bowles, M. D. (2013). Introduction to digital literacy [Electronic version]. Retrieved from https://content.ashford.edu/

Beware social networking’s side effects. (2009, Jul 28). The New Zealand Herald Retrieved from https://search-proquest-com.proxy-library.ashford.edu/docview/430337690?accountid=32521

Social Networking. (n.d.). Retrieved March 23, 2018, from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/social networking

Alba, J. (2007). I’m on LinkedIn—now what???: A guide to getting the most out of LinkedIn. Cupertino, CA: Retrieved from http://www.HappyAbout.info

“Commentary: Beware of social media — its users can be anti-social.” Daily Record [Baltimore, MD] 26 June 2009. Business Insights: Global. URL http://bi.galegroup.com.proxy-library.ashford.edu/global/article/GALE%7CA202454072/26219e400e285d9272ecee7eca69a9f9?u=ashford

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