Blog Social Networking

Social networking has quickly become the cornerstone of connecting today. Before, it used to be going to others house’s, or finding time to make 3-way phone calls. But these channels were limited; in comparison, social networking extends over the boundaries of distance. It’s relatively infinite, and with its extensive reach, people find themselves swimming through multiple instant messages on Facebook or reaching out to their favorite celebrity on Twitter. These advantages provide a landscape of exploration, open-mindedness and belonging. There simply is no one community you’re limited to. For example, Peter Cho of the New York Times states “Students began e-mailing Zuckerberg to say that via News Feed they’d learn things they never would have otherwise discovered through random surfing around Facebook…Zuckerberg opened the site to the general public and it grew quickly; today it has 100 million users” (Cho, NYTimes).

However, with this heavy influx of growing users, consumer and company, the importance of social networking mannerisms sheds light on information sharing. There are millions of complaints of hate speech, scamming, cyber bullying, and hackers intruding for privacy invasion, identity theft and other illegal activities. Of course, it’s famously said that if you give a man a mask, he’ll show his true face. And with the rise of social networking (where people hide behind a computer), there’s seems to be less regulation with what’s happening. For example, user privacy is a growing concern. Take Mark Zuckerberg’s sister herself as precedent. She had an instance where a subscriber found a photo of her family floating around, which incited panic on Zuckerberg’s end as that is her private matter. And even though the exchange had gone well, that photo is still lingering around to see – those who did see could’ve taken screenshots, saved it, etc. But isn’t this Zuckerberg’s right to hold onto that photo and claim it as private? Well, Rebecca Greenfield of The Atlantic notes, “…the thing about “privacy” and Facebook and all that, is that these photos are somewhere on the Internet, or a magically disappearing new photo-sharing app…regardless of the rules” (Greenfield, The Atlantic).

Even after assessing the pros and cons of the today’s social networking bonanza, there are plenty of options within and outside the realm potential to advancement. Perhaps there will be heavier government regulation, or maybe we’ll end up ditching platform social networking altogether when Virtual Reality becomes the accessible, commercial means of information sharing. Regardless, it’s important to note that we are far away from the end of connection; instead, it feels as though we become closer and closer to those on the far end of the globe.