I found this article really interesting because it allowed me to examine social networking and the ways in which it can affect personal relationships. I found this article really relevant because it allowed me to examine my own uses of facebook and twitter and the ways in which these websites have ruled my social life. I thought the article really represented the pros and cons of social networking and the fact that it can allow people to feel close to others, yet also feel that their privacy is being invaded. To me, this is a big concern for high school students because I think that social networking provides teenagers with a medium through which they can communicate intimately and in a way that the whole world can say. I think cyber bullying is probably a bigger problem than many people realize because of the fact that people can send private messages to others. Also, people can subtly post information in status updates or comments that appear meaningless to others, yet hurt one person in particular. I think parents need to pay more attention to this and teachers should spend time discussing appropriate uses of social networking sites.
I also thought it was interesting that people panicked when the news feed came out on facebook. I was really surprised by this because I always knew facebook to have the news feed and I couldn't imagine it without it. However, it is true that it allows people to know every detail of peoples' lives. I also thought it was interesting when the article quoted Mark Zuckerberg saying "Facebook has always tried to push the envelope, and at times that means stretching people and getting them to be comfortable with things they aren’t yet comfortable with. A lot of this is just social norms catching up with what technology is capable of.” To me, I don't necessarily think that it's just social norms catching up with technology, because I don't think it used to be in the norm to know so many intimate details of other peoples' lives. I think facebook and other social networking sites have created new social norms.
I also think it's really important for teachers to talk about social networking and safety with their students and I think this is a new topic for schools. Students need to be taught the importance of using privacy features and knowing who can see things on their profiles and how it can impact their lives. Teachers could do a mini unit on the importance of internet privacy and teach students skills they will use throughout their lives, so they don't have to learn them the hard way.
Overall, I think social networking is a good thing, but I think people need to be careful about how they use it.
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