SNS: friend or foe?
Friday, October 16, 2009 by Anonymous
In week 6, Doctor Goode outlined the various ‘ups’ and ‘downs’ of online social networking. It is without a doubt that the use of online social networking has become a sense of ‘lifestyle’ among many users. What do I mean by this? To understand this idea of a ‘lifestyle,’ it is important to understand the different angles that people approach in regards to the use, and treatment of social networking sites (SNS). It will be logical and fair to say that the main purpose of social networking sites is for the purpose to ‘socialise’ and interact with other members of the community both at a local, and from an international scale. Thus, SNS provides a bridge, a way of linking people from all around the world by breaking the barrier concerning ‘accessibility’ of interaction. Not only this, SNS have also provided other positive contributions to many people’s lives. An article in the New Zealand Herald (issue of Tuesday, October 13, 2009), outlines how ‘Derryn Brenan’ turned to the net in order to recover her lost job due to the downfall of the market (economy) last year. She uses ‘facebook’ in order to interact with friends and find a route in order to interact with friends of her friends, and resultantly search for jobs and get job interviews through this social interaction. Thus the article is titled, “Facebook friends open door to new employment.” This example supports the idea of how SNS provides a bridge for people to interact with various people from around the world.
Here, we must come to a stop and ask ourselves, are SNS always friendly to us? Do they only affect us in positive ways? Surely there must be a hole in the system. After all, nothing in this world is perfect right? Referring back to the lecture that was given by doctor Goode, he outlined the ideas of ‘sexual predators,’ and ‘cyber bullying.’ Just like in many other cases (such as txting), a system that was created to advantage people is partly destroyed by people themselves. The term ‘sexual predators,’ is used mostly to describe men of the older generation who seek to fulfil their sexual desires through SNS. Although it is not common in recent times, due to the increased level of security in SNS regarding this matter, there are few cases where older men create a fake ‘identity’ in order to lure younger women for sexual pleasure. Although the idea of a ‘sexual predator’ seems a more powerful term, ‘cyber bullying’ has caused much more problems in our society. Unlike traditional bullying, cyber bullying has its advantages to the people who seek wrong doing. For example, the media allows people to use images and create ‘new identities’ in SNS. This means that people can put offensive picture of others on the net or even use their fake identities in order to bully others both verbally and mentally. Thus, it is creating a pathway that eases certain ‘wrong doers’ from doing what they are good at.
Now we must ask ourselves, are we treating this innovative system that was designed to advantage ourselves in various ways, the way we are supposed to treat them? Are SNS treating us the way they should be?
SNS: friend or foe? You decide.
Here, we must come to a stop and ask ourselves, are SNS always friendly to us? Do they only affect us in positive ways? Surely there must be a hole in the system. After all, nothing in this world is perfect right? Referring back to the lecture that was given by doctor Goode, he outlined the ideas of ‘sexual predators,’ and ‘cyber bullying.’ Just like in many other cases (such as txting), a system that was created to advantage people is partly destroyed by people themselves. The term ‘sexual predators,’ is used mostly to describe men of the older generation who seek to fulfil their sexual desires through SNS. Although it is not common in recent times, due to the increased level of security in SNS regarding this matter, there are few cases where older men create a fake ‘identity’ in order to lure younger women for sexual pleasure. Although the idea of a ‘sexual predator’ seems a more powerful term, ‘cyber bullying’ has caused much more problems in our society. Unlike traditional bullying, cyber bullying has its advantages to the people who seek wrong doing. For example, the media allows people to use images and create ‘new identities’ in SNS. This means that people can put offensive picture of others on the net or even use their fake identities in order to bully others both verbally and mentally. Thus, it is creating a pathway that eases certain ‘wrong doers’ from doing what they are good at.
Now we must ask ourselves, are we treating this innovative system that was designed to advantage ourselves in various ways, the way we are supposed to treat them? Are SNS treating us the way they should be?
SNS: friend or foe? You decide.