I have been using Facebook for some time now, and the reason why I signed up was because a friend recommended it. I became a member but was dormant for a while. I started getting invitations to add individuals to my list of friends join groups and subscribe for certain features that will widen my participation and use of certain tools. It has helped me to get in touch and stay in touch with people that I had lost touch with for a long time. I have and still am able to see their pictures, chat, read their profiles and know what they are up to from the daily news portal. Because of the way the system works, I can view my friends and their own friends and so I find myself having a very extensive network and making connections that would have not been possible in such a short time space and with such little effort. I am also able to get information on current issues and concerns, read the different comments and criticism and draw my personal conclusion. I like the presence of social networking and I think they are very useful and can be used to achieve the purpose you want them to, within guidelines. One can use one site to achieve multiple purposes, or use a combination of sites.
One thing of note however has been that in all this, I have been a passive member, not contributing much. The digital literacy class that I have had has helped me to understand the importance of contributing and so I have decided to start putting up my quota, it may not be much, but it is my opinion and it will add to what there is, and who knows, I might be able to start my own thing from the scratch.
I never thought of Facebook or social networking as anything apart from a social forum where people meet, keep in touch and socialise. I just found out that even though it is, it also has more to it. (Boyd and Ellison, 2007) define social network sites as “web-based services that allow individuals to construct a public or semi-public profile within a bounded system; articulate a list of other users with whom they share a connection, and view and traverse their list of connections and those made by others within the system. The nature and nomenclature of these connections may vary from site to site”.
Social networking can have negative implications, this is because information that is meant to be confidential can be unintentionally shared and this may result in serious consequences for organisations and employers.
It puts an individual’s private information at risk. People should choose the kind of private information posted as a safety measure.
Groups can be formed and used to promote negative activities that may have negative impact on society.
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1 comment:
Hi Longret,
I think you raise 2 (at least) very interesting points. The issue of passive versus active use of these sites is important in the shift in mindset or attitude that can be required to make the most of these opportunities and facilities. At the same time becoming more active can absorb huge amounts of time. Checking different people's sites and making contacts and adding content on a regular basis is really time consuming.
In addition, it may be difficult to know how much of a reward you get for that effort. How much of it turns into actual collaborative activity or business of some sort?
Either way you do show awareness and appreciation of the issues in social networking and it was good to read this article. Well done
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