[HOW SAFE IS SOCIAL NETWORKING?

]
|1

How Safe is Social Networking?

Alex Castro
Kerry Luckett
October 6, 2011

One early morning, I wake up and decide to log onto my Facebook account
before I head out to class. Instantly, there is a message that I have received a friend request.
Although I do not recognize the name, the profile picture of the girl seemed very familiar,
especially because I knew her personally. To my remembrance, she was already a friend of mine
just not under that profile name. Since I was confused about the person requesting to be my
friend, I began to browse her profile including her pictures, interest, date of birth, hometown, etc.
What was appalling are all of the pictures appeared to be the girl I knew, however, the rest of the
information on her profile seemed unfamiliar. Still confused, I decided to look up the profile of
the girl that was already my friend to investigate further. What I discovered was that her profile
was still active and all of her personal information identified her accurately. Instantly, I took it
upon myself to message my friend that her identity was being replicated and that another user on
Facebook was stealing her pictures. She responded telling me that she had no idea of this other
profile. Taking the proper measures to protect her identity and personal pictures, she had to email the Facebook support group to suspend that account as well as privatize all of her
information. But the issue was the other person already had stolen her pictures. Therefore, the
other anonymous user can create another profile using her identity without my friend knowing.
Although my friend never abused the use of social networking and has found it very rewarding,
she has also seen the dark side of this social community.
For many users, social networking allows people to express themselves and
speak their mind through blogging. It also gives users the advantage of networking with others in
the same the job market as well reconnecting with lost friends. Users have the benefits of being
exposed to different people of all backgrounds. In the contrary, others argue social networking
sites expose adolescents to the potential risk of sex offenders, and allowing users to become

[HOW SAFE IS SOCIAL NETWORKING?]

|3
victims of cyber bulling which has become a recent trend. Although the world of social
networking has its advantages, there are always disadvantages that fall behind them. In order to
continue using these social medias to their fullest advantage, while eliminating the abuse and
misuse, there must be strict regulation and education how are they should be used.
There are plenty of support groups on social networking sites that expose users
to the issues of todays society. As a result, many users take it upon themselves to show their
support for a certain cause such as, breast cancer, racism, immigration, etc. They are able to
demonstrate this by posting certain messages on their site and asking their networking groups to
do so as well. A recent trend that was started by a Facebook group to support child abuse was for
every user to change their profile picture to a favorite cartoon character and leave it up for a
week. Days later, news erupted over this recent trend due to the fact that it was developed by a
group of pedophiles. They used this smart tactic to hide their identities to be able to add
adolescents as their friends without having to expose their true profile picture. According to
socialnetworking.procon.org, In Feb. 2009, MySpace identified 90,000 registered sex offenders
with profiles on the site. The show, To Catch A Predator, demonstrates how pedophiles use a
social media to communicate with underage children. Although many in favor of social
networking sites, can argue that adolescents are able to privatize their profiles to who has access
to view them, it does not protect them from sex offenders that hide their identity to solicit
teenagers. Moreover, numerous of teens are oblivious to pedophiles soliciting their pictures by
overexposing themselves on these social networking sites. The use of false identities by sex
offenders on these social networking sites allow adolescent to become more vulnerable to
pedophiles and create a safe environment for them on these social communities.

Along with users becoming victims of sex offenders, many are falling prey to
cyber bullying on social networks. Cyber bullying is very similar to bullying however, it is
bullying over social medias. Cyber bullying exposes information to a larger audience and is more
public as oppose to bullying. Social networking sites are supportive of this malicious trend by
allowing users to express themselves freely, communicate to a larger audience, and expose as
little or as much information as choose to do so. Yes, it is understood that communication is the
reason why social networks were created. However, they cannot prevent another person from
verbally assaulting another person on their personal profile. Critics can defend this issue by
arguing that the one being bullied can block that person from accessing his or her profile. But,
the bully can still verbally attack the victim on his or her own page. It is out of the victims
controls

and

the

social

networks

control

as

to

what

the

user

can

publish.

Socialnetwroking.procon.org states, A 2009 study found that 17.3% of middle school students
have been victims of cyber bullying. Victims can often experience a drop in grades, decreased
self-esteem, and other symptoms of depression. Social networking sites are not aware that cyber
bullying can also lead fatal consequences such as suicide. The victim may also feel the need to
retaliate against the bully and cause harm to him or her. On socialnetworking.procon.org also
states that the U.S. Marine Corps eliminated the use of social media networks because the sites
are a proven haven for malicious actors and content and are particularly high risk due to
information exposure, user generated content. It is recognized by a national organization of the
negative effects of social networking. Although it is very useful for communicating and
expressing one self, many teenagers are paying the consequences for those who use it as a
method to bully one another.

[HOW SAFE IS SOCIAL NETWORKING?]

|5
While these negative aspects may seem very extreme, and drive users to
completely eliminate their social networking accounts, many users have seen the advantage these
social communities embrace. Within our own education system, students are using social
networks as a tool to further their education and use the resources towards planning out their
future. According to Creating and Connecting (2007), 59% percentofonlinestudentssaythey
talkaboutanyeducationrelatedtopics,includingcollegeorcollegeplanning;learningoutside
ofschool;news;careersorjobs;politics,ideas,religionormorals;andschoolwork(pp.1).This
allowsstudentstoresearchdifferentcareerspathsandhelpthemdecidewhattheywouldliketo
study.Althoughitmayseemthatstudentsonlyusethesesocialcommunitiesforrecreationaluse,
itshowsthat50%ofonlinestudentssaytheytalkspecificallyaboutschoolwork(pp.1).This
allowsstudentstocommunicatewithotherstudentsaboutcertainproblemsorhelponeanother
withhelpfulstudyguides.Notonlyarestudentsseeingthebenefitsofthesenetworks,adultsare
aswell.60millionAmericanssaytheinternethasplayedanimportantorcrucialroleinhelping
themdealwithatleastonemajorlifedecisioninthepasttwoyears,statesBoaseet.al(2006)
(pp.7).ThisiscrucialconsideringtheeconomichardshipmanyAmericanshaveenduredandthe
unemploymentrateatitshighestinhistory.Outofthe60million21millionhavereceived
trainingfortheircareeronsocialnetworks(pp.7).Thisallowsthemtobecomemoremarketable
andlessdispensable.Socialnetworksmayhavetheirdisadvantagesbuttheycanbeveryuseful
andbeneficialformillionsofAmericans.
An online community where teenagers are being exposed to sex offenders, and
teenagers are being bullied validates why social networks have many disadvantages and should
be banned. Although it is ludacris to ban these networking sites because of the money they

generate and the millions of users that have profile but there needs to be a solution to these
issues. They do have their advantages such as reconnecting with friends or socializing with
others in your job market. Students and adults are able to make critical decisions by using the
resources that these social networks provide. However, there are many people who do abuse
these sites. A solution that can help eliminate many of these disadvantages is for users to be more
cautious and limit the information he or she may expose. Cyber bullying can be eliminated by
users being mature and understanding the harmful effects that it has on their victims.
Unfortunately, sex offenders will go to their fullest potential to connect with an adolescent but
parents should be more cautious on who their children are befriending on these sites. A step that
has been taken is many organizations and businesses do advertise their Facebook page on
commercials and websites. This reaches out to millions of people globally to provide them with
resources. It is in my great hope that more people become aware of the issues that social
networking sites cause and help to make it safe and fun for everyone.

[HOW SAFE IS SOCIAL NETWORKING?]

|7

REFERENCE
1. B o a s e ,
January

J.,

Harigan,

25).

The

J.,

Wel l m a n ,

strength

of

B.,

&

internet

Rainie,

ties.

L.

(2006,

Retrieved

from

http://socialnetworking.procon.org/sourcefiles/PIP_Internet_tie
s.pdf.pdf
2. "Ethics of NBC's Sting Show 'To Catch a Predator'", Talk of the Nation, National
Public Radio, January 16, 2007
3. H i n d u j a , S . , & P a t c h i n ,
schoolyard:

preventing

J.

and

(2009).

Bullying

responding

to

beyond

the

cyberbullying

Retrieved from http://socialnetworking.procon.org/

4. National School Boards Associations. (July, 2007). Creating & Connecting/Research and
Guidelines

on

Online

Social

and

Educational

Networking.

Retrieved

from

http://socialnetworking.procon.org/sourcefiles/CreateandConnect.pdf.
5. O l i v e r e z - G i l e s , N . ( 2 0 0 9 , F e b r u a r y 1 4 ) . M o r e s e x o f f e n d e r s
joined myspace than previously acknowledged . Retrieved from
http://socialnetworking.procon.org/