What are the disadvantages of Social Networking-SP11_07ES102001? - Education Technology Center - UIowa Wiki

There are disadvatges to social networking.

Disadvantages include:

-privacy & security

-cyber bullying

-TOO easily accessible (making it easy to misuse & abuse)

Privacy and security issues are two problems that are often associated with being a member of a social network. Privacy is a huge issue since most social networking sites require that the user provide personal information such as a full name, an address, date of birth, a phone number. This information is on the internet and easy to access by everyone. Although some social networking sites do offer privacy settings so that the user can control who can view his or her information, this doesn’t mean the information provided on the user’s page is safe. For Example, “Adrienne Felt, a Ph.D. candidate at Berkely, made small headlines last year when she exposed a potentially devastating hole in the framework of Facebook’s thirs-party application programming interface (API) which allows for easy theft of private information. Felt and her co-researchers found that third-party platform applications for Facebook gave developers access to far more information (addresses, pictures, interests, etc.) than needed to run the app” (Collins 2008). This means that if an “application developer wanted to sell the personal information of people who used his or her app to advertising companies, he or she could [do so]” (Collins 2008). So even though a user can add privacy settings to his or her page, this doesn’t gaurantee privacy. You never know who is viewing your information online, whether it be employers, universities, or online predators. So it’s important that you take precaution when giving out personal information and when you are creating a profile be careful of what you display on it.

See http://www.fastcompany.com/multimedia/slideshows/content/online-security-tips.html?page=2 for tips on how to protect your identity online.

Another issue associated with social networking is cyber bullying. “Cyber-bullying involves the use of information and communication technologies such as e-mail, instant messaging, and personal web sites to support deliberate, repeated, and hostile behavior by an individual or group, that is intended to harm others” (Keith, Martin. 2005). Children nowadays are almost always connected or wired, and they are able to communicate in various ways that parents are not always able to supervise. “This can make it hard for parents and school administrators to both understand the nature of the problem and do something about it” (Keith, Martin. 2005). There have been some serveys done in the United States to get a better understanding of just how many students are being cyber-bullied, and how many students are cyber-bullying themselves. 1, 566 students from grades four to eight were surveyed to find out their experiences with bullying online. The survery found that: 57 % of students said that someone said hurtful or angry things to them online with 13% saying it happens “quite often”; 35% of students have been threatened online with 5% saying it happens “quite often”; 42% have been bullied online with 7% saying it happens “quite often”; 20% have received mean or threatening e-mails; and the sad part is that 58% have not told their parents or another adult about their experiences online (Keith, Marin. 2005).

Another disadvantage of social networking is that although it is easily accessible, this may be an issue especially for young teenagers and online predators who may abuse and misuse these sites. There was a study conducted that surveyed British students and that showed that “British parent(s) and carer(s) have little idea of what their children are up to when using these sites” (Reid 2009). This study reported that one out of every ten teens had posted something on a site that was potentially damaging to themselves. In this same study, about 39% of teens had posted something on their site that they later regretted. This study also found that 37% admitted to using their site to make fun of other people, and teachers seemed to be the easy target in the majority of these cases (Reid 2009).