Saturday, July 21, 2012

Facebook Face Its click to edithelp
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Facebook – Face Its

Facebook is a social networking, which is free to all. It was developed by Mark Zuckerberg and two other colleagues who were attending Harvard University at the time. It is open to anyone with a valid email address. The purpose of facebook was to create a forum where people with similar interests could connect up and keep in touch with one another throughout the world. People share what is happening in their lives. They post a message that others who are in their network system may also read. They may chat with facebook’s instant messaging service. They upload photos, play games or just post nonsensical messages just for the mere pleasure, as it may be, of it.
Facebook is not bad in itself. In fact there is much about it that may be useful when used in a positive manner. However, there are sides of social networking that should not go unnoticed or avoided in regards to the harm that it may cause.

Sad Fact Face Its

It is with sadness that I feel compelled to write this hub. However, due to some incidents that I have recently become privy to, I feel it is necessary. It has been weighing on me so much that I absolutely feel driven to write to explain how postings affect and hurt others. I discreetly shared with another colleague the situation that involved a facebook that I became privy to as a parent felt the need to unburden as to an exchange that was very hurtful to her child and both of his parents. I believe that since I had all three students in the years prior, she also knew I would understand.

Photos

On one occasion I had to ask my daughter to remove a photo due to how it may be perceived by predators. The photo was one of she and her cousin doing head stands with upside down split. It placed me in the position of having to explain to her that there are those in the world who look at lovely young ladies inappropriately.
Never upload something that will prove that you are engaging in something that could be viewed as offensive to a prospective future employer. Think of photos as a permanent record of ANYTHING that you do.

Common Courtesy


Be aware that you are posting information that is open to all who are members. Also, do not deceive yourself, as there are many who will gain access to your information and come in through a back door. Ask yourself if what you are posting could hurt anyone. If it is not something that you would want posted about yourself, your child or someone you care about, DO NOT post it.
I myself had a brief encounter with the power of facebook. I changed my profile, which was a discreet acceptance of my status – or so I thought. Within seconds my daughter appeared at my bedroom door asking if I was all right and to share with her what was going on. I reassured her I was fine and asked her what she meant. She said, “You changed your facebook status.” I replied, “That happened only seconds ago, how did you know?” She answered, “Mom, I keep my facebook page open constantly.”
The next morning my sister had commented, “What in the world is going on?” Friends were commenting as well. I made a decision at that point to not post anything but general comments and have adhered strictly to my new rule.

Friends

Be cautious in regards to who you do accept as friends most especially if you are in a profession where it could come back to haunt you. Do not assume that one day you will not decide to alter your profession and your prospective employer could do a background check on you and locate something that would hinder your employment acceptance.
Even though I explained that I adopted a policy of only posting general comments a friend invited me to participate in a question type survey. I innocently thought it would be fun. After taking the survey and clicking a few buttons, I then had a photo on my facebook of a man’s backside. This upset me and I spent an hour trying to figure out a way to get it off my facebook page. I am still not certain that it is gone. I am an educator and have a few friends on facebook who are the parents of my students, as we have become friends. I explained in person to each of them what had occurred. I did not want them to think I would engage in such practices. Thus, I must also be careful, as this was a very embarrassing situation for me.
Do not accept children as friends unless they are your own children, nieces or close friends. One slight phrase that could be deemed improper and you could find yourself in the middle of a lawsuit. I truly believe that it is only a matter of time until we hear of high numbers of slander lawsuits being filed over information written in facebook. Why should facebook be any different than what you could say in person? In fact, in my personal opinion, it is worse. It is a written document and one that many get to read.

Privacy

Do not share where you are or where you are going minute to minute. There are hackers who will gain information about you and use it to your detriment. Use some discretion when posting. To further lend credence to what I am sharing. There were a few students who attended MIT. As a research project on facebook they used shell script to download more than 70,000 facebook profiles from four universities.
Negative repercussions of facebook have led some to make the decision to delete their accounts. Alas, in the past folks were unable to deactivate their account but they were not able to delete their account. Enough people must have taken issue with this as I understand one may now completely delete their accounts.

Addiction

This would seem to be not plausible. However, even employers have implemented policies that their employees may not utilize facebook during working hours. However, true facebook addicts have been caught and reprimanded for doing so.

Joined

I personally joined facebook in order that I could view the photos that my own children upload of their friends, their travels and their experiences. I also wanted to oversee if my children were uploading appropriate photos.

Relationships

There have been many relationships which have been damaged or ruined. People gossiping or posting photos of questionable means for one partner or the other have led to some serious issues between friends or couples.
To summarize, facebook has its place but please be considerate and reflect on what you are posting or uploading. Give it a few seconds to ask yourself each and every time you post something. Is this something that could hurt someone? Is this something I would want posted about me or mine? There is an old adage: When in doubt…..
Enjoy facebook but stay alert and aware!


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