Social Networking SitesEthical Issues in the Media

Where did Social Networking Sites come from?

Social Networking sites began with sites such as; Theglobe.com,1995, Geocities,1994 and Tripod.com,1995. Many of these early communities

focused on bringing people together to interact with each other through chat rooms and sharing information about one another. It was in the late 1990s,

people were able to allow users express lists of "friends" and search for other users with similar interests. By 2005, the increase of social networking sites were high, with; SixDegrees.com,1997, Makeoutclub, 2000, Hub Culture and

Friendster in 2002, MySpace and LinkedIn, 2003, and eventually Bebo. By 2005 MySpace was the most popular Networking Service. This was until early

2009 when Facebook was the most used website in the world. They were created mainly for dating sites, getting people to meet new people, with it’s

technologies improvements over the years, it has become a daily use by everyone. Because of the improvements made to Networking sites everyday,

this is what has made the websites so unsafe.

How do Social Networking sites help?Social Networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter, are used by the public all

over the world. It is a way of staying connected to family who have moved away, sharing photos and interacting with friends. These are good reasons why

people should be using these sites, and usually get’s lost in the use. People tend to use Facebook and Twitter to their advantage. But this hasn’t stopped the

makers of these interacting sites, they have abled people to block and report other people who they don’t know. This keeps Facebook, MySpace and Twitter

safe. The settings on the site can be adjusted so that you can reveal your photos, information and status’ to only friends. The responsibility for using these websites, is up to each individual person who uses it. They know and understand

the settings, how to do it and the consequences that will happen when not careful. People tend to put the blame all on the Networking services, where as,

they chose to sign up for it and not being careful. Parents should give their children, mainly teens, privacy, to an extent. Make sure that they have their

settings on private and that they’re using it for the right reasons, this will keep teens safe and entertained. You can’t keep young adults from these site because

they are everywhere, on phones and iPods. When used correctly, Social Networking services are helpful, connecting and interacting.

What are the dangers of Social Networking Sites?

With Networking services the obvious problem that scares parents, is the unknown “friend” that their children would add, talk to and meet. This is very

dangers for young adults because of the easy access to strangers. It is easy for people to create a fake profile. There are pictures to access on Google and to pretend to be a teen. On Facebook there is a new way of finding a connection,

“friends of friends”, if a teenager sees that someone adds them, who has “mutual friends” they will think they know them. This is a danger in the Social Network

site. Even though people can unfriend, block and report people, this doesn’t occur to most young adults.

Other than this issue, there is the worry of cyber bullying. However, this isn’t just from Social Networking services, this can happen on mobile phones or in person. On the other hand, Facebook, Twitter, don’t have a better effect on the situation.

It increases it. For example, Amanda todd, made one mistake and was then bullied over Facebook, groups were made about her, which she couldn’t stop,

even if she left the website, it would still be there, that is the problem with these sites, if it is someone else that posts something, it isn’t in your hands to stop. This

can be dangerous, harming and scary.

Is there danger for the companies?

With the problems from the websites, will people carry on using them? If people stopped, how much money will be lost? This is a worry for the

company who run Facebook, Twitter and MySpace. From how many people use the sites everyday, how many advertisements are used and games, the

business would lose a lot of money. With all this interaction, there is no reason why people wouldn’t come off the sites. However, it can get boring, adults wouldn’t tend to go on games, join groups or read advertisements. Even teenagers would get bored at one point because a lot of trouble is

started mostly from Facebook and Twitter. Even celebrities get into trouble with the things that are posted. When will people stop? If the public did

decide to abandon Social Networking sites, what will come next? Something is being added to the internet every year. There is nothing stopping people

from coming off Social websites, so this could be a threat to companies. Also, nothing is stopping it from being banned, this could be because of the danger

to, too many people.

Statistics*78% say that using social networks s is just as important as networking in person.

*42% of businesses reported that a quarter of their new customers came through social-media sites.

*In India, 32% of online adults have been victims of social or mobile cyber crime in the past year.

*75% of young people -- without a roof over their heads -- remain connected through social networks.

*26% of the population, will access social networks from their phones this year.

*Facebook is #1 in 126 out of the 137 countries that were analysed.