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Privacy Issues and Social Networking

Over the past 5+ years, social networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace, and LinkedIn have become the biggest and greatest thing since sliced bread. Well, to some people anyways. It really comes down to an individual level and one’s preferences on sharing information on the internet. As the name implies, social networking sites allow users “socialize” or “network” with other peers via the Internet. Often, users with similar interests are able to connect to each other and from there anything goes! The problem herein is that it is a double-edged sword and often too much information is publicly shared on the net.

For example, predators can easily use personal information to stalk or steal one’s identity (in the form of identity theft). It’s ridiculous how much information can be obtained from a “profile”. In fact, you can easily obtain someone’s location, school, work place, and areas where a person can often by found.

Here’s a great video that may make you want to think twice before posting something on the internet:

Personally, I don’t have anything against sharing information on the Internet, however it takes away from the “challenge” or “excitement” from getting to know a person at a face-to-face level.