BLOG: Social Net'g

BLOG: Social Net'g

Social Networking has and continues to play a tremendous role in society today. It benefits society and the technology world in numerous ways. Whether it be strictly for amusement and social media purposes, or for professional and governmental purposes as well. 

Frank Langfitts's article, "Social Networking Technology Boosts Job Recruiting" serves as a perfect example of how this certain technology has benefitted the labor force in a big way. Maureen Crawford-Hentz recruits for Osram Sylvania, the global lighting company and states that she uses social networking to "dig out high quality candidates that she can't find elsewhere." This clearly shows that this social networking technology has become a breakthrough for all corporations big or small, who are looking for unique individuals with specific skills. It has allowed for individuals who share their interests and knowledge on the internet, to be found by people like Crawford and given a once in a lifetime job opportunity.

Although social networking clearly benefits society, many can fairly say that there is a "dark side" to it as well. There are many negative experiences tied to this technology such as managing inappropriate content, lack of privacy and control, social comparison and trolling, and personal conflicts. Many sites lack the ability to filter its data making it extremely inappropriate for many users that might cause large controversies in the long run. There is also this sense of lack of privacy which many people have been struggling with since the invention of the internet and certain aspects of it. In addition, social networking does give power to many people who are too afraid to compare and let down many individuals who they are jealous of our hate. 

Going into more depth with lack of privacy, large social media and networking sites struggle with this issue. Marc Perry's article, "Who Cares ABout Facebook Privacy? Students Do" show us how people's fear and distrust in their privacy is not completely flooded. Many college students are taking certain precautions, small and big, in order to ensure their privacy protection. In addition to their efforts there are efforts being made by Facebook itself in order to ensure its users privacy safety through new and advanced default settings. 

Social Networking is continuously evolving day by day. Good and bad aspects of it continue to reveal themselves, but all we as consumers and providers can do are try to minimize the negative aspects of this technology and continue to embrace the positive and useful aspects of it instead.