A social network is defined as something that builds online communities of people who share interests and/or activities, or who are interested in exploring the interests and activities of others.
I'm going to be very blunt right now. I love my facebook; it is an effective tool and a great resource for everyone if used properly. A lot of debate and dark clouds have been drawn over social networking sites such as twitter, facebook and myspace. There is a lot of speculation as to whether or not social networking site should even exist or be controlled for a lot of reasons. What I have concluded is that social networking sites should be allowed and almost anybody should be able to use them!
Social networking sites are a great way to stay in touch with all the people in your life even if you do not have time to make that phone call or see them in person. These sites have actually made it possible to find long lost friends from school or work from several years ago. They also serve as wonderful organizational tools. With the click of a button, you can create events for your friends instead of calling them or sending them an invite via mail. In addition to that, they also help you remember people's birthdays by showing you whose birthday is on which date. As you can tell, these social networking sites are very easy to use and are very useful!
With that being said, this draws me to the "red tape" that is all over these sites. These sites have been open to anyone and everyone for years now. That means all of your rapists and child predators are on them too. Sure that can be a bit of a problem if you are a parent who neglects your child and lets them do whatever they want. Yes, it has happened and children have been raped because of the social networking sites… or is it the poor parenting? Sure anyone can message 13 year old Timmy, but only a foolish parent would not monitor Timmy's time on the internet! It also probably is not a good idea to accept a friend request from someone you don't know! This is all common sense being drawn from real life, safe surfing is not that hard.
When it comes to the topic of social networking, my opinion is very obvious… everyone should be able to use them with proper supervision and safe surfing. The social networking sites work as a great tool for those who utilize them for what they are really for: networking. Even though these predators are a reality, there are ways to prevent them from harming you or your family; it just takes a little bit of common sense and safe surfing. Social networking sites are important to our society and they should NOT be limited.
We are totally seeing eye to eye on this one Ali!
ReplyDeleteFirst off, great picture to go along with your post. I do agree with you that social networking is a great tool, one that I use myself all the time. I also agree it is the parents that are responsible for what the children do online. Your post was well thought out and very to the point. I agree completely with your views on this one.
ReplyDeleteHi Ali,
ReplyDeleteI am also a social-networking site user and I love it! I am in touch with friends from way back and thanks to it we can keep up with eachother. You say it very well when you say that "everyone should be able to use them with proper supervision and safe surfing". I do not remember parents making such an uproar about penpals, but when it comes down to reality at least the internet does not give out your physical address in order for the child predator penpal to come out. All the discussion about whether or not children should use the sites are not is meaningless, because children can still have access to the sites from libraries, school, friends houses, etc... it exists and that means that parents have to decide how they can make it safest for their children. Common sense is what keeps us from dangers in this world and before our common sense developed our parents' helped us out. Thank you for sharing!
I love the picture you posted with this blog. I would have to agree with you. I also use the social networking site. Parents should be aware of what their children are viewing online. Plus there should be an age limit to the different social networking site.
ReplyDeleteI really like how you wrote this. You and I see pretty much eye-to-eye on this one, but your writing style is unique. I'm not sure really how to describe it, but you effectively delivered your argument in a persuasive manner. It's almost as though your writing makes your argument sound like a refreshing dose of common sense (which I think we can agree that it is). Great job!
ReplyDeleteThanks guys... find me on facebook! :P
ReplyDeleteI thought the picture fit very well with the topic at hand!
I agree with everything you said. The one thing though the age limit will not matter people can lie about that anytime. By the way where did you find that picture? Good way to get someone in the discussion.
ReplyDeleteCommon sense is key. It's unfair for people to blame networking sites, for their own ignorance.
ReplyDeleteVery well written essay. I think you made a very good point when you were talking about having common sense. I somewhat disagree about the allowing everyone to use social networking sites. If all parents would moniter their kids then yes its fine, but it's apparently not the case. But from your essay I can definitely understand why you made your decision
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you Ali. If everyone used some common sense and only added people they know, then the current issues with social networking sites will be solved.
ReplyDeleteNice picture! i agree with you,social networking sites are great tools for networking.And proper parental monitoring will reduce these few cases of preditors finding a victim online drastically.
ReplyDeleteHi Ali,
ReplyDeleteI agree with your point of view, I also think your picture goes great with your blog. People should be able to go online and have fun on social network sites, as long as they are safe about it. Especially children, I do agree with you on the fact that parents should supervise their children more. This would prevent children from being harmed by sexual predators.
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ReplyDeleteI agree with your argument. It makes sense that anyone should be able to use social network and you have made a great explaination to defend your argument. I also agree that if people used these sites more safely, then those online predators will have a slim chance of doing what they want to young children.
ReplyDeleteYes, the parents are liable for their kid's actions. Likewise, you have said, it is obvious that the girl in the article was not supervised by her parents. It is not the social networking site's responsibility. However, the social networking site must be made safer in a sense that everyone, including the "predators", will be abiding to the rules to make the site user-friendly.
ReplyDelete