Social Networking

            In general, social networking technologies provides many benefits to users in today's society. Social networking allows us to keep up on current events, or news, and the activities of our friends and family with convenience as information is spread extremely quickly. Faster dissemination of news allows for people to be generally more informed. Social networking also encourages social behaviors and allows individuals to make new friends and improve current relationships. In addition, social networking allows any individual to promote themselves for career and academic reasons. Many companies, including small businesses and large corporation, has also integrated the use of social networking in order to improve their businesses, thus it can be said that social networking is also encouraging economic activity.

            Many businesses have incorporated social networking into the different levels of their businesses. Social networking are often used as a means of marketing. On social networking websites, many businesses advertise their products and services to possible customers that view their webpage. Businesses have also been known to recruit employees through social networking technologies. According to the article, "Social Networking Technology Boosts Job Recruiting," Linkedin is a business networking site used by many professionals, including executives from Fortune 500 companies. The author states, "Using Linkedin, Steckerl says he can scout a group of job candidates in just half an hour." Social networking technologies not only allows for the employers to find possible employees, they also allow for the employers to learn about candidates of employment by reviewing the individual's social networking profiles.

            Although there are many benefits in social networking, there are possible negatives that may be considered as well. One major concern in regards to social networking is that the increased use of social networking may result in a lack of privacy for the users. The article, "Facebook Privacy Is So Confusing Even the Zuckerberg Family Photo Isn't Private," says, "Facebook privacy settings are too confusing, and if you really don't want intimate photos out there, don't put 'em on Facebook. But also, don't expect to hide something if you do - everything can be shared and re-shared these days." As individuals become more active on social networks, there tends to be a collectively, large amount of information about each individual that remains on a website that remains accessible to many when privacy settings are not properly managed. Another concern is that the quick dissemination of news also results in dissemination of misleading, incorrect information. Also, social networking unintentionally allows for cyber bullying, fraud, and many other criminal activities as it allows for an anonymous means to commit such crimes.

            I believe that social networking technologies have become a large part of society within the past decade and within the next few years, it would only grow larger. As an individual that uses social networking technology as well, I have also grown dependent on such technologies over time. These technologies allows for the convenience of quick communication and such ease is appealing to many as efficiency and speed becomes more important. It can be seen that social networking have been effectively used to improve business processes and I believe it may even be integrated into the classroom of younger students for educational purposes, and to encourage collaborative, interactive learning between students.
Citation:

Greenfield, Rebecca. "Facebook Privacy Is So Confusing Even the Zuckerberg Family Photo Isn't Private." The Atlantic. The Atlantic Monthly Group, 26 Dec. 2012. Web. 05 Mar. 2017.

Langfitt, Frank. "Social Networking Technology Boosts Job Recruiting." NPR. NPR, 22 Nov. 2006. Web. 05 Mar. 2017.