Blog Social Networking

Social networking has grown over the years to include thousands of daily users. Facebook is one of the most popular social networking websites that's used for both corporate and social reasons. "Facebook was more than a fast-growing social network. It was, potentially, an enormous source of personal data. Internet users behaved differently on Facebook than anywhere else online: They used their real names, connected with their real friends, linked to their real email addresses, and shared their real thoughts, tastes, and news." (Vogelstein). Facebook is used to connect with companies and employers. Facebook is also used by companies and colleges to get to know more about potential applicants.  The dark side of Facebook is the amount of data and personal information they have from the million of users that use Facebook. However, "The researchers, Danah Boyd and Eszter Hargittai, report that most Facebook users modified their privacy settings at least once in 2009 and that “engagement with privacy settings increased significantly” between 2009 and 2010.“Over all, our data show that far from being nonchalant and unconcerned about privacy matters, the majority of young adult users of Facebook are engaged with managing their privacy settings on the site at least to some extent,” the researchers write." (Parry). More and more social network users are being wary when posting personal information but I believe Facebook will continue to grow in users; despite people being aware of their privacy being exposed. I don't think people fully understand or care about the amount of data or information they are revealing when using social networking sites like Facebook. There are many other social networking websites such as Instagram, LinkedIn and Snapchat. These social networking apps and websites are becoming just as popular as Facebook is. The amount of data all these social networking sites have altogether is potentially very dangerous, if accessed by the wrong people.