Impact of social networking sites.

 

Social networking site such as facebook, twitter, etc have become extremely popular.  With origin of these sites social interaction has become easier, one can easily interact with a friend or a relative who might be living in a different country, these sites provide children with wider range of social circles and one can meet a person with similar interest on these sites. Some of these sites also provide with the facility of advertising and these sites have been helpful to the manufactures in advertising their product or a social worker spread awareness of a particular cause.

Although these sites have their benefits, there are disadvantages associated with these sites. Most adolescents these days are obsessed with these sites. One can constantly find these children updating their status, uploading photos, counting the number of “likes” they get for a particular status or photo. It’s important for them to get as equal or more “likes” than their friends if not they will be left with the feeling of insecurity. It’s also important to aware of type of information one can share on these sites, most often these children tend to share private information on these sites which was not meant to be shared in the first place, it is also important to personalize the settings, sites such as facebook enables the user to block certain information from people who are not on the “friend list”. There were cases where a student is suspended from school because of information shared on the site, hence it important to have knowledge on what type of information to be shared. It is also necessary that one should not provide complete personal details on these sites, so as to avoid unnecessary attention towards oneself.

Social networking sites can be very helpful if used properly. They help in developing certain social skill, they also help in long distance communication, thereby improving the relationship between distant family and friends, and they also help in adverting. Innovation of these sites have brought a change in way people interact with each other, long distance communication is now available at a cheaper price due to these sites. When usage and information on these sites is limited, they can be of a great help in developing ones social skills.