Social Networks Can Be Harmful

Social Networking Can Be Harmful
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Abstract
Social networking is not as great as it seems, it can be harmful. There are more than 8 million users on Facebook per day, and they are not all good people not to mention it can be addictive also. Remember to always control your privacy, avoid psychology disorders from overuse of social networking sites, and educating your child about social networks.

Social Networking Can Be Harmful
Just about everyone uses a social networking site, whether it is Facebook, Twitter, Myspace, or Google Plus. New sites are always coming out, but are we thinking about what is best for our while being when using them? Some people seem to think that they are overwhelming and consume the priority of some people’s lives. The aspects to why social networking can be harmful to both adults and children are endless, but yet we keep using them.
Psychology Disorders from Using Social Networks
The first reason why social networks are harmful to a person is because it can cause psychology disorders. Research has shown that using social networks daily can cause psychology disorders. It can become addictive, and some go through withdrawal symptoms from not being able to use their favorite social network. It has also been proven that a strong presence in social networking can show more signs including, but not limited to, anti-social behaviors, anxiety, and depression. In a time that we live in where Internet devices are always on and meeting face-to-face is becoming rarer and rarer we need to back reduce our social networking use, if only for our own health, or our children’s health. It is not necessary to update your page with every single thing you do, nobody needs to know where you are at all times, you should cut back if not only for privacy issues.
Control Your Privacy
The second reason why social networks can be harmful is because you may not always know what kind of privacy you’re getting. Social networking sites change their privacy settings often, and if you don’t keep up with what you have your settings set as, then they could reset without your knowledge. Facebook for example shows everything you’re doing, they know your location, what articles you have been reading, and your information can be shared with a third party. If you don’t care about what the world knows about you, then maybe knowing that some of social networks ads contain malware, which can cause harm to your computer. Social networking has opened a gateway into everyone’s lives, but are there not some things that should just be kept private? I think so, and this is why I believe you should control your privacy, and stay on top of it. At the most, social network users should only allow their friends to view their pages, not friends of friends, nor everyone. Having your privacy settings to share all your information with friend of friends could potential be sharing your information with 10’s of thousands of people.
Know What Your Children on Social Networking Sites
The third reason why social networking can be harmful is because children are uneducated on the dangers of these sites. It is not wise to go super detective on your kids, because then they will know and find other resources to gain access to the web. I think it is important to allow your children monitored access to social networks. Facebook offers ways to report harassment and sexual offenders pages, but there is still predators on these social networking sites, they make children think they are their age, only to gain their trust, so parents must also keep an eye on their child’s page to ensure they have no unusual suspicious friends on their pages. Most social networking sites have an age requirement for joining, but it is not but a simple year change to make them old enough to join, there is no real age verification, the rules say you must be 13 to join. Also, if your child has a suspicious page with not many post or uploads then you should look into them having another page, not for parent’s eyes. Keeping our children safe online, and teaching them appropriate behavior is the only way parents can try to protect their children. Every parent must have a talk about online use, and not to mention influencing your child to not bully someone online with words, it can be just as hard online as it would be in person, and kids tend to say much harsher things online then in person. All a parent can do is hope for the best and know they know what their child is doing, and that they educated them well.
Conclusion
In conclusion, social networking can be very harmful without the proper knowledge of what can really happen on these sites. It can be bad for adults and children, but adults make their own decisions children have to be guided into the right direction, so before signing up for your next social network think about the effects it can have. They can because psychology disorders, give you know privacy, and a child could go unaware of the consequences of social networks. The aspects of why social networking can be harmful are endless, but yet we keep using them, and I know we will continue to use them; just have to be smart about the way we do it.

References
American Psychological Association (2011) Social Networking’s Good and Bad Impacts on Kids. Retrieved on October 7, 2012 from http://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2011/08/social-kids.aspx.
Social Networking (2012) Are Social Networks Harmful to Society? Retrieved on October 6, 2012 from http://socialnetworking.lovetoknow.com/Are_Social_Networks_Harmful_to_Society.
Make Use Of (2012) The Negative Impact Of Social Sites on Society. Retrieved on October 6, 2012 from http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/negative-impact-social-networking-sites-society-opinion/.
Salty Waffle (2012). 5 Psychological Effects Of Too Much Social Media [Good & Bad]. Retrieved on October 6, 2012 from http://www.saltywaffle.com/5-crazy-psychological-effects-social-media-can-have-on-us/.

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References: American Psychological Association (2011) Social Networking’s Good and Bad Impacts on Kids. Retrieved on October 7, 2012 from http://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2011/08/social-kids.aspx. Social Networking (2012) Are Social Networks Harmful to Society? Retrieved on October 6, 2012 from http://socialnetworking.lovetoknow.com/Are_Social_Networks_Harmful_to_Society. Make Use Of (2012) The Negative Impact Of Social Sites on Society. Retrieved on October 6, 2012 from http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/negative-impact-social-networking-sites-society-opinion/. Salty Waffle (2012). 5 Psychological Effects Of Too Much Social Media [Good & Bad]. Retrieved on October 6, 2012 from http://www.saltywaffle.com/5-crazy-psychological-effects-social-media-can-have-on-us/.