At its simplest, net neutrality is the principle that internet service providers and governments may not discriminate between diverse types of content, sites, platforms, and other kinds of applications that are accessed via online protocols. As such, the principle insinuates that no restrictions should be placed between users by either the government or internet providers, and that all internet traffic should at all times be treated equally.
First, network neutrality to a large extent benefit internet consumers because they are able to access content and sites that could otherwise be inaccessible or accessible at very low speeds in the absence of proper enforcement of the principle.
In the same vein, net neutrality guarantees internet users the right to use any gadget, content, site, application or service freely and at anytime without undue interference or obstruction from the service provider. Small companies have also benefited from the principle since it guarantees them speedy delivery of their content without necessary paying huge taxes to the service providers.
The losers are the big telephone and cable companies who want to control the information superhighway and reserve express lanes for their clients’ content, sites, and services while blocking or slowing down those of competitors. Other losers are the big companies who would go to any length, including paying steep taxes to services providers, to ensure they get speedy delivery of their content.
Network neutrality is obviously an important legislation if we are to ensure the survival of the internet. Not only does the principle preserves the free and open internet, but it also guarantees a level playing field for all web content, sites, and internet technologies.
On the sidelines, net neutrality grants internet consumers the power to choose between content, applications, and services, in the process enhancing innovation, competition, and access to information. What’s more, net neutrality ensures that governments and internet service providers do not interfere with the web content or internet traffic.
Every good thing has got its own dark spot, and net neutrality has been accused of permitting and even enhancing congestion across the networks, not mentioning that consumers have been complaining about the low quality of service as a direct consequence of net neutrality. But without net neutrality, the internet is likely to evolve into a system that will look more like a cable network in that providers will decide for the consumers which channels, sites, content and applications are currently accessible in their menu
Net neutrality is perceived differently in other countries across the world, especially in countries that practice a conservative disposition. Indeed, many socialist and Islamic countries disapprove of an open, free and fair internet. Iran is one such country where its Islamic government is on record for censuring some sites and content popularly used by dissenting voices to organize demonstrations against an oppressive regime.
Some social networking sites such as Facebook and Tweeter, previously used by progressive citizens to hit at the government, have been censored and citizens are now depending on censorship-evasion technologies, mostly developed in China, to communicate with the outside world. Keeping people in closed societies amount to taking away one of their most basic rights – the freedom of association.
It should be remembered that these social networking sites not so long ago helped organize successful demonstrations in Tunisia and Egypt, and both governments came tumbling down. The same can be done in Iran, but the repressive Iranian government is very keen on creating a cyberbarrier by blocking sites and censoring others, thus leaving citizens with no medium to share information and knowledge.
Benefits and Pitfalls of Social Networking Sites on Career Plans and Advancement
Although many people log on to social networking sites to unwind or just chat with friends, reality is dawning upon us that they can be tapped and used as tools to further one’s career plans. Stories of students getting job offers via the virtual platforms after posting their academic credentials are no longer stories, but reality.
If your career path is oriented towards a business disposition, you can make massive sales and expose yourself more to your target market by simply advertising space on your friends’ or other people’s site pages. In this regard, it is of essence to take a stand that social networking sites can indeed help an individual’s career plans.
Apart from the benefits mentioned above, that is, marketing your educational credentials for potential employers and advertising your business as a career, social networking sites help people keep in touch with other like-minded people, in the process enabling an environment where knowledge and career opportunities are shared across the network.
Networking in its raw form is fundamentally critical when it comes to career plans as one cannot really advance in isolation. Still, networking with current students and alumni could add salient insights into the current status in the job market, the opportunities that exist, and the place to find them.
The sites, however, can be detrimental to one’s career plans especially when individuals spend substantial amount of their time browsing the sites at the expense of other more important things that could benefit their careers such as enrolling for an upgrade course.
Other individuals network with friends who cannot in anyway add value to their career plans and projections. In as far as employers are using the social networking platforms to recruit members of staff, some graduates are inarguably being rejected by potential employers for positions or even internships due to the incriminating and often unsuitable information and pictures employers find on their social networking profiles.
Such a scenario to a large extent adversely affects one’s career goals. In addition, security worries are a major issue as stalkers may use the detailed information provided by people in such sites as Facebook and Tweeter to jeopardize ones career.
People using social networking sites need to follow a thorough set of rules. Such rules may include but not limited to:
- Always network with people that add value to your life, not just social friends
- Include in your list of friends people whom you share the same career ambitions, interests, goals or business acumen
- Never post any incriminating or inapt information or pictures on your profile as potential employers or other people visiting your profile will most probably view the information as a reflection of your personal character and values
- Take advantage of the opportunity offered by the sites to create a profile that depicts a positive self image, that puts your best qualities in the public domain
- Be wary of security issues as stalkers (and even confidants) may use your private information to smear your reputation
It is a good practice for employers to check social networking sites so as to screen their applicants. The convergence of technology has enabled many things, some of which were unthinkable some few years ago. But people must agree that technology and the social networking sites are here to stay, and that these sites tells more of an individual’s character and predisposition than meets the eye.
What’s more, the platforms offer a more cost-effective way for employers to know the academic and social profiles of their applicants. Though a good practice, however, it raises fundamental ethical issues especially when one attend an interview only to be told to disclose their social networking accounts for scrutiny.