Introduction
Social networking is perhaps the most popular computing phenomenon in the contemporary society. It is a relatively new phenomenon and thus most governments have few or no legislations for regulating its use.
This has made social networking services counterproductive because some people may misuse these services. The issue of whether social networking services are appropriate in the society has therefore attracted a lot of controversy with both the supporters and opponents of social networking services giving good reasons for their standpoint.
This paper is an analysis of social networks using a utilitarian approach.
Appropriateness of social network services
The feelings of utility that a person gets in a social networking environment will indubitably affect his/her attitude towards social networking.
If the user finds fulfilment in interacting with people on social networks, he/she will be enjoying a utility in that fulfilment, and thus he/she will value the use of social networks.
The utility in this case is brought about by the various applications that provide services in the social networking environment (Swire, 2011).
Such services include platforms for sharing information with family members, workmates, school mates and other contacts.
Others include gaming applications, online chatting applications, applications for sharing pictures and videos, etc.
The aforementioned applications and services are appropriate for use in social networking environments depending on who uses them and how he/she uses them.
This is because users of social networks can choose the applications and services from which they get utility. The utility in this case may be negative or positive.
For instance, if a young adult’s main need in social networking is to communicate effectively with his/her partner, he/she may find more utility in the online chatting applications in some social networking sites.
In addition to the online chatting service, the young adult may find utility in the direct messaging service in order to cut down on cell phone costs. This implies that these services are appropriate for him/her in this scenario.
As mentioned above, the appropriateness of social networking services depend on who is using the services, and also on how he/she uses the services. For instance, there have been cases of adults posing as teenagers to teenage girls in order to molest them.
There have also been cases of murderers planning their crimes using social networks. In these cases, it can be argued that social networking services are inappropriate.
This is because despite the fact that the criminal gets utility by undertaking his/her criminal activities, his/her actions result in community disutility.
Therefore, the appropriateness of social networking services depends on who is using the services.
Governing social networks
There are a number of legal issues associable with social networking. One of these issues is the need to protect the providers of social networking services legally.
There is also the issue of online defamation in social networks, and also the issue of posting illegal content (Long, n.d., p. 1).
In countries where there are laws governing social networking interactions, the law is seemingly more lenient on the users of social networks than on the content providers.
This is especially the case in issues like posting of defamatory news and other related inappropriate social network activities (Long, n.d., p. 1).
The government should take a lead role in governing of social networks. Responsible government Ministries/Departments/Agencies (MDAs) should develop legislation governing social networks (Diagle, 2010).
The MDAs should follow all the steps of legislation and thus before application of the legislation, it should be approved by parliament.
After the legislation comes into force, the government should create a body/agency responsible for online communications.
This agency will ideally be responsible for communications on social networks and other online platforms like websites and blogs.
Benefits of social networks
One of the advantages of social networks is the fact that social media networks have worldwide connectivity. This allows people to find their contacts easily no matter the distance.
It also gives people convenience in their lives by helping in issues like finding romance, getting advice, getting assistance, getting jobs, etc (Cosmato, 2012, p. 1).
Another advantage of social networks is the fact that the social networking environment is designed in such a way that it is easy to identify people with common interests.
This will enable people to share resources like game resources, and it can also help people to unite for a common cause.
An example of the latter is the political transformation that occurred in Egypt recently. Facebook, a social networking site, made a key contribution in this revolution.
Almost all social networks have a feature for instant messaging. This means that users can exchange information by means of chatting in real-time.
This is advantageous because people can exchange large volumes of information in a short period of time.
Social networks also offer a platform for free advertising. This can be resourceful for non-profit organizations and other organizations with limited resources (Cosmato, 2012, p. 1).
Demerits of social networks
One of the disadvantages of social networking is the fact that it eliminates or reduces face-to-face interactions among individuals. This has made several people to assume personas that are different from whom they really are.
The lack of face-to-face interaction has also brought about a lot of evil in social interactions because it is easier to be rude, arrogant, unreasonable and abusive in an instant messaging platform than it is in face-to-face interactions.
The “use of social networks can expose individuals to harassment or inappropriate contact from others” (Cosmato, 2012). For instance, children are vulnerable to paedophiles who may pretend to be teenagers living in their neighbourhood.
Children may also access inappropriate content that get posted on social networks by unreasonable users. This content can be in the form of pornographic images and videos, or even erotic language.
Information that is posted online is easily available to people who are clever enough to get it. If a fraudster gets the personal information of their target, he/she can use it to steal from that person and this can prove to be very costly to the targeted person.
In addition to all these disadvantages, social networks waste a lot of time for people and thus they make people to spend time unproductively.
Conclusion
From the discussion above, it is clear that social networks and their services are appropriate. It is the unethical users who use these networks inappropriately.
Due to the consequences of the actions of unethical users, it is important that governments reign in the social networking phenomenon by developing legislation that will govern social networking.
By doing this, the advantages of social networking will be maximized while minimizing the disadvantages.
Reference List
Cosmato, D., (2012). Advantages and Disadvantages of Social Networking. Web.
Diagle, E., (2010). Social Networking Policies: Just Another Policy? Web.
Long, H. Social Networking Sites and Legal Issues. Web.
Swire, P., (2011). Social Networks, Privacy, and Freedom of Association. Web.