In this digital age, you do not leave your past or present acquaintances completely. I usually engage in some online social activities on my personal computer, and on my cell phone. It is difficult to choose people who view the information I post, so I restrain myself from posting information that relates either to me or to a close person.
I do not send pictures using the site or upload any personal material. Facebook is the only online social site that I visit regularly. Once I upload a picture, some other person who knows me can download the picture and misappropriate it.
I also do not post information regarding events I attend, or my daily schedule. This is because I believe that it is offensive to reveal details of one’s private life on an online social site. The information made available on the social site is free for all people to view and use. My opinion on viewing other people’s information on a social site is that all information on the social site should be accessible to all people.
I do not consider it offensive to view a person’s profile on an open social site for any number of times, if it is accessible. When a person subscribes to such a site, he or she accepts that other subscribers may view the information posted. The reason for this is that the information posted on social sites such as Facebook is accessible to all subscribers of the social site.
Emerging social sites are making it difficult for people to maintain a private lifestyle. In some cases, members of a family find themselves viewing each other’s private information on a social site. Sites such as Facebook have interfaces in which one can view other people’s information without restriction.
One does not have to be an acquaintance for you to view his or her information. In addition, one can access information about colleagues at the workplace, making it difficult to maintain a professional working environment (Schulten, 2012). The issue of security has become a problem since pedophiles and other people with a criminal intention can victimize children. Adults are also subject to abduction and blackmail if they disclose too much information about their personal lives on social sites.
Another problem is that the people one meets in the course of work or in social activities hung around for a long time. Once a person identifies you on a social site, then, he or she can communicate with you for a long time as long as you remain a subscriber on the social site. People that one wishes to keep away from may even move closer.
Moreover, if a person is studying another’s information on a social site, it may be difficult to establish the identity of the stalker. Consequently, the stalker may turn out to be a close friend, relative, or even a superior colleague at workplace (Schulten, 2012).
The enhanced sharing of information may have a negative effect on the society. People change perception of others due to the information they have acquired about them from the online social site. The danger that the society faces is a possible disruption of the current social order. For example, if a child accesses information about his or her parent, a conflict may arise. Similarly, too much information concerning other people is likely to affect individual relationships among members of the society.
References
Schulten, K. (2012). How Much Information Is ‘Too Much Information’? – NYTimes. The Learning Network Blog. Web.