How Connected Are We?
The great contribution of social networking platforms like Facebook and Twitter is connectivity, social connectivity, that is. Although Internet users everywhere used a variety of network services to connect, social networking sites would have us believe that we simply were not fulfilling our social potential. Many of its 800 million view Facebook as a fundamental social networking tool. According to HighTalk, a third of all people with access to a network service are on Facebook. In many ways, teens and young users are growing up believing that Facebook is the ultimate social network service, but is Facebook actually helping us become more socially connected?
When it comes to connecting with old, lost friends and relatives, social network services are a simple and fast resource. In a matter of minutes, you can look through a friend’s friend list, locate a common friend, search his or her friend list, and voila, high school sweetheart found. In fact, for many people, websites that offer social network services are a great way to combine business and pleasure.
Clearly, Facebook and other social networking sites offer us some form of connectivity—they allow us to be in each others’ lives much more prominently (often excessively). The real issue, though, is the kind of connectivity that Facebook enables, not its strength. In other words, do social network services actually enhance our social interactions and connections or do they merely create a delusional, alternate world in which we all roam with complete disregard for our privacy and Internet security, taking pride in the fact that we have 500 + friends?
Even in real life social settings, almost everyone is constantly checking Facebook via smartphones and other devices. If the purpose of social network services is to enhance our social connections, why do we still log-in when we are in perfectly healthy social settings?
Still, if you are convinced of the unparalleled rewards of social network services, consider the threats that these network services pose to users’ Internet security. Using social network services comes at a cost to Internet security. A previous blog discusses how vulnerable users’ Internet security can become when social network services are granted permission to share users’ data. Some people might try to defend social network services like Facebook by claiming that users have the option to limit apps, hence protect their Internet security. However, the choice to block all third party apps is similar to the choice not to use a cell phone! Sure, no one is forcing you to allow Facebook apps access to your information, but without such apps, Facebook becomes boring and limited.
On the surface, sure, Facebook is making us more connected, but in reality, it is isolating us, increasing our addiction to life on the web, and constantly threatening our Internet security. Perhaps it’s not that great after all…
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Filed under: apple, facebook, Internet, Internet Security, networks, rescuecom, smartphone, Uncategorized