Social networking sites good, but also additive

WINDHOEK – New-age technology is evolving every day, and the use of the Internet has become a huge part of many people’s lives as they use it on a daily basis.

Social networking services such as Facebook, which is probably the most popular, have become a normal way for people to interact with others all over the world.Facebook is also available on cellphones, making it even more accessible anywhere, anytime, provided that there is cell phone network in the area of use.If you are for instance looking for a long-lost friend, you can find them on Facebook, that is if they are registered users. This process of finding friends takes just a matter of a few minutes.But with this technology, people must be careful and responsible about what they post on such sites as there is always the possibility for abuse.Some people use Facebook to insult others, as was the case with popular South African socialite Kanyi Mbau, who posted insulting messages on her Facebook page towards another Facebook user.Last month a man was arrested and charged in the Kavango Region for defamation of character after he allegedly posted the HIV status of others on Facebook.The accused is now in hiding, fearing for his life as the people whose details he allegedly posted on Facebook as being HIV positive, are threatening his life.A couple of weeks ago, another irresponsible person posted a message on Twitter, another social networking site, saying world icon Nelson Mandela had passed away.The lie spread fast and within minutes, thousands of people all over the world were on their phones and Internet spreading this malicious rumour, only to find out it was untrue.The said sites are also a big concern for many employers, because employees spend hours on these sites instead of actually doing their work, and this leads to low productivity in many organisations.Local clinical psychologist Erna Potgieter told Nampa that social networking sites as well as the Internet in general can become addictive and many people spend hours in cyberspace, resulting in increased anti-social behaviour because they stop interacting in a normal way.’Facebook is reportedly the most popular site, and millions of people spend hours visiting the site even when they are at work, and this is also bad for production in the workplace,’ said Potgieter.She noted that like many different addictions, it takes a long time for people addicted to these sites to give up the habit.’I am not saying people should not make use of the Internet. On the contrary, the Internet has made our lives easier and the world a smaller place as one can find all kinds of information there, and this is the age of information.’People should just be responsible, and not allow the whole thing to take over their lives. Even young children get addicted to going on these sites, and many parents don’t really monitor what their children are watching on these sites. Children can become victims of people with bad intentions,’ she stressed.According to her, many sex offenders such as paedophiles get their victims on such sites, and young people who are not aware of this can easily become targets.The Facebook website was launched in February 2004.As of January 2011, Facebook had more than 600 million active users.Users may create a personal profile, add other users as friends and exchange messages, including automatic notifications when they update their profile.Additionally, users may join common interest user groups, organised by workplace, school or college, or other characteristics.The name of the service stems from the colloquial name for the book given to students at the start of the academic year by university administrations in the United States of America (USA) with the intention of helping students to get to know each other better.Facebook allows anyone who declares themselves to be at least 13-years-old to become a registered user of the website.Facebook was founded by Mark Zuckerberg with his college roommates and fellow computer science students Eduardo Saverin, Dustin Moskovitz and Chris Hughes.The website’s membership was initially limited by the founders to Harvard students, but was expanded to other colleges in the Boston area, the Ivy League, and Stanford University.It gradually added support for students at various other universities, before opening to high school students, and finally, to anyone aged 13 and above.Users can create profiles with photos, lists of personal interests, contact information and other personal information. Users can communicate with friends and other users through private or public messages, and a chat feature. They can also create and join interest groups and ‘like pages’ (formerly called ‘fan pages’, until April 19 2010), some of which are maintained by organisations as a means of advertising.To allay concerns about privacy, Facebook enables users to choose their own privacy settings, and choose who can see specific parts of their profile.The website is free to users, and generates revenue from advertising, such as banner ads.Facebook requires a user’s name and profile picture (if applicable) to be accessible by everyone. Users can control who sees other information they have shared, as well as who can find them in searches through their privacy settings.Meanwhile, Facebook has also been met with controversies. It has been blocked intermittently in several countries, including the People’s Republic of China, Vietnam, Iran, Pakistan, Syria and Bangladesh on different bases.For example, on the basis of Anti-Islamic and religious discrimination content allowed by Facebook, it was banned in many countries of the world. It has also been banned at many workplaces to prevent the wasting of employees’ time.The privacy of Facebook users has also been an issue, and the safety of user accounts has been compromised several times.Facebook has settled a lawsuit regarding claims over source code and intellectual property.Technology is indeed getting more and more advanced, and the world has become a village with people being able to interact within a matter of minutes. But, people must still remember to be responsible when entering social networking sites. – Nampa