The Blue Page: Facebook - Term Paper Example

The Blue Page: Facebook Facebook is one of the most powerful and popular social networking website. Millions of users sign in to Facebook to share their lives with their family and friends each day. They continuously upload pictures, statuses, messages and videos to remain connected with their Facebook friends. As Facebook has gained worldwide popularity, the website has also been a source of intense debate. Many people refuse to join in Facebook since they see Facebook as more of a devil. They argue that Facebook, while offering a wide social platform to its users, infringes on the user’s privacy and often is a source of addiction. This paper will argue on the benefits and dangers of Facebook and would develop an argument on how Facebook can be a source of great evils in the user’s life. The benefits of Facebook The website began on a modest scale but has now expanded to become a worldwide phenomenon. This website has changed the way people interact and even socialize with each other. The popularity of Facebook stems from the fact that the website has allowed users to maintain connections with both friends and acquaintances. It allows user to remain updated about their family and friends. The billions of Facebook users who log in to the website have begun to consider Facebook as a major part of their lives. This is also because Facebook offers a lot of benefits to its users. A Wide Social Platform The biggest benefit that Facebook offers to its users is that it allows users to connect with each other over long distances as well. While internet has made the world into a global village, Facebook has made it even smaller. A person can communicate with his friends and family through Facebook, informing them about their lives through status, pictures, messages etc. The extensive reach of the social website also allows one to find old school friends that one has lost touch with. Facebook has also allowed on to reach friends and families in remote locations. When friends and family move away to other states or countries, people tend to lose touch with them. Facebook has solved this issue by allowing one to share all parts of their lives with friends and family on Facebook. A mother in some part of Asia can talk directly to his son and find out what is going on in his life. A source of revenue for young entrepreneurs Facebook has also opened up an entirely new platform for young aspiring entrepreneurs. More and more people, most college and university students are using Facebook to set up their online stores. While these stores may not have the same standing as brick and mortar store because of their limited reach, users have been able to support themselves to a get extent especially those in the emerging nations. Such online stores also serve the purpose of supporting the students’ vocational skills. For instance, some design students have opened up arts and crafts studios on Facebook where they are able to sell their designs at good prices. Facebook’s option of advertising has also greatly helped these entrepreneurs. For advertising, Facebook does not charge high sums of money which is a plus point for such entrepreneurs. Initiating Dialogues with Brands Facebook has also allowed for the development of a dialogue between companies and its consumers. Almost every other company has a social media presence on Facebook where consumers can join in and post their comments and queries. This helps the companies to better serve its customers. Also customers have now found a platform where they can directly communicate with the company rather than through retailers and salesmen. Source of Information Facebook is also a source of information for its users. Millions of users have joined Facebook along with companies that have entered the social website arena to engage with its users. This has led to the creation of vast amount of knowledge. Users can easily access this information to find the latest trends, news, opinions etc. Students, for instance, can share information about lectures; classes etc. and the entire class would be better informed. In a study conducted by Lampe, Ellison and Steinfeild, many respondents agree that they use Facebook to seek information regarding what is going on in their campus (Lampe, Ellison and Steinfield, 727). It is common to hear about a bake sale on the campus through Facebook. Thus, Facebook allows information to travel fast and reach an extensive group of people. The Dangers of Facebook Despite all the benefits that Facebook offers to its users, the website has gone through strong criticism since it began gaining popularity. The website has been strongly criticized because of how it treats it user’s information and privacy. The treatment of users is also a cause of concern for some people since information on this website is difficult to control and often hate speeches are found to be used in the website. On 31st May 2010, online users began a Quit Facebook day. The main reason for this was cited to be the website’s lack of concern regarding Facebook privacy policy. Other reasons for quitting the website included dissatisfaction with Facebook and Facebook addiction. However it was estimated that only 33,000 closed their accounts. This goes on to show that Facebook has become an important part of people’s lives to the extent that even though people want to quite Facebook, they cannot because they are addicted to it (Kiss). Addiction It is common knowledge that Facebook has become the most popular social networking site. It has over 350 million users and these users spend 10 billion aggregate minutes on the website each day to keep up with what is happening in the social world (Hafner). Facebook has changed the way people interact with each other to such an extent that many are considering if traditional socializing avenues such as going out with friends to enjoy a cup of coffee would be completely eliminated. Facebook, with its lucrative socializing platform, has increased one more addictions in the list. Facebook is addictive. Once a user signs in, he keeps going through the endless news feed which allows users to check into other people’s lives. With the advent of smartphones, this addiction continues to increase as users can now login to Facebook 24/7 on their cell phones. This greatly impacts other activities such as studying, office work, household work etc. With users becoming increasing addictive with Facebook, the website gains more power over the users which often has negative consequences of the lives of the users. These include cyber bulling and privacy exploitation of the users. Cyber Bullying Cyber Bullying refers to the practice of using technology for the purpose of bullying. According to the Cyber Bullying Research Center, nearly half of the young adults surveyed have been victims of cyber bullying at one time in their lives while 10 to 20 percent experience cyber bullying regularly (“Cyber Bullying Statistics”). One of the many effects of Facebook includes cyber bullying. Cyber bullying through Facebook involves creating a fake id for a person and using this id to post indecent or hurtful messages, pictures etc; hacking into a person’s Facebook id and using it to send wrong messages to family and friends; posting indecent pictures or messages regarding a certain individual. The biggest issue with cyber bullying is that its effects are long lasting. Pictures, once posted on Facebook, are more likely to resurface as people often save such images and keep them for bullying later on. In the case of cyber bullying, it is quite common that the bully remains anonymous and thus he gains more power and confidence in his bullying move. The impact of bullying on Facebook can have more serious consequences on the victim since it provides a wider reach for the hacker. Like any other form of bullying, the impact of cyber bullying is anxiety, depression and even suicide in severe cases. The Cyber-bully often does not realize the impacts of his actions and considers his bullying to be funny. Privacy Issues Without the knowledge of the users but with their permission (granted through accepted of Privacy Policy and Terms of Service), Facebook maintains a vast network of detailed personal data of their users. The user’s information uploaded on Facebook helps the company to maintain data on its users to help out marketers, advertisers, employers and many other concerned parties to gain personal insight of the individuals. Despite this, users continue to depend on Facebook for their social gratification, which shows the extent of addiction users have developed for Facebook. The debate on the lack of privacy extended by Facebook has raised a number of concerns among users and other concerned parties. The data uploaded by users on their Facebook accounts is often used against the user. What is more concerning is that Facebook’s policies allow the company to sell or make use of the user’s data for promotional purposes. While it is common knowledge that Facebook allows advertisers to reach the target market according to the user’s Facebook status, Page likes and other activities, the extent of this usage is not completely clear to the users. The user activities on Facebook and other social networking websites is used to create a data aggregate on a particular individual. Based on this data aggregate, the individual may be denied certain privileges such as home loan, increased credit card limit etc. (Andrew). This brings forth the question whether Facebook and other social networking sites should be allowed to monitor user’s activities and use these against them. It is quite possible that a person may be searching AIDS because of a recent marketing ad that inspired him and not because he has contacted the disease. Based on this data, insurance companies may charge more from that person’s insurance, which is quite unfair. Circumstances such as these raise ethical concerns for many. Once a user posts information on Facebook, it becomes public and it is difficult to control who access it and why. Relationships have also changed. For instance, teachers gain information about students that pertain to their personal lives and the same is true about student accessing information regarding their teacher (Cain and Fick). The perception of the individual is altered with the way their public profile is maintained. While the privacy issues of Facebook have raised concerned of the many people, it is alarming to note that many users are not concerned with their privacy been stolen. Users often do not consider the implications of how their privacy was being violated. A study was conducted by Jones and Soltren in 2005 where they found that 74 percent of the users were conscious of the privacy option of Facebook but only 62 were concerned enough to use them. Another statistic showed that 70 percent of the users were willing to divulge important information regarding their location, their interests, and their relationship status. The most alarming statistic is that 89 percent of the users have not read the privacy policy of Facebook and 91 percent were not aware of the terms of service (Debatin, Lovejoy, Horn, and Hughes). Physiological Effects of Facebook A number of researches have been conducted on the physiological impact of Facebook on users’ live. In one such study, it was found that Facebook is a contributor of stress in users’ lives. Facebook adds stress by making user feel strongly about their actions on the website. Users stress over deleting friends, rejected user requests, missing social information or they fear offending friends (Sachoff). This stress is heightened because of the fact that Facebook has extensive reach and one wrong action by a user can lead to severe impact on his social life. What happens on Facebook spreads like wild fire. Facebook also inculcates envy in other people’s lives. Most users use Facebook to show to their friends how good their life is. They post photos hanging out with friends, going out on tours, meeting great people etc. This may form a smart part of the users’ life but on Facebook, it looks like the user has the best life. Friends of such people feel envy as they feel that their lives are not so great. This then leads to depression, resentment, inferiority and even self-hate among the users. Discussion and Conclusion Facebook has created a new kind of social life, one that is mostly virtually and where people do not meet in real life. While Facebook has created many opportunities for its users by allowing them wider social reach and expanded exposure, it has also created many problems within the society. An average user cannot understand how Facebook is eroding his privacy and his identity, which is the biggest cause of concern. People often do not realize the problems inherent in the Facebook way of live. The information that most people innocently put up on Facebook can end up being used against them. Often users are bullied through Facebook for something they commented on or posted. There is no way users can protect themselves from privacy breeches on Facebook because Facebook is making money by sharing users’ profile and other information. While it is difficult and may be even impossible to ban Facebook, it is important that users be made aware of the ill and far reaching consequences that Facebook has on its individuals and users’ lives. Users become addicted to Facebook without realizing that the website is using the information posted by the individuals or users to negatively impact their lives. Even when users are aware of the privacy breeches of Facebook, they are not concerned. This is because Facebook offers social gratification to the users; most users feel connected with their family and friends when they use Facebook. Considering this, they do not mind that the information that they post is being accessed by companies around the world, sometimes not for the benefit of the user. Works Cited Andrews, Lori. "Facebook Is Using You." The New York Times, Sunday Review. 4 Feb. 2012. Web. 28 April 2012. Cain, Jeff, and Fink Joseph. Legal and Ethical Issues Regarding Social Media and Pharmacy Education: American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education. American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy, 2010. Web. 6 Feb 2014. "Cyber Bullying Statistics." Cyberbullying.org, 2013. Web. 6 Feb 2014. Debatin, Bernhard, Lovejoy Jennette, Horn Ann-Kathrin, and Hughes Brittany. Facebook and Online Privacy: Attitudes, Behaviours, and Unintended Consequences. International Communication Association, Oct. 2009. Web. 6 Feb 2014 Hafner, Katie. "To Deal With Obsession, Some Defriend Facebook." The New York Times, Internet. 20 Dec. 2009. Web. 13 February 2014. Kiss, Jemima, Facebook: Did anyone really quit?, The Guardian, Internet. 1 June 2010. Web 21 April 2014 Lampe, Cliff, Ellison, Nicole and Steinfield, Charles, “Changes in Use and Perception of Facebook, Proc. CSCW, 2008, pp. 721-730. Persch, Jasmin, “Jealous Much? MySpace, Facebook can spark it”, NBC News, Internet. 31 August 2007, Web. 22 April 2014 Sachoff, Mike, “Does Facebook Stress You Out? Amount of Facebook friends linked to anxiety”, Web Pro News. Internet. 18 February 2014. Web 22 April 2014 Read More