Troubling Aspects of Social Networks
There are some attractive feature of social networks, but there are also some troubling aspects. I don’t know how many sites there are like Facebook, Orkut, Hi5, Reunion, My Yearbook, but I was able to list those without even stopping to think. It is not unusual to find in my in-box a request from someone I know (and sometimes am barely acquainted with) to join another social network.
Sometimes, the message attempts to shame me if I don’t join. (“Say yes or John Doe might think you are not his friend.”)
I’m sure there are many articles discussing the downside of social networks. Here are a few troubling aspects that come to mind.
1. Take my email contact list, please.
Some offer as a “feature,” and some require, that they access your email contact list so that invitations can be sent to EVERYONE in your contact list. You give them your email address, which is OK if you trust the site, but then you also give them the password to your email address. Whoop! Whoop! Whoop! Ding! Ding! Ding! Danger, Will Robinson! I don’t think so.
If a site requires you to give them your email address and password, just stop, close the window and find another social network to join. If it is an option to send invites to EVERYONE in your contact list by giving them your email address and password, look for the barely visible button that lets you skip that step and press it.
2. Unwise and unhealthy transparency
Another downside is the common feature of carrying on a discussion with another individual that is visible to anyone who visits your page. Think of all the people you might be “friends” with: wife, family, friends, neighbors, schoolmates, co-workers, acquaintances. Do you want any given comment visible to EVERYONE?
I have heard of and witnessed for myself enough examples of people having comments posted on their home page that could be prone to misinterpretation or extreme embarrassment. You might take a look at the settings in your social network site to see what limits can be put on that. It would be nice if sites would at least give you the option to approve any comment or posting before it gets posted.
3. It stretches our finiteness to the breaking point
I am a finite person (although each holiday season moves me closer to being omnipresent). I can only be friends with so many people. Although these social networks enable me to reveal the most intimate details of my life with a vast audience, I am not sure that that alone makes us good friends with each other.