Social Networking: What is NOT Mentioned

I believe we all know what social networking is. It is essentially a social structure made of two actors and the set of ties between them. Once a sociological term, this definition has now been expanded online, where networking sites like Facebook help to make networking a more transparent and efficient task. Users can now see who knows whom, rather than painstakingly and time-consumingly creating networks of people by themselves, on top of which would know nothing of each others' lives until necessary. This video explains it:

Cool, right? But there is a problem. There are some problems. There are 14 that I can think of, in fact. 

1. Life Envy and Self-esteem Issues

What are you going to do when someone posts a picture of him/herself living the good life? This might seem innocuous for students and young people, but for an adult in the working world, there is the implication that his former classmate or someone around his age is earning twice (or much more!) his salary, or who has more social engagements in a day than he has in a month. This could lead to envy and jealousy, but more importantly, it could lead to a sense of helplessness or self-esteem issues because one perceives oneself as not being successful or popular enough in life, and not being able to do anything about it. 

2. Reduced Value in Friendships

It's nice to share one's life with friends. But sometimes, social networking sites (SNS) reduce this aspect of friendship. Instead of checking who liked one's photo album or status update, one now checks to see how many people liked it. This may lead to one becoming more populist in one's online footprint, catering only to the lowest common denominator, leading to an appearance of immaturity and superficiality online. 

3. False Information Spreads Quickly

In my previous post, I mistakenly posted on a report that was more than 10 years old being branded as current news. This is a rather common example of false information being spread online. Others include the death of famous personalities or freebies such as iPhones or MacBooks being given away gratis. The spread of information can occur anywhere, but the speed at which it is transferred on SNS makes it particularly useful, or dangerous, depending on the type. 

4. Emotional Impact

People are generally braver and less sensitive to others when behind a computer screen. This leads one to say things that they would not normally say face-to-face, or even in phone conversations. As this happens, there is a risk of alienation from one's friends and potential employers, as one is perceived to be obnoxious.

5. Too Much Information

Oversharing can have its consequences. This article, for example, shows how a combination of too much transparency and too little discretion can cause one to lose one's job, while this shows that the things one says and posts about online can have an impact on potential employers. Public scandals have been known to start over such posts. SNS users know only too well how posting remarks online at home gives the illusion of anonymity, but it is not the case. 

6. Real Life Takes a Back Seat to Online Life

One sees a lot of this these days: People going out with each other but spending more time on their mobile devices than with each other, even on dates. They seem more interested in their friends on Facebook, miles away, than with the person next to them, in real life.

7. Unable to Avoid People

Previously, people could avoid each other by simply not going to the places where the person in question went, or by refusing to answer phone calls or enquiries by that person. Now, however, that option is not available online as the person in question's activities may still show up on one's newsfeed through a mutual friend. 

8. Easier to Stalk

This sounds scary, but if one wants to know more about another person, all he has to do is do a Facebook search. At the same time, who knows how many other people are watching us online? Thanks to SNS, boundaries have blurred, and it is getting increasingly more difficult to know where public life ends and where private life begins, or vice versa.

9. Harder to Diet

People often post photographs of food online, especially on Instagram. The result is that one's friends find it hard to maintain food discipline after a visual feast of an actual feast. These photos may provide an example:

How does one keep up one's diet after this? 

10. Loneliness

Another unexpected downside of SNS, loneliness can result from being too engrossed in the online world, to the point where one is alienated by friends in the real world. 

11. Productivity

A great deal of time is spent in updating profiles and sites throughout the day. This can be distracting and may actually cause one to lose valuable time and not perform at the fullest potential. People like to think they can multitask, but as this article shows, this is not the case. As time is lost on SNS, there is also time lost on getting back up to speed on the original task, which will consume both time and energy. 

12. Viruses and Malware

This problem is often overlooked. Hackers often use SNS as a ground to commit fraud and launch malware attacks. As a case in point, the Koobface Worm was extremely active in the years 2009-2012, targeting Facebook users to collect login information. Hackers also target Facebook games and applications to collect sensitive data such as credit card information, posing as "add-ons" for the app that people download. Their data is then stolen.

13. Social Engineering

Social engineering is the act of manipulating people into performing actions or divulging confidential information, usually online. Where hackers steal data, social engineers (or confidence tricksters) coax people into revealing their sensitive information. People have a habit of posting in their online profiles. While they would never disclose some kinds of information upon meeting someone for the first time (the fact that they just fought with their spouse or significant other, for instance), they have no problem in posting that for all to see on their Facebook profiles or blogs. This data can be mined by cybercriminals. 

14. Reputation and Legal Issues

There have been major lawsuits and issues involving evidence from SNS. In several cases, people have come under fire (or have been fired)  for using SNS to post inappropriate material or make disparaging comments. Yet, there should be a balance in doing so. How much is too much? There have been cases of people receiving their marching orders simply because of a single post that went along the lines of "just another day in the office". There have also been cases of others who have posted sensitive information to the point that it had to be highlighted to the authorities, who were completely unaware or blase about it. 

Conclusion

I won't warn against using this because I know it's not really possible. But be careful when using SNS. Most importantly, be discreet and know what is at stake. A job is not really worth losing over a few misplaced comments. Neither is losing friends. Essentially, that's how to get the best of online life in general: By finding a balance so that one can fully utilise its advantages while mitigating the effects of its disadvantages.