Social media has grown at such a
fast rate. Web 2.0 has made the internet a vast more interactive place between
users. It allows individuals to exchange information by writing blogs,
commenting, and sharing between one another. The first social platform one
tends to think of is Facebook. According to Jennifer Golbeck, "[...] half
the Earth's Internet population is using Facebook" (0:55-01:00). That is
incredible! Often when posting something on social media, one may think that
only their friends or followers have access to that information. However, that
is not true. Facebook can monitor the information one shares on their page.
Then, they use that information to suggest ads or other aspects one may be
interested in based on the information one has provided. There are
advantages and disadvantages with what people share on social media. However, the good outweighs the bad.
Facebook has created a new tool called
Facebook Graph. This allows users to search other information about their
friends. This information could be restaurants they eat at, their hobbies, or
favorite shows. This can be beneficial for friends to learn more about the
people they are friends with. Douglas Macmillan and Brian Womack stated, "Facebook members
who want to know their friends' preferences before making decisions on
restaurants, vacations, career choices, and maybe even life partners, can look
for, say, "single friends in San Francisco who like sushi," and be
rewarded with meaningful results". This supports that this tool is beneficial
to users and that they should continue to share information about themselves. I
think we all can relate to someone being difficult about where to eat at and
this extensive search can help eliminate that.
A reasonable
disadvantage to sharing personal information on social media, is that people
may feel that their privacy is invaded. Parmy Olsen states, "On Tuesday he
[Mark Zuckerberg] introduced Facebook's new Graph Search tool, which
could change the way people find information, stalk their friends, date and get
advertised to on his social network". "Stalk" is a strong word. However,
one can understand why this tool would seem like people could stalk one
another. Researcher Matthew Shaer mentions another disadvantage. "You
probably don't know this, but as of now, you are unable to opt out of being
featured in Facebook search results".
Without Facebook graph, friends could stalk one anyway. They could go through
all your posts, pictures, and friend list. It's creepy, but still
possible.
All
in all, one should not let the fears of being stalked or closely watched,
affect what they post on social media. These new search tools can serve as a beneficial
way to connect with one's friends or followers. Often, these social platforms
are free and easily accessible to users. It can be a little unnerving to know
that a company such as Facebook can monitor one's patterns based on the
information they share. They often suggest other pages or products one may be
interested in, but one can simply ignore it. Individuals should continue to
express themselves and share what makes them comfortable.
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