People seem to think information they put on the internet is transient – here today, gone tomorrow. Increasingly, we are finding data doesn’t disappear when you delete it. It may be automatically saved by Facebook or Google.
You may think you got rid of something but it can come back to bite you. If you are 18, you don’t think about your 42-year-old self looking for a job or promotion. People don’t consider that long-term risk. I think this could become a serious problem in future. Young people seem very blasé about their privacy, but their opinions may change in years to come.
People should consider what information they are letting out about themselves and to whom. Even if you think you have secured your pages through Facebook, the data may be accessible through other routes like Google.
For professionals the problem is even bigger that increasing number of employers are scanning profiles of their employees and even candidates on social media network sites in order to find information not mentioned in their official profile. Increasing numbers of people have been sacked due to posting anti-company remarks on their profiles and also posting pictures of activities which their bosses think are improper. There is a strong legal background to these findings and even law enforcing agencies are effectively using Facebook and social sites to track activities and people who they think are dodgy and involved in crimes.
For kids and students, one reason of bad grades might be excessive time spent on Facebook poking their friends and posting pictures and videos. This result is of a study which shows kids who use social media network sites spend less time studying. According to an Ohio State University study released this week, Facebook users had GPAs a full grade lower than non-users. Facebook users also studied on average one to five hours a week, compared to 11 to 15 hours for non-users.
Then there are effects of virtual socialization where kids are only socializing using internet and are not engaged in real life activities and sports etc. which can result in personality issues and fears of real life. One cannot ignore the fact of cyber bullying and blackmailing where criminals and ill minded people use kids for their evil purposes.
Nielsen Online reported that people spend more time on Facebook than any on other Web site. The study also noted that 87.25 million U.S. users visited Facebook from home and work during June, and each of those people spent an average of 4 hours, 39 minutes and 33 seconds on the site during the month of 2009.
It is evident that Facebook and other social sites are addictive and usually people do not have clear business reason to visit them, usual reasons are to gossip and play addictive games.
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Article by Muzzammil Waheed
Founder of BiGGTech.com, tech enthusiast, develops in Microsoft technologies with interests in technology, science and gadgets