2008 Woodie Awards
Internet social networks are harmful
Counterpoint
Ben Brown-Steiner
Issue date: 1/21/08 Section: Opinion
Since the internet became public and popular in the mid-1990s, the world of person-to-person communication has shrunk rapidly. Along with the rapid spread of cell phones, it is easy to instant message your friend in California, or call up your brother in Buffalo, or check a friend's Facebook page to get his phone number.
And as usual, the younger generation is the quickest group of people to embrace and stretch the limits of a new technology to well beyond its original design.
Just take a look at MySpace and Facebook (or as my dad recently referred to them, MyFace and SpaceBook). The under-18 crowd swamped these sites, along with LiveJournal and other comparable sites, and have blindly and innocently caused breaking news stories and controversy.
For instance, last year MySpace announced that they uncovered 29,000 sexual predators with profiles, parents understandably freaked out.
However, these digital social networks are not themselves inherently evil. They are part of our ever changing world, and they are changing to prevent predators from victimizing kids.
The people who designed these sites are not stupid, rather the opposite, and they know what it means to change with the times.
MySpace recently topped 100 million accounts and Facebook has over 60 million active users. LiveJournal has over 15 million accounts. There are approximately 100 million people with some form of instant messaging account.
With so many people using these sites, and so many dollars being made through advertisements, these sites are here to stay.But it may not always be the same sites in the future.
The younger internet crowd is fickle and follows fads, and sites have been known to fall if they don't keep updated and offering the most innovative features. But social networking in general will always be there, as long as there is an Internet.
With the new generation growing up with what amounts to unlimited information at their finger tips, who knows how the social networks will ultimately end up?
Cell phones are now a common and in many cases critical part of people's lives. Email is now quicker, easier, and cheaper than snail mail. Social networks such as Facebook and MySpace are just another level of interconnectivity.
And while there will probably always be people trying to abuse the system for their own means, there will always be smarter people working on improving the systems, keeping up with the turbulent and unpredictable trends of our every changing social climate, and advancing our society, with new technology and new discoveries, towards a better future.
And as usual, the younger generation is the quickest group of people to embrace and stretch the limits of a new technology to well beyond its original design.
Just take a look at MySpace and Facebook (or as my dad recently referred to them, MyFace and SpaceBook). The under-18 crowd swamped these sites, along with LiveJournal and other comparable sites, and have blindly and innocently caused breaking news stories and controversy.
For instance, last year MySpace announced that they uncovered 29,000 sexual predators with profiles, parents understandably freaked out.
However, these digital social networks are not themselves inherently evil. They are part of our ever changing world, and they are changing to prevent predators from victimizing kids.
The people who designed these sites are not stupid, rather the opposite, and they know what it means to change with the times.
MySpace recently topped 100 million accounts and Facebook has over 60 million active users. LiveJournal has over 15 million accounts. There are approximately 100 million people with some form of instant messaging account.
With so many people using these sites, and so many dollars being made through advertisements, these sites are here to stay.But it may not always be the same sites in the future.
The younger internet crowd is fickle and follows fads, and sites have been known to fall if they don't keep updated and offering the most innovative features. But social networking in general will always be there, as long as there is an Internet.
With the new generation growing up with what amounts to unlimited information at their finger tips, who knows how the social networks will ultimately end up?
Cell phones are now a common and in many cases critical part of people's lives. Email is now quicker, easier, and cheaper than snail mail. Social networks such as Facebook and MySpace are just another level of interconnectivity.
And while there will probably always be people trying to abuse the system for their own means, there will always be smarter people working on improving the systems, keeping up with the turbulent and unpredictable trends of our every changing social climate, and advancing our society, with new technology and new discoveries, towards a better future.
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