Facebook was originally an Internet site that "used photos compiled from the online facebooks of nine houses, placing
two next to each other at a time and asking users to choose the
'hotter' person". The founder of Facebook was almost expelled from Harvard University for using copyright images of young women in the comparisons and for hacking computers to obtain images.
Programs like Facebook were the way to get women to use the Internet.
In Germany, for instance, only 25% of internet users were female in 1997 but over 45% were female in 2012.
The comparison of images and lifestyles in a "who is hottest" context and the explicit use of "friend" counts is social bullying. It is particularly nasty for children because they are outside the social group if they do not play this bullying game. Of course, the bullies, those who are ascendant in the social networking game, will maintain that social media is free speech and "caveat emptor", but they should not be allowed to wreck the lives of children.
The championing of social media by the television media is to be expected because much of their output is now comparisons of people's performance with votes to dismiss those who do not measure up.
Adults have abandoned their responsibilities in this area. Children should be taught at school that they must only use social media as a "Living CV", carefully selecting the content. The social media store data for your entire lifetime and must be used with extreme care.
In the days before social media government agencies warned users that they must always be anonymous and never betray their personal details online. Now that social media is big business and can be used by government to monitor the people the government agencies are lobbying against anonymity.
The use of Twitter and email for social purposes also needs very close attention. Emails should always be business like and never betray any views. Remember, in the postmodern world a comment that might appear innocuous now could put you in prison in 10 years time.
Programs like Facebook were the way to get women to use the Internet.
In Germany, for instance, only 25% of internet users were female in 1997 but over 45% were female in 2012.
The comparison of images and lifestyles in a "who is hottest" context and the explicit use of "friend" counts is social bullying. It is particularly nasty for children because they are outside the social group if they do not play this bullying game. Of course, the bullies, those who are ascendant in the social networking game, will maintain that social media is free speech and "caveat emptor", but they should not be allowed to wreck the lives of children.
The championing of social media by the television media is to be expected because much of their output is now comparisons of people's performance with votes to dismiss those who do not measure up.
Adults have abandoned their responsibilities in this area. Children should be taught at school that they must only use social media as a "Living CV", carefully selecting the content. The social media store data for your entire lifetime and must be used with extreme care.
In the days before social media government agencies warned users that they must always be anonymous and never betray their personal details online. Now that social media is big business and can be used by government to monitor the people the government agencies are lobbying against anonymity.
The use of Twitter and email for social purposes also needs very close attention. Emails should always be business like and never betray any views. Remember, in the postmodern world a comment that might appear innocuous now could put you in prison in 10 years time.
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