Social Networking Websites – The downsides

The article aims to discuss the downsides of the popular social networking websites which are all over the internet.

Social Networking has caught on like a fire amongst the internet community. Today popular social networking websites like Facebook offer many reasons for internet users to be on these networks and expand on to their circle of friends. The world is becoming more open and connected thanks to these social networking websites. Enough has already been said regarding the many benefits that these social networking websites offer and through this article I would like to touch upon some of the downsides which are rarely talked about. I am no Social Networking Website basher, just trying to highlight some of the ills associated with the same so that these can be looked at and Social Networking websites dish out a clean and unforgettable user experience to one and all.

The Social Networking websites have often been criticized on the following lines:

Privacy - Since social networking websites can be accessed by anyone, intrusion to privacy becomes a big issue with many online users knowingly or unknowingly compromising with their personal information and disclosing them to unknowing and unverified population of the internet.

Information access - A perfect example to demonstrate two important sides of a coin would be the fact that popular social networking websites like Orkut were criticized for not having filters to prevent unauthorized online users to access a user profile. The gaps were addressed and profile/profile feature locks were put in place but now most parents complain that they are not able to monitor the online activities of their children.

Misuse - Misuse of social networking websites is quite a common characteristic witnessed these days. Profile impersonation where a user uploads someone else's profile claiming to be the original and is aimed towards maligning the reputation of the individual is a common occurrence now.

Child Abuse - In a documented fact several cases of pedophilia using the social networking websites as a disguise have been unearthed recently thereby making for the most vocal protests against the social networking websites

Impact on Interpersonal skills - It is a given when we would stop interacting with the next-door neighbor and spend more time interacting with the 'online unknown' it would have deep impact on our inter-personal skills.

For all the above reasons social networking services websites have been vociferously criticized by the anti-social networking lobby. However, as the concept is relatively new my take would be not to completely wipe out these websites out of the system (and I am sure no one is planning to) but to keep re-inventing these social networking websites so that the downsides can be looked into. Happy Networking!!

Always eager for your bouquets/brickbats,


About the Author - Gaurav Kumar is internet marketing professional, Presently working with Ebizon NetInfo, one of the leading web development company offering expert facebook clone services, SEO Services, drupal development services and e commerce solutions over the globe