Facebook in recent years has become the most successful social network site on the internet. In 2011, it was reported to have approximately 500 million active users. That is literally one in every 13 people on earth! Facebook makes it possible to find and contact millions of people. This is a benefit, but can also be one of the hidden dangers of Facebook. You can play many progressive games, and invite all of your friends to join you in these games. Reunions of old school classmates or former romantic partners are one of the positive aspects of Facebook. Let’s see some hidden dangers which can be caused due to excessive use of Facebook.
1. Identity theft is one of the leading non-violent crimes today- Facebook, or any other social media where people commonly reveal all sorts of personal data, is an abundant feeding pool for the sharks. To prevent identity theft, be careful about what information you reveal about yourself. This includes posting your social security number, banking information, phone number, home address, place of employment, family information, etc.
2. Scams and schemes– People use Facebook for various reasons. Facebook pages are created to raise funds for charitable causes that are not real. They are not all crooks, of course, but many are not what they seem. If you receive a friend request from someone you don’t know and they have no Facebook friends in common, check out their profile before accepting them. If you have no apparent common interests, why have they sent you a friend request? This is not suggesting that you shouldn’t expand your social network by adding Facebook friends you would never contact otherwise; rather, this is just a warning to be cautious.
3. Friends– One of the hidden dangers of Facebook is the societal shift in the understanding of that word. What once was a treasured relationship with a confidant has been trivialized to mean whoever you can get to accept a Facebook friend request. It used to be said a person might know hundreds of people, have ten or twenty good acquaintances in a lifetime, but only a precious few real friends. Under the new definition, many have thousands of friends. Probably 90% of Facebook friends have never met each other face-to-face, and never will. They would never visit one another nor talk on the phone. (By the way, if they were truly your friends, why wouldn’t you give them your phone number?) What does it mean when a culture considers texting and instant messaging talking Some people post intimate details of their lives to their friends. That’s a bad idea. If you want to confide in a friend about something in your life, pay them a visit, or make a phone call.
4. Trusting Facebook– As Facebook infiltrates our daily lives on an ever-escalating level, people have become obsessed with what someone is posting on FB, or tweeting on Twitter. It literally becomes a source for news. This new Facebook problem has spawned television programs based on what someone says on their Facebook page. News anchors on television quote what celebrities tweet and post on Facebook. Since when has what someone writes on the internet been unquestionably true? And since when is it news-worthy?Staring at a screen alienates you from real life and people around you- Our culture loves technology, and technology in itself is a good thing. But unfortunately, we are becoming an asocial society, focused on self above all else. As a society, we are losing the ability to converse with one another. As was stated at the beginning of this article, there are many good things about Facebook. But we need to exercise caution and discretion, and remain alert to the hidden dangers of Facebook.
5. Staring at a screen alienates you from real life and people around you- Our culture loves technology, and technology in itself is a good thing. But unfortunately, we are becoming an asocial society, focused on self above all else. As a society, we are losing the ability to converse with one another. As was stated at the beginning of this article, there are many good things about Facebook. But we need to exercise caution and discretion and remain alert to the hidden dangers of Facebook.
