Hmmm Facebook huh?

While reading these articles about the dangers and horrors of the online networking sites, such as Facebook and Myspace, I found myself intrigued about how willing people are to put themselves out on the line and talk about every little detail of their lives as long as it is online. I personally have a Facebook, but I also have it set to private so that only my approved friends can look at… as far as I know. As the articles said there are ways to get around those minor settings and look at people’s personal and private profiles. The problems arising from these sites are very concerning and even possibly dangerous if not handled correctly. People need to learn how to use the Internet and these sites properly and safely as to not get themselves into a mess of trouble. No one wants to be turned down for a job interview because his Facebook lists “smoking pot, getting completely wasted, sex, sex and more sex” for his interests. Even though most of the content that people post on Facebook and Myspace is exaggerated or completely false, it still shows how irresponsible you are or would like to be.

I understand that people want to make themselves look “cool” by putting up pictures of them drinking or other risqué pictures, but honestly I think that is something that needs to be kept a little more private rather than posted all over the Internet. Many of my friends post pictures of themselves drinking or doing other activities just to prove their popularity, prowess in bed, or their awesome underage drinking abilities. Every one of their friends knows what went on, where it was, and what happens since the friends are usually there too. Why bother bragging about it online where it can only cause trouble? Obviously no one wants to hire a drunken, pot smoker who sleeps around; it only shows that you have little or no responsibility. If someone goes to turn in an application for a job, the least he can do is cleanup his Facebook and Myspace profiles by removing incriminating pictures, irresponsible messages, and the multitude of pointless applications such as, “Which Condom Are You?”, “What Kama Sutra Position Are You?”, or even the “Let’s Play Beer Pong.” Let’s not get me wrong though, I absolutely love Facebook and I have even been guilty of taking the random quizzes out of curiosity, however, I deleted them off of my profile afterwards.

On another note, I also have a few thoughts concerning the Internet and the “predators” to be found on there. The Internet is a great thing and a great place to talk to friends and read about interesting topics; however, I believe that precautions seriously need to be taken that many people either do not know about, or just don’t seem to care about. I personally never add someone as a friend if I don’t already know him personally or know him through a friend. There is no reason for people to put their phone numbers or addresses all over the Internet, which is seriously just asking for trouble. All in all I still think that the Internet is an extraordinary thing as long as people pay attention, stay safe, and are careful about what they say or do on it.