With social networks spreading faster than rapper LiL Wayne’s sperm, more and more issues are being discussed surrounding their usage. The 21st century has become an information age allowing people across the globe to share pleasantries whether they knew each other before cyber space connected them.
The creators of these wonderful cyber chat forums may not have intended to manifest negativity throughout the internet world. But they have done just that among people in relationships, frenemies, and pastors leading their sheep. Check out some of the recent stories of how people’s lives have been negatively affected due to social network usage. Once you’ve closed your mouth after reading these stunning headlines, continue on as I give my views about social networks.
- Thanksgiving Day 2010, a woman stabs a man and smacks him in the head with a frying-pan over his facebook posting.
- A Jacksonville woman shakes her baby to death due to him interrupting her Facebook Farmville Game.
- North Carolina man commits murder suicide after his ex-girlfriend announced her engagement on Facebook.
- NJ pastor barrs his church officials from using facebook concerned that it will lead to adultery.
- Facebook has ruined my almost 20 year marriage.
The Good:
Free Business Advertisement: Social networks are the best way to offer free publicity for any product you want to share with the public. Whether you’ve taken on selling Avon or started a new website, Twitter and Facebook specifically can help bring notoriety to your new business venture. The key is to make sure you keep your social networking experiences professional. You also need to make sure you connect with your social network contacts on a friendly level so they don’t feel they are just reading spam from an automatic software to request their business.
Keeping in touch with family and friends: Facebook is a great forum to stay in touch with family and friends that don’t live in your geographical location. Sharing pictures or a quick I miss you message can easily brighten a loved one’s day. Keeping up with family members in the military can also be done easier via social networks. Seeing a quick message that they are surviving can bring peace to your heart when you need it most.
Connecting with old high school/college friends: Many people have found that social networks have rebuilt relationships with great friends they lost contact with over the years for various reasons. Knowing that people you’ve shared a special memory with are still living a happy life and have matured into great responsible adults can be a very fulfilling social network experience.
The Bad:
Bored Relationship Syndrome: Some people turn to social networks to gain what they are missing in a committed relationship. Whether the relationship is 6 months new or 25 years old, people lose interest in their mate and allow connections via social networks to become their distraction. Although they stay in the relationship physically, they move on mentally creating friction in their partnership without addressing their real problem correctly.
Curiosity Kills the Cat: Facebook can allow the curious to find ex-lovers and do a quick check to see how they are doing. With newly added features such as mutual friend suggestions that flash randomly on users facebook page, facebook users are alerted often about people who maybe new to the social-networking site. By connecting with past lovers, certain pleasantries and harmless conversations can quickly turn into reminiscing about special memories and what-could-have-been-moments. This destructive social chatter can introduce new problems in a relationship that could have been easily avoided.
Social network addictions: As many have learned, social networks can become addictive habits of distractions. Checking the latest facebook status or tweet turns a fun moment into lost hours of non-productivity.
Social Networking Done Right:
If used correctly, building new relationships and maintaining old friendships through social networking can be a positive experience. Below are some helpful tips on how to get the most out of their usage.
- If you are in a committed relationship, avoid bumping into an old flame accidentally in cyberspace. If you know they may be lurking, look them up first and block their access to your small piece of internet property. Being proactive in managing these relationships will save you a lot of unnecessary heartache in the end.
- Be honest with your reason for joining a social network. If you are looking for a forum to meet new people whether it be a friend or a romantic mate, be cautious in your meetings. Make sure you read all information that’s available. If the person has limited information, that may be a sign that they are hiding important details about themselves. If you decide that social networking is your answer to bring fire to your current relationship, STOP NOW and move away from the keyboard. Cyber flirting will not resolve your problems at home. You and your current mate are the only ones that can make your relationship better. It is better to end a relationship with no future before creating a new one.
- Manage your social networking time wisely. If you find that you are missing important deadlines you’ve been able to complete before joining your favorite pastime, it may be your guilty pleasure that is distracting you more than you want to admit. When the addiction starts to become overwhelming, set time frames of when you will hang out in cyberspace. Use a lunch break or work down time to catch up; but make sure you don’t substitute work boredom with an intriguing social networking hour.
I’m not a bit surprised by all the negative chatter that social networking has created. Just like the internet, something created for good has been used for evil. Being a social butterfly that loves to network, I have found positive usage for social networks. However, I have seen the darker side of cyber friendships. But I didn’t allow my bad experiences to overshadow my first intent to engage in internet meet and greets.
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