User:Annu

=My Profile=

Education
B.A. M.A. B.Ed

My Sandbox
/My sandbox/

My Reflection
Social Networking Sites	

Social networking sites enables to bridge the communication gap between two or more people living at distant places. It allows you to connect or relate with group or system that shares the same values or ideas on a particular subject. Therefore, it is known as networking sites as it helps you to exchange ideas and thoughts easily within seconds to other people easily. Listed below are some of the advantages of using social networking sites for all age groups.

1. Building and maintaining friendship with people who has never met before.

2. Advising people or solving problems mentioned in any of the forums

3. Sending personal messages within seconds to the person sitting at distant places

4. Creating and sharing online collages with friends and family via social sites

5. Creating blogs to track the record of good or bad moments

6. Sharing the same blogs with relatives and friends by providing links to them

7. Companies use these social sites for publicity and promotion.

8. News channels update the public by providing recent and up-to-date information about events. The social networking sites are open to all and therefore, it can put you in danger if used incorrectly. Few of the disadvantages are listed below of social networking sites. These are:

1. Sometimes, sharing personal information with others can put you at risk

2. Availability of private information can lead to stolen identity

3. Stalkers and sexual offenders can trouble you by using the information available on your profile. 4. Fake advertisements can invite unwanted viruses and spywares to your computer 5. Professional companies can refer your online profile while judging you at the time of the interview.

Therefore, it is necessary to understand that an online community is like a room filled with different people. You must reveal suitable information about yourself that doesn't affect your personal and professional life. Moreover, you must use the option of privacy for restricting the entry of outsiders or unknown.

Advantages Of Social Networking

1 - Some social networks are good opportunities to find a job - Nowadays the big companies have specialists on human resources that search for profiles in these kind of sites to recruit new collaborators. If you´re looking for job you can create a profile (a serious, professional and complete profile) and you might be discovered and recruited by a company. You can describe your capabilities and publish some of your works - and with a little luck you can find a job.

2 - You can meet new people - social networking sites are the perfect spot to neet new people online. With the help of advanced search tools you can find users who have the same interests you do and that can be the starting point of a great friendship and/or relationship. Many people meet online and then stabilish a relationship in real life - getting married, having children, etc. Advantages of social networking sites

3 - You can overcome your timidity - Contacting with other people through the internet becomes more easier for shy people. Shy people can overcome this using social networking platforms to stabilish contacts. Later the interaction it´s more easier because they have already talked and interacted online.

4 - You can promote your site or business for free - If you have a business or site you need to promote you can do it by creating a business profile on some of these networks. You can load images, your logo, etc. into your profile and it will be visible for your virtual friends and all the users who visit your profile. You can also put topics on groups related to your business and stabilish new contacts that can lead to sales, subscriptions or anything else.

Social networking sites explained

Sometimes called “friend-of-a-friend” sites, social networking websites build upon the concept of traditional social networks in the “real world,” connecting users to familiar and new people through mutual acquaintances and common interests.

The very nature of such sites encourages users to provide a certain amount of personal information. But when deciding how much information to reveal, people may not exercise the same amount of caution on a Website as they would when meeting someone in person. This happens because:

the Internet provides a sense of anonymity; the lack of physical interaction provides a false sense of security; and they tailor the information for their friends to read, forgetting that others may see it. ''' Sharing too much information on social networking sites can be problematic in two ways: first, it can reveal something about you that you’d rather your current or future employer or school administrator not know, and second, it can put your personal safety at risk. Social networking sites can make life easier for spammers and stalkers

Another potential downside of social networking sites is that they allow others to know a person’s contact information, interests, habits, and whereabouts. Consequences of sharing this information can range from the relatively harmless but annoying—such as an increase in spam—to the potentially deadly—such as stalking.

While the vast majority of people using social networking sites do not pose a threat, malicious people may be drawn to them because of the accessibility and amount of personal information available on them.

Criminals can use information provided about a person’s birthday, location, routine, hobbies, and interests to impersonate a trusted friend or convince the unsuspecting that they have the authority to access personal or financial data. They can even use such info to guess your account passwords—which is why you should never have a password that uses the name of your pet, favorite band, hobby, birthday, or something else easily known about you. And stalkers will really appreciate your help if you post your daily routine and whereabouts online!

So, when deciding whether to post something, remember that the more information malicious people have about you, the easier it is for them to take advantage of you.