Pros/Cons of Social Networking

       When we think of social networking sites, we think of Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest,  etc.  Their purposes are to build communities in which people share interests and activities or explore interests of others. According to Craig Smith, Facebook has currently 1.15 billion users, which is currently the most used social networking site! It has provided great communication (personal and professional) between friends, family, and colleagues, allowing people to build stronger connections. It has also allowed businesses to promote their brand, garnering more attention than they ever would without social networks.  Not only will people have recognition of their brand, but also they can provide feedback.  Although there are many reasons to promote these social networks, there are also cons. Here are my pros/cons for using social medias:

Pros:

• Maintain connections and create closer bonds.
• Allows job employment by letting businesses to reach out to potential employees.
• Find others who share same interest.
• Increase overall quality of life by communication among friends.
• a platform for communication between professors and students that promotes education.
• Allow businesses to promote their brand.

Cons:

• Lack of privacy, allowing intrusions of government.
• Can lead to stress due to conflicting relationships or having no companionship.
• Discourages people to make physical interactions.
• Dissemination of false information.
• Easily allows people to waste time.
• Negative publicity for a business's brand.

Despite these pros and cons, an important aspect of social networking is its security.  Anyone using any kind of social media is at risk because of hacks, and viruses.  Confidential information could be stolen. Tech companies such as Facebook, Microsoft, NBC, and New York times have been hacked!  The latest hacks involve the victim to visiting "infected pages" first and result in computers allowing hackers access to the network's private information.  It is no doubt that these hacks will ever stop so be cautious whenever using social networking sites!