Social Networking: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

The internet has created numerous ways for us to contact old friends and colleagues. It has made it easier to buy and sell those items that we consider to be treasures or must haves. It also makes it easier to market yourself, be it through dating sites or job listing sites. It makes it easier to let the world know who we are and what we are all about. Some people take it to the extreme. We know them so wel,l we can tell you what they eat for every meal. Others take the less direct approach and use technology for socializing only when coerced or required for a class or a work assignments. With these advances in technology it may make it easier to catch up with old friends and meet new ones but the growing concern is with safety. These sites are perfect platforms for predators to find their prey. There are now task forces devoted entirely to catching internet predators who prey on the young and innocent and lure them into dangerous situations. Sites used for the marketing of services or the sale of unwanted items have been used for deception and murder. E-mail is being used to target individuals for fraud and identity theft. Now, is everyone out to cause you harm, no, but how are you to determine who is sincere and who is not. We have to constantly monitor our children and make sure they are properly educated not only on stranger danger but internet safety as it relates to stranger danger. Internet has had a huge impact on the way we look at intimacy and what we teach the future generations about intimacy and who we let get to know us better.