Focus on the fact that the users technically consented to the data gathering without realizing it
Describe the concerns voiced by the users after the discovery of the breach
Highlight the broader context surrounding privacy in the digital age
Specific areas my research will tackle
The mechanism of data gathering and analysis in the scandal
Potential uses of data gathering
Political
Marketing
Manipulation
Its effect on society
Erosion of privacy
Increased manipulation by powerful entities
Thesis
The Cambridge Analytica scandal is a sign of potentially much more problematic future developments
Benefits of the research
Increase the public’s understanding of the threat of data gathering and selling
Body 1
Data gathering mechanism
Source of the information
Online businesses:
Many online businesses gather and store their customers’ data, which they can then make available to third parties
Methods of processing the information
API-based research:
Datasets provided by companies such as Facebook can be analyzed for specific traits, producing detailed information on large groups of people (Venturini and Rogers 532)
Uses
Improved targeting:
By determining the preferences of a user group, marketers can tailor advertisements to their targets and target narrower groups with more specialized ads
Body 2
Potential uses
Positive uses of the technology, such as research, exist
Potentially malicious or unethical applications
Political:
Cambridge Analytica was accused of designing ads that would subtly influence people’s voting preferences in favor of one candidate (Hinds et al.)
Marketing:
Companies can create advertisements that appeal strongly to their target audiences, spurring further consumption
Manipulation:
People’s lack of understanding of how modern manipulation techniques based on API data work leads them to be vulnerable to deception due to a belief in their immunity to such efforts (Hinds et al.)
Body 3
Effects on society
Erosion of privacy:
More and more products require the users to submit their data because of the benefits that this practice confers to the manufacturer
People are starting to accept these policies as normal, valuing the convenience more than they are concerned about the risks (Fast and Jago 44)
While the Cambridge Analytica scandal led to an outcry, few people left Facebook as a result (Brown)
Eventually, even those concerned about their data may have to surrender it to participate in society fully
Increased manipulation:
Democratic systems are notoriously prone to manipulation via public opinion, as history shows
API research gives organizations with sufficient funding and power the tools to subtly influence people
Such manipulation would be extremely challenging to detect or counter with the current mechanisms in place
Conclusion
The gathering and processing of millions of users’ data is invaluable for research, particularly in the fields of sociology and public health.
However, in its current state, it enables public and private actors to access and use it for malicious purposes.
Users are either not aware to what extent their information is being gathered or apathetic to it due to acceptance.
The Cambridge Analytica scandal is a single incident that indicates the existence of a much larger, likely still-unknown field or potential for one to emerge.
Measures to counter this issue, such as increased transparency, greater promotion of privacy, and promoting understanding of the implications of mass data collection, are necessary.
Works Cited
Brown, Allison J. “Should I Stay or Should I Leave?”: Exploring (Dis)continued Facebook Use After the Cambridge Analytica Scandal.” Social Media + Society, vol. 6, no. 1, 2020, Web.
Fast, Nathanael J., and Arthur S. Jago. “Privacy Matters… Or Does It? Algorithms, Rationalization, and the Erosion of Concern for Privacy.” Current Opinion in Psychology, vol. 31, 2020, 44-48.
Hinds, Joanne, Emma J. Williams, and Adam N. Joinson. ““It Wouldn’t Happen to Me”: Privacy Concerns and Perspectives Following the Cambridge Analytica Scandal.” International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, vol. 143, 2020, Web.
Venturini, Tommaso, and Richard Rogers. ““API-based research” or How Can Digital Sociology and Journalism Studies Learn from the Facebook and Cambridge Analytica Data Breach.” Digital Journalism, vol. 7, no. 4, 2019, 532-540.
Daniel Castro the author of this article is a Senior Analyst with Information Technology and Innovation Foundation. Castro Has done a lot of research in areas such as information accessibility, e-government, e-commerce, health IT, electronic voting among others. Working in the government agencies like Federal Insurance Corporation, Security and Exchange Commission has gained him so much experience. Through the article The Right to Privacy is Not a Right to Facebook Castro tries to explore the issue of online privacy by focusing on a Facebook company that recently came up with new privacy policies. The article answers two fundamental questions; does Facebook have the right to use private information to deliver services and products to customers and whether any other has the right to do this?
New applications introduced by Google and Facebook should not be interpreted as a way of exposing personal private information but instead one should see it as a way of enhancing service delivery. Privacy policies are very clear because they stipulate what an organization is supposed to do with an individual’s personal data. If an organization deviates from such agreements then it must be held liable but one must prove beyond reasonable doubt that Facebook has violated the stipulated privacy policies before accusing it. Some people argue that the government needs to regulate the use of personal information that most customers do not read them.
Facebook has never coerced anyone to agree to its privacy policies rather it gives everyone freedom to read and make a personal decision and so even the government would not be justified to interfere with the business of a private entity. According to Mark Zuckerberg Facebook CEO, social media should move from the traditional way of doing business and embrace openness. Facebook always responds to public pressure and that is why it always modifies its privacy settings to meet the demands of its users. The few people who feel that the company is unfair in imposing some privacy policies should feel free to choose other forms of social media that they are comfortable with (Castro, 2010).
Castro discourages the idea of some powerful persons in a government like the senators and cabinet ministers from interfering with Facebook and its affiliate companies. When Coca-Cola decided to introduce coke into the market nobody reacted as it is with Facebook. It is very wrong for people to act as if the privacy policies introduced by Facebook is a national Emergency with others protesting to close their profiles. The interests of the majority must be protected at all cost. On the other hand every business entity must understand that the citizens have a right to privacy of their electronic data. The government also has the responsibility of taking the legislative and oversight action in order to safeguard the rights of its citizens. Electronic Communications and Privacy Act must be respected by all parties involved with online data (Castro, 2010).
Social media allows individuals from different parts of the world to share information freely. Facebook being part of social media plays an integral role connecting individuals who may be near or far from each. This article argues that preventing Facebook from introducing privacy policies is killing the spirit of innovation and discouraging it from discharging its mandate. It also denies most individuals right to information. It is important to allow the company to exercise its business rights freely. Given that the market is very competitive, every company is trying to put every effort to please its customers and increase its products and services.
Reference
Castro Daniel (2010). The Right to Privacy is Not a Right to Facebook.Washington: University Press.
The title of the article “Facebook envy: how the social network affects our self-esteem” speaks for itself: the author Andrea Shea reflects on the impact that the social media has on its users, and in particular on the ways people feel about themselves and about the others. The article includes results of the scientific researches as well as the real-life experiences of those who are engaged in social networks, for example, in Facebook. The main message of the article is that the effect of Facebook on people’s life can be ambiguous: it can cause negative thoughts and reactions, for example, envy, but at the same time it provides the users with more ways to express themselves and boosts their creativity.
The main problem with the Facebook is that it presents the distorted version of reality. For example, most photographs that people put on social networks were previously airbrushed. Another illustration is that people tend to expose aspects of their lives that can be perceived as glamorous and photogenic (pictures of parties, festivals, concerts), while concealing others, such as routine everyday activities. When Facebook users constantly omit the facts of their life that contradict the perfect image they have created, it prevents them from forming genuine bonds with other people, and it “forecloses intimacy”. Facebook users create enhanced versions of their lives, which can lead to the unhealthy situation of constant measuring up to others, to other people’s lives and standards, especially among vulnerable teenagers.
This competition may results in negative thoughts, low self-esteem, and even depression: “The studies showed that one in three respondents felt more dissatisfied with their own lives after spending time on the site. Viewing the number of birthday greetings and “likes” were big culprits. Unprecedented access to other people’s photos also triggered emotional pain and resentment” (Shea par.6). While the social networks are the telling illustration of how people construct their identity, this phenomena is not limited to the virtual aspect of our lives, as we do this in the real world too. In everyday life each time people decide what to wear and how to look, they engage in practices of self-presentation: “It’s an agreed upon human behavior that we all present ourselves, and cover up and cultivate these images and personas” (Shea par.27). Social networks simply provide people with more means for the process of cultivating postures.
It is important to admit and to further explore the ambivalent effect of the social media on people’s perception of themselves. On the one hand, social networks like Facebook can create a challenging atmosphere of competition between its users, compelling people to compare themselves to others all the time, which inevitably leads to feeling of self-dissatisfaction and low self-esteem. The resentment, envy, and other negative feelings that the use of social media evokes may alienate people from each other. In order to avoid the negative impact of social media on person’s self-perception, it is necessary to understand that what people portray on Facebook is not always an adequate reflection of the reality. On the other hand, the social media can be beneficial for the users as they create opportunities for self-presentation and construction of one’s image that were unknown to previous generations. It is in human nature to present ourselves to others, and social networks, Facebook, in particular, provides people with more opportunities for creative self-expression.
Over the course of the last 10 years, social networking sites (SNSs) have gained enormous popularity throughout the world. Of all the SNSs available, Facebook stands out as the most popular one boasting of millions of users from all over the world. People are increasingly making use of Facebook to keep in touch. This usage of Facebook has become so pervasive that nowadays, the site is an integral part of the life of many individuals.
These people, especially the youth, are said to spend hours on Facebook a day interacting with their friends. This has led some people to arguing that Facebook is more addictive than cigarettes and alcohol. However, I do not think that Facebook can be equated to smoking and drinking. Through this essay, I will propose that Facebook cannot be compared to these issues. I will also demonstrate that Facebook does not have most of the severe consequences associated with other forms of addictions.
How Addictive is Facebook?
Some people spend a significant amount of time interacting through Facebook. Students have been reported to waste time on Facebook at the expense of academic performance. Employees, on the other hand, are known to spend company’s valuable time on the site, therefore lowering their productivity, which leads to an overall reduction in company performance.
As a result of these occurrences, it has been proposed that Facebook is addictive since people appear to be hooked to the site and cannot keep away from it even considering the negative consequences.
Why Facebook is not as Addictive as Cigarettes and Alcohol
For something to qualify as an addiction, there has to be a compulsive dependence on the behavior or substance in question. An addiction implies that a person cannot do without something he or she is addicted to, and when it is missing, he or she may experience withdrawal symptoms or physical and/or mental discomforts.
Cigarette and alcohol addicts suffer from severe withdrawal symptoms and discomforts when they try to leave off their addiction. The same cannot be said for Facebook addicts. While staying away from Facebook may be a major inconvenience to a person, it will not result in any of the withdrawal symptoms or discomforts suffered by cigarette and alcohol addicts.
Cigarette and alcohol addictions have major consequences, and once a person is an addict, he/she requires treatment to save him/her from death due to deteriorated health or possible imprisonment due to misconduct. The consequences that come from the overuse of Facebook are not nearly as severe since it is highly improbable that a person will die from excessive use of the site or be imprisoned on the same grounds.
On the contrary, Facebook plays a positive role in the lives of many of its users. Most of the users of Facebook visit the site with the primary objective of keeping in touch with people with whom they have relationships. Without Facebook, many friendships would fizzle out because of limited communication.
Conclusion
In this article, I have argued that while Facebook is to some extent addictive, it is not as addictive as smoking or drinking. The discussions presented herein have shown that cigarettes and alcohol addictions result in major consequences for the individual. Undoubtedly, there are negative aspects associated with an excessive use of Facebook for an individual. However, it would be an exaggeration to classify Facebook as being as addictive as smoking or drinking.
Social networking is the most important tool in modern day communication and advertising. One such great social media is Facebook that has numerous subscribers worldwide. However, the question that needs to be answered concerning the social networking is the required subscription age. This essay is mainly going to reflect on the negative effect of Facebook on children but also acknowledges some of the positive aspects associated with Facebook.
Positive effects of Facebook on children
Facebook as platform has very many applications which can enable a child to interact with his/her peers as well as developing technical skills. Through Facebook blogs, teenagers may discover opportunities in community projects or activities which may in turn assist them to discover new potential and identity.
The cost of travelling is very high. Therefore, travelling from one place to another with children to visit friends or relatives is becoming uneconomical. Facebook has provided a solution this problem through live chatting, photo exchange and videos. Thus facebook has provided a good substitute for which children can interact with their peers and friends – regardless of the distance- at a minimum cost.
Negative effects of Facebook on children
Facebook comes with a full package of games, group invitations, multiple friends request, videos and other applications that keeps the user entertained as he or she is in the network. Ritualistic involvement and Periodic usage of such applications leads to social networking addiction.
This creates obsession and thus deprives an individual of the normal and real life. This is dangerous to a growing child as it denies him/her the privilege of coming face to face with person. Moreover, such addiction interferes with a child’s study or school life. This mostly happens when children opt to Facebook instead of studying. Reduced study time and concentration in school work leads to persistently poor grades and loss of interest in formal education.
In normal conversations or dialogues, an individual can say one thing but the tone of voice or body expression incorporated with the statements may actually alter the enter meaning of the words. However, Facebook involves mainly the use of text and graphics to communicate; it therefore lessens a child’s time for social interaction and renders the child out of place in practical verbal communications and social skills.
Therefore as a child grows, based on Facebook mode of communication, he/she will never have the opportunity to practically learn how to interpret facial expressions, body language and emotions. This can be damaging to real life relationship between the child and the parents or greater society at large.
Facebook uses all forms of languages and expressions that are efficient and effective to users. For example, use of initials like ‘LOL’ to mean ‘lots of love’ to a particular group and something else to a different group. However, such form of language is not standard or universal hence considered group specific.
In case the parents decide to move from a different environmental setting, children adapted to one particular type of communication may find it extremely difficult to integrate with children in the new environment. Therefore, such code language or slung affects social accommodation and assimilation of children in different localities.
There are millions of users on Facebook who login or upload materials at given time. Despite the measures in place, such large numbers of persons and uploaded materials are not easily manageable.
A child using Facebook is therefore exposed to all kinds of information. Unlike an adult, a child lacks the required experience and self control and hence cannot be in a position properly evaluate or discriminate between useful and harmful information. Furthermore, most children or minors using Facebook are on the experimental age, 11-15 years, and with the socially hidden nature of sexuality, any information regarding sexuality is considered to be the gospel truth.
Hence, children exposed to sexually inappropriate content and alcoholism or drugs through videos, pictures and messages or comments attached to such contents result in practicing what they see. As a consequence of such exposure, early involvement in teenage sexual activities, teen pregnancy, and teenage drug and alcohol use and abuse have increased.
Long hours of social networking daily, without exercise, will result in gaining weight or being overweight. Moreover, through Facebook children do encounter images or videos of famous person especially movie stars whom they would try as much as possible to associate with them in personality and appearance.
These forms the acceptable standards and every child Facebook members affirm to. However, this can lead to narcissistic personality disorders – where children feel their appearance is inadequate or unacceptable to others. For example, female teenagers who are perceived to be fat are considered less beautiful or male teenagers who don’t dress in a certain mannerism are not ‘cool’.
This can leads to anxiety, paranoia and depression amongst children, especially teenagers. Most children will therefore resort to hide from their friends or peers when they feel inadequate while others would starve themselves in order to attain the so called ‘ approved body figure’. This is a form of psychosocial imprisonment which is created by the social media kills the socialization process in early stages of life.
Illustration
Mary was a 14 year old girl who died and was buried in December 2009. Her death was neither caused by a road accident nor a disease. She committed suicide. Her mother, Anne, narrates that her daughter’s death resulted from taking wrong information and advice from friends in facebook.
Mary had an outstanding record in school. She could be described as an “A” student. At the end of the academic term, she had a mean score of 87% and topped her class. As means of appreciation for the work well done, her father bought her a Toshiba Tecra M3 laptop computer. It was Mary’s first computer and she could hide the joy of owning a computer.
A few months later, she became very secluded. Mostly, she was connecting privately with her friends on Facebook. She no longer consulted her mother or her father with any issues as before. Any information she needed, she got online. Anne confesses that, “provided Mary’s grades were excellent in school, we did not care so much on what our daughter did privately in her room.”
Mary had attended a friend’s party. In the party access to alcohol was not an issue. Overwhelmed with curiosity, Mary had a glass of liquor. In no time she was high. She stripped and danced in her undergarments at the party. The thrilled audience cheered her up. Three days later, she happened to find her video posted on facebook blog. It had erotic and abusive comments.
Someone must have had taped her secretly and uploaded the video in facebook. Considering Mary’s age, such information was too much for her to handle. She committed suicide by taking an overdose. The idea of committing such an act was a friend’s advice from facebook.
Conclusion
Social networks are good sites for interacting or socialization. However, at an early age they cause more harm than good to children. This is because most of the content posted in the network at any given time are adult oriented and is not filtered. Moreover, parents lack the capability to control the content that is posted on the network at any given time Therefore, children should not be allowed as they lack the capacity to discriminate between what is good and bad.
For the last five years or so, social networking sites have escalated both in numbers and popularity as millions register at these sites for various reasons. Consequently, several sites have materialized such as MySpace, Twitter, and Facebook, each with its own slant and users’ appeal.
However, Facebook has received most attention from over 500 million users worldwide; it has become the norm than rather the exception across the world population. As internet technologies continue to advance, Facebook and other social media sites bring even a bigger impact on society.
Correspondingly, the use of Facebook has improved and promoted interconnectedness among friends in spite of their temporal and spatial differences. Moreover, Facebook has facilitated socialization by allowing individuals to meet, share, create, and nurture friendships over the internet.
However, in spite of fact that Facebook is the modern way of promoting businesses and connecting people worldwide, it should be banned due to privacy issues, relationship devastations, and its use to endorse political revolutions.
Facebook history and its initial purpose
While, Facebook has been cited as the world largest website, its’ beginning was quite humble. Currently, Facebook membership stands at more than 500million users monthly and the number keeps growing each day. However, looking back seven years ago, Mark Zuckerberg’s idea of creating a social networking platform for his college mates would appear insignificant as compared to the gigantic social networking site being witnessed today.
Zuckerberg conceived the idea of a social networking site during his undergraduate years at Harvard University (Carlson, 2010).). Motivated by idea of enabling students within his campus to get to know each other, assisted by his college mates, Zuckerberg founded Facebook, which was initially restricted to Harvard College.
However, following some technical and operational advancement the site was expanded to other colleges in the region and it was just a matter of time before it was made available to everyone. By 2006, nothing could stop Facebook from becoming a global phenomenon, when it started accepting membership to all and sundry as long as one was over 13 years and had a valid email address.
Initially, the then called ‘thefacebook.com’ integrated several social networking applications that enabled its users to add friends, comment on friends’ profiles, and send messages, update own profile status among other myriad social connectedness functions (Carlson, 2010).
Despite numerous hurdles along the way, Facebook has been positively embraced across the world, thus increasing its usage and popularity. As of 2009, it was ranked as the most popular social networking site with its monthly usage increasing each day in English speaking countries including the United States, United Kingdom and Canada (Carlson, 2010).
Moreover, its penetration in regional internet markets has been tremendous with North America in the lead at 69%, Middle East, 67 %, Latin America 58%, Europe 57% and Asia pacific 17%. The author underscores that, Facebook photo applications have facilitated Facebook popularity whereby users can upload and share an unlimited number of photos.
Contrastingly, Facebook has also overgrown its initial social networking idea to encompass other diverse roles. Following its huge membership base, most businesses are utilizing this platform to market their products and services to the myriad users (Carlson, 2010).
Facebook connects people worldwide
Given the magnitude of attention that Facebook has received across the world, my opinion that, it ought to be banned might sound like a big joke. By enabling people to meet and make new friends, Facebook has become the basis for social engineering.
With the cost of living rising each day, Facebook provides people an alternative means of staying connected with friends and family. Apparently, the status update and newsfeed application permits individuals to follow up on what is happening to their friends regardless of the spatial distance between them (Facebook, 2011).
Most importantly, seven years down the line, Facebook is still living up to its mission of opening up the world up by facilitating connectedness and online interactions. With the advent of Facebook and other social networking sites, the world is becoming smaller as people across different cultures, borders, genders and customs share and exchange materials online (Carlson, 2010).
According to Facebook (2011), the site is visited by over 800million active users with an average of 130 friends per user. Moreover, over half of these users log on to the site each day as they interact with various applications.
Furthermore, an average user connects with his/her friends via the various applications such groups, events and community pages and most active users have access to an average of 80 such pages. Furthermore, with over 70 languages available on Facebook, individuals are able to connect without the restriction of language barriers.
As a matter of fact, over 75% users are located outside the USA, meaning Facebook is a global entity (Facebook, 2011). The above analysis indicates that Facebook is a social engineering site that defies the constraints of border, language , cultural, social ties and economic disparities and that it promotes interconnectedness among global users.
On the other hand, whereas social interconnectedness may sound like an excellent idea, the fact remains that, the shortcomings which will be discussed herein, outweighs the benefits of social connection. Furthermore, one is compelled to question whether the social ties created via Facebook are genuine.
Connectedness influences crime
The fact that Facebook popularity has escalated with unparalleled intensity is not questionable, however, the big query remains about its contribution to cyber crime. History has shown that whenever great masses of people come together crime is inevitable.
As aforementioned, Facebook membership has been increasing each day and with its ability to surpass language, cultural and physical barriers, the site has managed to bring a multitude of people together. However, although this positive aspect might look highly attractive, the recent crime report makes the entire argument ineffectual.
According to (Milsom, 2010), with the rising popularity of social networking sites, the rate of crime associated with this site has also increased at unprecedented levels. The report by Cambridgeshire indicates that Facebook related crime ascended from a diminutive figure of 22 in 2007 to over 1600 in 2010.
In 2007, Facebook related crime was extremely low because membership was also low, but as more and more people embrace Facebook so does the increase in crime becomes a distressing reality (Milsom, 2010). In addition, the report linked over 255 domestic incidents, 210 antisocial behaviors and 426 malicious nuisances to Facebook popularity.
The argument behind this notion is that, the site has attracted diversified individuals including criminals targeting the numerous Facebook users. The above implies that, if Facebook popularity is contributing to an increase in social networking crimes at equaled or even extra levels, then the entire site should be banned because it downplays the whole essence of interconnectedness if users become susceptible to criminals. The most important thing to remember is that Facebook admits children as young as 13 years who might not have the knowhow to differentiate between genuine and criminal advances.
Promotes businesses
Secondly, the concept of the social media networking sites and their influence on businesses has attracted a lot of attention lately. Based on the fact that social networking sites attract a lot of traffic, their usefulness in promoting businesses cannot be overemphasized.
Stay (2008) underscores that, Facebook site encompasses various tools that businesses can utilize to promote their brands. To begin with, Facebook Pages were created with an aim of enabling business owners to create profiles for their businesses.
After creating this Page, interested people can become fans and by liking the Page, their friends can also see, hence promoting brand or business recognition among various users (Stay, 2008). In addition, businesses can share photos, videos and any other information about their products/services thus promoting their brand image among the diverse audience not just in their home country, but also across borders.
Similarly, businesses can utilize Groups application on Facebook to advertise their brands. Most of these groups attract individuals with similar interests hence marketers can target a particular group of adventure lovers, for example, to advertise for instance a travel and tours business.
Furthermore, the advertising engine enables businesses to identify the size of demographic target that is enrolled on Facebook. This enables marketers to make decisions on whether to advertise to that demographic depending on the available statistics or not.
On the same note, big businesses have special customized options upon which they can advertise their business. For this option, if users make a purchase, their friends are able to see this activity; and betting on the impact of peer influence, such business might end up making more similar purchases (Stay, 2008).
Most importantly, marketers can use Facebook polls to gauge user’s perceptions about their products/services. In addition, marketers can conduct polls to gauge whether a particular products or idea will be viable when introduced into the market.
Finally, Facebook Connect is also a vital tool for businesses to connect with users who visit their site. Although, Stay (2008) underscores that Facebook has a long way to go before it can be fully advantageous to businesses, the bottom line is that, the advent of Facebook has been of great importance to business operations. Noticeably, the fact that individuals can advertise their products on personal pages enables small businesses to thrive with minimal investment.
Facebook promotes business scams
On the contrary, the same way Facebook can be used to promote brand image, it can also be used by malicious rivals to downplay a product or a business idea. According to Bradley (2010), the Like button that is enabled on Facebook can be used by malicious users to create a bad image for a certain company and its products.
The latter author explains online scammers are also using this Like button to penetrate into businesses databases. This implies that some Facebook applications have become a threat to businesses IT security because the Like button can be used to spread malicious scam through unknowing users.
Bradley (2010) underscores that, what might appear like an innocent online survey might turn out to be a scam aimed at penetrating businesses databases. This can bring devastating effects to the business especially if sensitive information is accessed by outsiders through the Facebook connection pages.
The devastation of numerous relationships are due to Facebook
Consequently, the popularity of Facebook usage among married couples threatens to disentangle this significant institution if nothing is done to stop it. Recently, different surveys have blamed Facebook of the numerous divorce cases being witnessed across the world today.
An article in the Daily Telegraph reported that, Facebook was cited by at least one couple in the numerous divorced petitions that were filed in 2009 as the fundamental reason for seeking divorce (Anon. 2009). Facebook provides an enhanced platform where individuals can connect with old friends and make friends with an ease that was never experienced before.
According to FOXNews (2010), Facebook has taken social interconnectedness to another level whereby married couples are looking for the missing link in their marriages over the internet. The worst of it all is that, people are connecting with ex-partners behind their partners back, but if they happen to be busted it becomes extremely difficult to salvage such marriage.
The report emphasizes that social networking sites including Facebook tempts people to cheat on their partners, whereas they would never commit such an offense in the absence of Facebook. Since Facebook does not authenticate user’s identity, suspicious spouses can use anonymous identities to find evidence about their patterns online affairs. Some divorces are uncalled especially if the busted partner was just looking for some online fun with no intention of parting with their spouse.
According to Anon (2009), over 20% of divorces cases that were filed in 2009 made references to Facebook whereby distraught spouses cited that, their partner has engaged in inappropriate chats via Facebook.
This issue has further been aggravated by the innovation of computer software that enables individuals to keep track of their partner’s online activities. For instance, Foxnews (2010) article cite is a specific case whereby a woman used the cited software to spy on her husband online activities on Facebook.
Unknown to her, the husband was announcing it to his Facebook friends that he was going to divorce her. When she eventually filed for divorce she produced this evidence in court. What we may never know in such a case is whether the husband really meant to divorce her or was just using that statement to win over some friends, but the fact remains that such marriage would still be strong today were it not for Facebook.
Most importantly, the very nature of interconnectedness promoted by Facebook attracts myriad negative impacts than benefits because although it facilitates the creation of social networking among old and new friends, the same concept devastates established relationships.
The thrill of meeting an old love online is very tempting to bored husbands and wives who oblivious of the negative consequences of such connections risk their marriages and the parties involved end up being hurt extremely.
The gravity of the matter is that, Foxnews (2010) cites that, some marriages as old as 13 years have ended up in divorce when a partner discovers suspicious activities on their spouses Facebook account. At this juncture, the billion dollar question should be if we allow Facebook to continue because it promotes interconnectedness at the expense of marriage institutions, or if we ban Facebook usage and save the myriad marriages that are likely to fall victim to the same monster.
The rise of privacy invasion is increasing due to Facebook and its privacy issues
On the same note, Facebook has been struggling with privacy issues that make its users susceptible to online related crimes. Recently, there has been a heighted public outcry about the fact the Facebook is unable to protect personal data thus fueling online crimes as criminals utilize the exposed personal data to fuel their criminal mission (Richmond, 2011).
The inability of Facebook to protect personal data following various technical hitches in the website has always attracted a lot of scrutiny from government and the public privacy watch groups. Following this scrutiny, Facebook has tried to make some numerous changes to privacy settings in vain.
The gravity of the matter is that most users are not aware of various security bleach incidences; hence, they continue to supply persona information oblivious of the kind of risk they attract to themselves (Richmond, 2011).
Consequently, Facebook and other networking sites have been blamed of the increasing cases of identity theft (CNN, 2011). By being unable to protect its users’ personal data, Facebook is exposing unsuspecting users to hackers who often steal personal identity to commit crimes.
For instance, hackers can use employees details obtained from Facebook to bypass IT security where such employees work. This situation puts both the employee and employer at risk of being harmed by the fraudsters. Secondly, Facebook has been associated with other crime such as cyber bullying.
Sexual bullies often hide behind the faceless social networking sites to lure vulnerable individual into their trap pretending to be their friends. Once they are sure that the victim is completely hooked, the bullies unleash the other side, a situation, which has been associated with numerous cases of suicide among teenagers who have fallen in the hands of online bullies (Richmond, 2011). Furthermore, CNN (2011) claims that criminals have often utilized Facebook medium to threaten, harass and intimate vulnerable groups such as children and women.
Recently, criminals have discovered a new method to commit crime by utilizing users’ details which are easily accessible on Facebook site. Criminals are utilizing user’s addresses on Facebook to burglarize houses. For instance, if an individual updates his/her status that ‘I am holiday’ and they have provided their physical addresses, thieves can take this time to strike.
Although such cases have only been reported in UK and US only, it is evident that Facebook is risking its user’s lives and property as well due its failure to protect members’ personal data (Richmond, 2011). Consequently, since it is not the first time the issue of privacy and Facebook have emerged then maybe the noblest thing is to ban its usage in order to get rid of privacy concerns including Facebook related crimes.
The Arab revolutions have been mainly supported through Facebook
The recent revolutions that were witnessed in the Arab world countries including Syria, Tunisia, Egypt and United Arab emirates were mainly fueled by Facebook. These revolutions began in Tunisia when a 23 year old man started a mobilizing campaign through the internet to garner support that would see the Tunisian president trouped out of power (Channel4News, 2011). Although, the revolutions may have been ignited by the influence of people’s power, the role of internet especially Facebook cannot be overemphasized.
In Tunisia the media is tightly controlled by the government, hence, the protesters utilized Facebook to secretly fuel a revolution. Moreover, Tunisian government exercised monopoly in internet provision whereby other social media networking sites were banned, except Facebook.
According to Channel4News (2011), Tunisian government contemplated closing down Facebook in 2009, but backed off because they feared this would have caused a public outcry because many people were also using the site to connect with their friends.
However, this hesitation would later cost the then president dearly as protesters utilized Facebook platform to stage a successful revolution. According to Frontline (2011), these revolutions were heightened by the fact that users could share photos, information and videos about what was happening across the country. Most importantly, the leaders of this revolution posted unfavorable comments about the government and shared it with their friends, and the network became so thick that a revolution was inevitable.
Correspondingly, inspired by successful utilization of Facebook and other social sites in Tunisia and Egypt, Syria activists also decided to try a similar mode to rally followers behind a political reform movement. The activists created group fan pages that urged people to stage mass protests across the country (Anon. , 2011).
Although the revolution never succeeded due to tight censorship of Facebook in Syria, the fact remains that Facebook has contributed greatly to the numerous Arab world revolutions being witnessed today.
Following a successful revolution in Tunisia, a similar upsurge was witnessed in Egypt whereby through the unparalleled use of internet, revolutionaries all over the country kept in touch with each other as they mobilized citizens to stage a revolution (Frontline, 2011).
Internet usage in Egypt has been under tight censorship, but the government downplayed the power of Facebook and other social media networking sites that citizens were allowed to access. The activists used Groups application feature on Facebook to instrument the uprisings.
On this note, groups such as ‘April 6 movement’, ‘We are all Khalid Said’ and the like were carefully crafted by activists whereby fans supplied critical comments about the government and within no time a revolution was inevitable (Frontline, 2011).
For instance, the April 6 Movement Facebook group was the most effective in incrementing a revolution in Tunisia. Initially the group was conceived to support an ongoing textile workers strike angered by low wages and rising cost of foodstuffs.
Initially, the founders of the group invited about 300 people to join, but by the end of the week, membership had stood at 3,000 members and this number continued to increase everyday to reach 70,000 within a very short time.
In a nutshell, it is evident that the myriad shortcomings associated with Facebook outweigh its various benefits. However, since Facebook has attracted the attention of millions of social networking site users worldwide, its banning might cause devastating effects. Nonetheless, the public ought to be educated about these negative effects of Facebook, especially the privacy and crime issues.
Facebook is a social network site with several online users globally. Since its inception in 2004, it has enhanced social networking provisions between friends, families, and communities. Evidently, facebook has grown tremendously over the years. It was founded by Mark Zuckerberg (a Harvard University scholar) who, before creating facebook, had intended to create an online blog where people could post their profiles, share their views, find friends, make announcements, and express their ethics (Ellis 269).
As a social networking system, facebook has gained considerable popularity with its impacts felt globally. On registration, it requires its users to be 13 years and above although some minors have been witnessed utilizing the site offensively. The site operates free of charge with users allowed to join and exit freely.
Financially, facebook generates bountiful revenues to its founders. It is used as an advertisement site where several companies (worldwide) post their ads at a considerable cost. On its use, provided one is computer literate, has a facebook account, and a reliable network, he or she can utilize the site. Precisely, facebook aims to be a globalized social networking system where individuals can intermingle online (Marshall 42).
Facebook equally offers some numerous provisions like hosting of images and videos to its users. It is important to agree that facebook is advantageous in various contexts due to its ability to enhance networking and relationships among individuals; nonetheless, it has bountiful disadvantages when considered critically.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Facebook
It is critical to Interact, connect, and relate to other people through a credible online media. Contextually, the emergence of social networking sites has transfigured the world massively. Facebook helps in augmenting relationships, passing crucial information to people, knowing fresh products in the market, and granting instant chatting provisions among its users.
This indicates how facebook is an important innovation in the current world. Its use is widespread, a fact that helps in attracting more people to register while enhancing the use and viability of the site (Carter 60). Additionally, facebook gives its users opportunities to update their personal profiles, invite other friends and families as well as dispensing vital information to other users.
Evidently, it is possible to choose and invite friends of various kinds through the network. When registered users are many, there are substantial chances of finding desired individuals. Numerous parties must register in order to favor the process. Consequently, a network is created that accomplishes the facebook’s mandates.
It is important to agree that facebook is the most influential social media and a credible networking facility. As indicated earlier, one is able to connect to his or her family members, friends, colleagues, schoolmates, and new acquaintances. Facebook is free (no charges); thus, it creates an equal ground for all its users regardless of their respective financial status. It requires no periodic subscriptions evident in other social sites.
This is quite advantageous to those individuals who are financially challenged and would like to connect online. It is important to agree that facebook has revolutionized the world in the realms of communication and other relevant networking provisions. This is a critical phenomenon when considered critically. The site offers considerable interaction opportunities, a fact that has rendered the facebook quite purposeful in various contexts. Precisely, the site forms one of the best media used for online interaction capabilities.
Additionally, the use of facebook is hardly limited to regions, social classes, age differences, or any discriminative factors witnessed in other networks. Provided one has an account within the site, he or she can use it freely. The site is powered globally and accessible to anyone who has a computer or Smartphone with reliable network (Curtis 95). This is a considerable advantage to most of its users.
Another advantage is that the site has reliable privacy provisions that allow people to customize some of their personal details. This is applicable when one does not want other individuals to access some of his or her personal details (Lüsted 36). Consequently, it is imperative to agree that the security options offered by facebook are of some importance. Through facebook, it is possible to communicate safely with strangers.
Since everything is online, it becomes quite safer to transact information with strangers despite the security challenges. It is the mandate of the concerned user to scrutinize their chatting partners. Additionally, one can block other users from accessing his or her profile details. This is for integrity and security purposes.
Another advantage is that facebook is utilizable for dating purposes where individuals can date friends, attract new dates, and strengthen their current dates using the site. It is possible for one to find a perfect dating partner from facebook’s site due to availability of registered users (numerous) who possess similar interests.
Precisely, the site promotes initiation of new dating opportunities. Additionally, facebook offers remarkable business opportunities since organizations can advertise their products using the site exclusively. Concurrently, such commodities can attain a global limelight faster (Weintraub 92). This is helpful in the promotional aspects and other business provisions. Additionally, facebook has interesting online games, which are evidently popular, trendy, and addictive (Smith 63).
It is crucial to consider various aspects of this provision in order to understand varying merits of social networking systems. Additionally, it is possible to use facebook as a site for hosting images and videos as indicated earlier. It provides a considerable storage space for each user. These photos and videos can be accessed anywhere. Other advantages include the use of facebook to build personal portfolios and as a source of information and news.
The demerits of facebook are equally bountiful. Firstly, the site is quite addictive to its users; hence, promoting time wastage. Some of the facebook users do not have time to engage in other constructive activities. Another disadvantage is the abuse of the site by some of its users.
Some people have posted obscene images and immoral videos that do not conform to the regulations governing the use of facebook (Bozarth 55). Concurrently, the site is abused by some minors despite the recent condemnations of the act. Additionally, the aspects of privacy might not apply if the user does not know how to set security provisions available on the site.
Unfortunately, the information intended to be private might go public unintentionally hence damaging reputations of the concerned parties. Additionally, the aspects of fake personal profiles are another concern in the facebook’s phenomenon. There is no verification criteria used to eradicate fake personal profiles; hence, some people might give misleading information. Additionally, the site labels every acquaintance as a friend, a fact that might be mistaken in case such acquaintances are of bad characters.
Argument between the sources
Evidently, some sources support the emergence of facebook due to its merits in numerous instances; nonetheless, there are other sources, which argue strongly against this popular social networking site. There are advantages associated with the site as indicated earlier. This exhibits why facebook should be embraced as its use hurls globally.
The sources argue that the provisions set by facebook are considerable since its applicability is feasible in various contexts. The site is none discriminative and offers a substantial platform where people can interact, communicate, find friends, create portfolios, market their products, and attain numerous provisions helpful in life. For the sources that support facebook, it is evident that the site is innovative, significant, and helpful in various contexts.
Opposing sources equally front considerable arguments against the use of this popular site. The considerable impacts facebook poses to some of its users are behind this argument. Additionally, it is important to concur that facebook operates with novelty and practicality when scrutinized critically. It brings together the world’s communities with precision. Precisely, the studied sources differ considerably on their arguments either for or against the facebook’s phenomenon.
Conclusion
The emergence of facebook has become a worldwide concern following its merits and other characterizing disadvantages. Being a social networking site, facebook has attracted numerous users globally indicating the popularity it has gained since its inception several years ago.
It offers various opportunities to its users ranging from creation of personal profiles to interaction with friends and families. It also helps in meeting fresh acquaintances and reaching various personalities globally. These constitute its core advantages. Demerits incorporate time wastage, abuse by some users, addiction, fake profiles, and false reports posted by some ill-willed users. Precisely, facebook is both advantageous and disadvantageous.
Works Cited
Bozarth, Jane. Social Media for Trainers: Techniques for Enhancing and Extending Learning. California, CA: Pfeiffer, 2010. Print.
Carter, Brian. The Like Economy: How Businesses Make Money with Facebook. Indianapolis, IN: Que Press, 2011. Print.
Curtis, Joan. The New Handshake: Sales Meets Social Media. California, CA: Praeger, 2010. Print.
Marshall, Perry. Ultimate Guide to Facebook Advertising: How to Access 600 Million Customers in 10 Minutes. California, CA: Entrepreneur Press, 2011. Print.
Smith, Paul. Marketing Communications: Integrating Offline and Online with Social Media. Pennsylvania, PA: Kogan Page, 2011. Print.
Weintraub, Marty. Killer Facebook Ads: Master Cutting-Edge Facebook Advertising Techniques. New Jersey, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, 2011. Print.
Admittedly, social networks have become an indispensable part of human life. On the one hand, such networks as Facebook provide many great opportunities to communicate and share opinions. On the other hand, Facebook may lead to many negative outcomes. Almost unlimited access to information often becomes a great problem for personal and social life.
Thus, Facebook can have such negative effects as privacy invasion and the destruction of relationships, and it can even influence the development of society (e.g., Arab world protestors). Therefore, Facebook should be banned as it negatively affects the major aspects of human life.
Privacy invasion
Facebook is one of the most famous social networks and has more than 500 million users. Of course, this network provides lots of opportunities to communicate and make new friends. However, the tool is too imperfect.
In the first place, there were several scandals concerning the network’s creators ‘sharing’ information. Reportedly, they sold the personal information of users to certain companies. The network’s creators argued that users shared their information, so it meant the information was not confidential. Likewise, almost anyone can find some personal information and use it.
The most vulnerable category of users is teenagers, who may reveal their personal information to criminals without even understanding the potential danger. Therefore, Facebook should be banned to prevent privacy invasion and associated crimes.
Destruction of relationships
Furthermore, such networks also lead to the destruction of relationships. Divorce lawyers claim that ‘cyber’ affairs lead to an increase in marriage breakdowns (Insley, 2009). Admittedly, many people find old friends with the help of Facebook. However, people also tend to substitute their real-life communication with cyber communication.
The latter seems perfect, and people focus on the imperfections of their personal lives. Eventually, many people break their real-life relationships to build new ones, which often terminate very soon. Therefore, it is important to ban Facebook to prevent people from the replacement of real life with an unreal life. Basically, this can be compared with the ban on drugs, which also leads to such replacement.
The only difference is that drug abuse has short-term consequences (health problems), whereas Facebook ‘abuse’ has long-term consequences (divorce, frustration, stress, possible drug abuse, etc.).
Social effects
Finally, Facebook can also affect the development of society. For instance, many people claim that societies only benefit from the use of such social networks as Facebook since people can be aware of the real situation in their country and in the world. Some argue that governments often suppress media trying to juggle facts (Dunn, 2011).
Admittedly, people should share opinions and information. However, sometimes, social networks may be used to foment riots. Some argue that the ban of Facebook and other social networks (e.g., Twitter) proves that governments try to limit communications in order to control nations.
However, the example of Egypt or Libya shows that such a tool as Facebook is not the primary tool of communication as the discussion of important issues continues even after the ban on social networks (Dunn, 2011). Therefore, Facebook should be banned as it can lead to unrest in society.
Conclusion
On balance, although some people argue that Facebook is a helpful tool for communication, it should be banned as it has too many negative effects. It can lead to an increase in crimes and social unrest. It also negatively affects the personal lives of users as it negatively influences the development of real-life relationships.
Reference List
Dunn, A. (2011). Unplugging a Nation: State Media Strategy during Egypt’s January 25 Uprising. The Fletcher Forum of World Affairs, 35(2), 15-24.
Insley, J. (2009). Cyber Affairs Cited in Breakdown of Real Marriages. The Guardian, n.p.
“Plagiarism Lines Blur for Students in Digital Age” Summary
There is continued concern that in this digital age, students are becoming more prone to plagiarism. In most instances, the students do not seem to take the act of lifting information from another source as a serious academic/authorship crime. Trip Gabriel, in The New York Times, reports that the internet age has created loopholes for disregarding authorship issues such as copyright and intellectual property.
This is mainly due to the easiness of access to information as facilitated by digital technology. With the current wave of students having been brought up in the age of digital technology, which somewhat eases copying and pasting, most of them find themselves falling culprit of plagiarism. There is a common misnomer among the current generation of students that the voluminous information on the internet is available for anyone without the need to credit its authorship.
Gabriel further reports that a significant number of college students plagiarize to some extent and a fewer number of students are convinced that copying from the internet is unacceptable, according to surveys. The blur in plagiarism in the digital era students also reflects from the finding that most students have a willingness to be authentic. However, the same batch of students does not seem to feel obliged to stand out as unique and authentic.
Despite the view that the current generation of students is somewhat neglecting the seriousness of plagiarism, it is still viewed that originality must be emphasized and not to allow digital technology to violate principles of authorship. Instead, students need to develop a culture of writing with originality as early as during their high school years. In general, the easiness of access to information as enabled by digital technology should not be used as an excuse for plagiarizing- after all, most students attest to plagiarizing with an intention.
“Using Facebook can ‘lower exam results by up to 20%’” Summary
Nic Fleming reports, in Mail Online, that reading while using Facebook, a social networking site, lowers academic performance. It is important to note that the student does not have to be reading and using Facebook simultaneously for grades to lower. Instead, even the act of reading while a social networking site is running in the background is bound to lower academic performance. It is saddening that the performance goes down by a significant 20 percent compared to those who do not use social networking sites while reading. These findings are based on research conducted by psychologists at an American University.
It is explained that better performance of non-users of social networking sites while reading is attributable to more time devoted to studying after class hours. It is however contradicting that most users of Facebook were of the view that the use of Facebook did not affect their academic performance while only a quarter felt that Facebook interrupted their studies. Overall, the reporting of this study affirms that multitasking, especially in the digital/virtual world, hurts task performance.
Works Cited
Fleming, Nic. using Facebook can ‘lower exam results by up to 20%’. Mail Online. 2010.
Gabriel, Trip. Plagiarism lines blur for students in digital age. The New York Times, 2010.
