Personally, I am not a heavy user of social networking sites. I do have a Facebook account that I check regularly, but it is not something that I preoccupy myself with. I do not take much of an interest in updating my status, identifying my current location, commenting on things that pop up on my newsfeed, etc. Aside from being a divergence from productiveness, I do not feel the need to inform all of my “friends” how I am feeling, what I am doing, or who I am with at all times during the day. I have nothing against those who enjoy utilizing the various features of Facebook and I am not saying I never take part in this crazed culture, but it is not something that I am obsessed with. Thus, I do not have a twitter or tumblr account nor have I linked FourSquare to my phone (I didn't know what this was until I looked it up!). I don’t find it particularly enjoyable to blog about my life, my interests, my feelings, and things that are along that same personal level, for everyone to see. Although I am not against the idea of blogging, it is just something that I am not very comfortable with. As for texting, tweeting, or checking status updates, I am not a very big user of these either. I do text when it is necessary and I enjoy communicating with my friends in that way, but it isn’t something that I over use. I am constantly seeing other people however, looking at their cell phones – texting, tweeting, internet surfing, checking email updates, etc. Sometimes I feel that people have become too engaged in this means of communicating and have lost sight of their priorities. The constant development of technology and social media has drawn in so many of its users and as a result, people begin to take a carefree approach to it all. There are so many risks and privacy issues that could potentially arise from the growing popularity of social networking, but people seem to have failed to take note of them. One of the big factors that have influenced me to not partake in the consumption of social networking so actively is privacy. I am very conscious and aware of the lingering dangers that could come about with sharing so much personal information on the internet, which is why my postings and engagement online is very minimal and subtle. I have never “over-shared” anything on the internet in the form of a post or status because of how cautious I am about revealing too much to the public. Because of my preoccupation with this privacy issue, I feel that this is why I am not a huge promoter of social networking. Although I find it entertaining and fun and a good way to keep in contact with my friends, the idea of social networking as a whole seems to have a negative effect on me. It appears to me that technology and the continuing advancement of it has taken over our personal lives and we have given the internet and other means of technology our complete trust without even realizing it. Since it has become so much a part of our daily lives, we don’t think twice before posting things for everyone to see and read. Social networking has developed into a “norm” and now people cannot help but think “there can’t be any harm in this”. We consider these online sites to be “social” and “beneficial”, when we are really unaware of the prospectively unsafe issues at stake.
