Man's natural tendency of socializing with friends and like minded people online has been given a name “Social Networking” and very soon it has become the buzzword and the greatest online Marketing FAD.
They have provided benefits like everyday people are learning presenting themselves better on online media like Facebook and MySpace; Linkedin is connecting millions of people to get the jobs as per their skills set; Orkut is connecting long lost school mates; Yahoo! Groups is uniting like minded people for a common objective.
On the other hand many teenagers have committed suicide so that they can have a dedicated online memorial website for them; check out the link. MySpace is just saved from a lawsuit by a teenager Austin girl who was sexually assaulted by a 19 year old man who she has met on the site. Read More
Since SNS is all about freedom of expressions and aggression is one of the expressions as well. They have become the easiest place to vent out all your aggression or bad feelings. I have some real life examples from India:
A friend of mine was completely taken aback just few days before his wedding when someone created a fake Orkut profile and started claiming that he is already married to her and he can’t possibly marry again. Because of Orkut she got a quick access to all his friends and within a day all his friends know about it. Imagine the situation of bride and groom at such crucial time.
I know a girl who found a guy from a Matrimonial site and were seeing each other for couple of weeks. Then this girl found out that they are not compatible for a life long relationship. She ended any possibility of marriage on a polite note with genuine reasons. Still the guy created a fake Orkut profile for her and created a mess in her name on Internet.
I have several other examples where people have vented out their anger, frustration publicly while keeping their own identification secret just because they have easy access to all the contacts of victim on internet.
SNS are an amazing medium of interaction and you can do wonders with your professional and personal life through them but all these cases make one thing sure that they should not be used casually. You can make great friends and take your business to new heights by being a little careful about using these networks.
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3 comments:
Interesting post.
The amount of data uploaded by users, which is freely available, is actually quite scary. The 1 instance I saw the uglier side - a user copied my sister's image & chose to use it as her profile image.
Its extremely easy to duplicate someone's profile & then do extensive damage to their online presence.
Came here through your linked in profile. You have an interesting profile(job description) some similarities to what what we are trying to achieve.
Mekin Maheshwari
ex-Yblr
Hi Mekin,
Thats true; thats precisely the reason why SNS sites are coming up with limited view of your profile.
I belive the trouble starts when you want to take the online friendship offline; also how much to disclose and whom to add is of prime importance.
I remember a competition for profile hits on Ryze and for scraps on Orkut in college, thus encouraging adding strangers and inviting trouble.
Thanks for your first comment on my blog :) really appreciate
Shefali
Shefali di great job in highlighting this topic.
The crime is increasing day by day. I think the people who are using SNS should always take care before adding details in their profile. The profile they are adding is freely available and can be misused.
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