Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, and Formspring all come to my mind when someone says “social networking.” For many teens of this day and age, visiting these sites are a part of their daily routine. Sure, it’s a good way to keep in contact with your friends and peers, but can it be too much of a good thing? In my opinion, social networking sites are beneficial if used in certain ways, but can also be detrimental if used in the wrong way.

First of all, these sites make it possible to interact with the people next door, or across the world, with one click. This allows you to keep in touch with your friends and family that may live far away. Whoever you may need, whenever you may need them, you are able to reach them via social networking. These sites are very beneficial in keeping the user in touch with virtually the entire world.

Second of all, a feature on many of these sites allows you to upload pictures to your page. This is a very helpful feature in sharing pictures with your friends and family. The ability of people to comment on your pictures is both a good and bad thing. It’s nice to see what people have to say about your pictures, but often times, some people don’t have the most positive things to say. Others may take advantage of this feature and upload pictures that have the potential of getting themselves in trouble.

Finally, the ease of social networking often leads to people acting completely different over the internet than they would in real life. Often times people find it easier to bully over the internet. This may be because they feel like there won’t be as severe consequences than as if they were to bully in real life. Although, the consequences for cyber bullying are becoming more and more severe as people are starting to realize how serious it is becoming.

These three reasons explain how if used correctly, social networking can be very beneficial. They also show how it easy is to get in trouble over the internet. Overall, I feel social networking sites are a good way to keep connected with friends, family, colleagues, etc. when used correctly.