I bet you have heard on the news about a person who became friends with someone online, decided to meet them in real life, and then got kidnapped. However, these cases are very rare and tend to be exaggerated by the media. In most cases, the person usually didn’t follow procedures that keep him safe. Most social networking sites have a lot of ways to make your profile private.


First of all, in order to be safe in anything you have to use common sense. Social networks don’t require you to post or release anything. Therefore, if you don’t want people to know something, don’t put it online. Additionally, parents might think that a lot of strangers are looking at your profile. The truth is that studies have shown that “95% of viewers of a person’s Facebook page are friends that they already know” (social networking). Additionally, most social networking sites have settings that only allow friends to see your page and you choose who your friends are.

Another stereotype that people have is that social networking causes bullying. However, this isn’t true. Social networking sites only provide new medium teenagers to wage their wars, they don’t create them. The difference between bullying now then bullying before technology is that before it was a note or whispers whereas now it is a post. No matter what you do to ban where the bullying takes place the real problem is the cruelty of the bullies.

By the time kids hit college most of them have a social networking page. Especially at this point in time having one helps the student feel like they have a tight-knit group of friends before even going to the school. This helps make the transition from high school to college immensely easier. This is especially true for students who live off-campus. In this situation it is shown that “off-campus students who made friends online had a higher feeling of belonging vs. off-campus students who didn’t have a social networking page” (Is social networking a bad thing mass media). This allows students to create groups of fellow college freshmen or have upperclassman that will stand up for you. Feeling secure will help a student be themselves instead of thinking they have to be someone else in order to fit in.

Technology is getting increasingly important in today’s jobs. If someone doesn’t know how to work technology they won’t keep a job for very long. Whether it’s emailing a boss or making a presentation technology is important. Social networking pages allow teens to familiarize themselves with technology.” They learn how to not just use technology but “to leave a comment that means something.”(Social networking) If they are able to make something move people without using a lot of words bosses will look at them more then someone who takes forever to get the point across. Business Facebook pages are becoming increasingly popular and important, if someone is a to make a really effective Facebook page they might get a raise or it will help them get or keep a job.

Technology is ever-growing in importance and popularity. People need to use common sense when using social networking sites and understand that, when used properly, they are secure and don’t cause bullying. They bring friends together and make a sense of belonging and teach skills necessary to get a job and maintain it.