Social Networking and privacy

I would say that i actually use Facebook only a total of a max one hour everyday. most of this time is used for school related topics, and some for catching up with friends and seeing what's going on. for me and my schedule with school work and rowing, (and the fact that i live pretty far off campus) i almost need facebook to help me out when it comes to school; like finding out when/where to meet for projects and such. i would be a liar to say i dont check status updates, but i dont check them on facebook all that regularly. this brings me to something else, phones. with the dawning of smartphone one can do almost anything from it. for example, my phone came with a app that pulls everyone from your fb profile and adds them to my phone contacts. it also came with a widget that automatically pulls the most recent status update from fb, and i can further access the past 200 or so updates if i so care to. just this leads me to realize how un-private the world of social networking can be. it is amazing how a status that i post can instantly be shared with hundreds of people, when i wasnt even intending for it to be. there is a small positive trend that comes out of this; being the networking of people. i dont believe that the current form as in fb is ideal, i believe that there is a system that is slowly coming forth leading to more private networking ie. a program atoumatically filters out people that an update doesnt pertain to. currently the model of social networking is like a panopticon with no guards. i say this because all of your info and pictures are very public despite what they believe; so in layman's terms, one is ALWAYS being watched, you just dont realize it. it is almost like the movie 'living in public' with the underground society, people dont care about what others think because there is no regard to privacy. it is all to possible to over share with fb and texting, sometimes you forget some people can see your posts, and then you put things up that they were not supposed to see. ive done this, but i will not share because it is too embarrassing. and with texting, it is way too easy to over share. like with me, i rely on hand and facial cues when i communicate with people, and when they cant see those (text) things can be taken the wrong way. I however have come to realize over the years that even with all the privacy settings one can enact, your info is still too public. this being said i have taken a conservative and more professional approach to social networking, although the possibility of a mistake is always there to be made.

Tech and Social Interaction

The only ways that Technology influences social interaction are what we project onto it. Technology is a tool that cannot make decisions for us, rather, we make decisions on how to use this tool. So either we can choose to use it to further develop social interaction, or use it to confine ourselves; it is our choice. "If guns kill people, do pencils misspell words?" this same line of thinking can be applied to technology and social interaction but is a double edged sword, 'does technology make us introverts or extroverts when is comes to social interaction?' it is up to the individual as to how one uses technology for social interaction. there are those who use it to reach out and connect with those that are elsewhere located. there are those that use it to test out a possibly new relationship before one decides if the person is worth spending time with. there are even those who use it to find dates in a world where their busy schedule doesn't permit extra time for random social interaction. and then there are those who hide behind technology because they are either: 1) afraid of real interaction with other people 2) want to pretend that they are someone else with people who don't know the difference 3) or to remove themselves from reality because they don't want to face real life. referring to point #2  my favorite quote ever "the one thing i hate the most is a pussy with a gun" if you get what I'm saying, the figurative gun is technology. the Internet makes you unknown, well fuck yeah it does, if you do not feel comfortable expressing your own opinion in front of people that know you, don't be a fucking bitch and hide behind a screen name, this sort of thing leads to people doubting themselves and as of recently, killing themselves.  to sum up, technology is only negative on social life of individuals if you are to lazy to do things for yourself. if you are willing to try and make a real social interaction out of a fake one (Internet) then it is positive. a relationship can never be meaningful unless you can physically be with the other party and feel comfortable around them. things like dating sites, craigslist and other sites that promote physical social interaction are viable ways of creating meaningful relationships as long as parties physically meet and can stand each other. message boards, online gaming, and virtual worlds are all one in the same; a place where individuals can act out their delusions an grandeur without social repercussion because they are 'just a screen name.' with the world as spread out as it is, social networking sites are almost needed to keep in touch with those we may only be able to get to know for a bit, but then can be used for setting up times to hang out when the two individuals are in proximity for a brief while. we can create places for people to meet others, but that is dependent on wok schedules, sports, school, etc. plus such places already exist, THEY ARE CALLED PARKS, MALLS, AND PLAZAS so there is no need for governments to waste more money on something that wont work.