Recent News

Lately on the news they have been talking about the Trayvon Martin case.  This has caused controversies on social networking sites.  People are taking the First Amendment to heart and expressing their opinion through their post.  This has caused arguments on both Facebook and Twitter. These post have caused issues because not everybody has the same opinion on the case.  This has also raised awareness on laws such as the Florida stand your ground law.  Even Spike Lee tweeted Zimmerman's address.  This ended up not being his address and caused people to send hate mail to be to the wrong person.  People express themselves and their opinion on these sites which isn't always a good thing.  This has been brought to peoples attention and has caused more issues.  Social media may also play a role in changing the outcome of this highly televised controversial subject. 

Privacy

On social networking sites people are becoming more and more open with their personal information.  People end up giving intimate details about their lives in post on the Internet.  These sites seem to be an outlet for some people.  It's like somebody own personal diary.  They write whatever they want and it is open to majority of the public.  Even if your profile is set to private, once something is posted it is on the Internet forever.  When on these sites people don't filter what they say about their own private life.  Whenever somebody is applying for a job, the employer can always check these sites to see who exactly they are hiring.  Even though it is said that peoples profiles are private, sometimes people can't control it or it does not work as well as people had hoped. 

Dialogue

These social networking sites have many different effects on the society as a whole.  One aspect that has came up is the way we speak and write.  Nowadays people use acronyms to say things instead of actually spelling words out.  For example, on social networking sites we say "lol" or "oomf." These stand for certain phrases that we are too lazy to spell out.  People are now starting to talk in person as they would on these sites.  It seems as though we are uneducated, but in reality we just choose to say it.  I believe that intelligence has decreased due to this issue.  For instance, I went to write a paper and started using the slang that appeared on these sites.  It was not intentional; however, people become so use to using it they forget when and where is the right time.  People forget how to spell actual words because they become use to abbreviating everything. These sites are taking away from education and are actually doing the inverse.  We are becoming less intelligent by saying "OMG, lol, wyd" all the time.  We shouldn't allow these short phrases to take over our lives.  Social networking sites should use regular English when communicating.  This would help our world get back to the intellect we once had. 

Retaliation

In the news they have been talking about an incident that occurred between a father and his daughter.  This incident occurred because of Facebook.  The little girl went online to complain and vent about her father.  He felt as though his child disrespected him and everything he had done for her.  The father then retaliated by shooting the girls laptop nine times.  Many people sided with the father in this case because of her disrespect.  My point in giving this specific example shows that Facebook can harm any relationship whether personal and family.  If a father can retaliate because of his daughters outburst on Facebook, what else can happen because of social media?

Online Stalkers

Stalkers exist everywhere including online. Social networking sites are just another way to keep up with people. People have MySpace, Facebook, and or Twitter to see what other people have to say; however, some people take it too far. In reality there are some crazy people out there who excessively follow people because they are interested in them or like them. These people read every status and look at every picture that someone puts up. There have been some instances where people have stalked others online and have escalated to stalking them in person. Some of these stalkers are even crazy enough to kill. Social networking sites help stalkers keep watch on the person they are stalking. These sites make it easier for stalkers to find people. For instance, people get on Twitter and tell what they are doing and where they are. This tells a stalker exactly where to find them. On these sites people also post their personal information and interest. This is just another way for stalkers to find out information on people. These social networking sites just help people stalk others online.