My Feelings About Social Networking.

The following is something I wrote for English. I hope you like it!...

Social networking has become quite popular over the past few years. Websites like Myspace, Facebook, or Twitter are used by people as young as thirteen or fourteen to people as old as fifty or sixty. People use these websites for various reasons. A fourteen year old girl might use Myspace to post cute pictures of herself, or maybe she'll want one just because "everybody else" has one. A sixty year old man might use Facebook to reconnect with old high school friends or stay in touch with grandkids. A thirty year old single mom may us Twitter to update her family and friends on how the kids are doing or even to use her profile much like a dating website to connect with other singles in her area.

Social networking websites definitely have their advantages. However, they also have plenty of disadvantages too. Social networking websites are very dangerous if you do not use them properly. People are not always who they say they are on the Internet, and social networking is no different. Think about it. A social networking website is the perfect place for criminals - especially sexual offenders.

A forty-five year old man can pose as a fifteen year old boy and talk to a fifteen year old girl. It is really that simple. Almost everyone who knows technology at all could go to Google and search for a picture of a young by. After the problem is solved, everything else comes easily.

Yes, you are supposed to agree to the terms and conditions of your preferred social networking website, but can you honestly say that you read them? How many people don't even skim the terms and conditions when they sign up, let alone read them word for word? That is why I believe that nobody, especially young children, should put information out there that is too identifying. Don't post anything that you don't want the whole world to see. Just because it's "private" doesn't mean it's safe.