Within the last two decades, social media has developed more than anyone could have imagined.  From Myspace to Facebook to Twitter and Instagram, social networking has made its mark on the world and shows no signs of stopping.  According to a recent Fortune.com article, “Facebook shows few signs of hitting any kind of growth limit just yet,” despite the fact that the website has been around for over a decade.  The same can be said for many of the top social networking sites.  Social media provides a platform for people to speak their mind and communicate with others. With this new ability to share online, however, comes the loss of privacy.

Social Media: Do the Benefits Outweigh the Risks? 

As someone who has grown up with social media, it seems strange to imagine a world without it.  How else would people tell others that they are leaving their house?  Social media has created a generation of people who live online.  Everything that is done “in real life” is now documented.  While there are many benefits to social media, it is not necessarily a good thing that a stranger from another country has the ability to know everything about you.  Yes, it is possible to put accounts on private, but this does not stop anyone from viewing a profile picture or from being able to visit the accounts of your friends.  Still, with privacy on the line, most of the world continues to use social media because the benefits outweigh the possibility that their privacy may be invaded.

While many people probably feel they know the people that they are friends with on social media, it is still important to be conscientious about what is posted.  In 2014, there was an incident that occurred in Fontana, California in which a family’s house was burglarized after posting on Facebook that they had just arrived at a hotel, while on vacation, according to abc7.com . Incidents like this are not uncommon and it is often friends of the affected that commit the crimes.  Most people do not even think before posting on social media, but there is always the possibility that there is someone that cannot be trusted on the other side of the screen.  Social media provides opportunities to communicate that cannot be mirrored, but it is still necessary to minimize the amount of personal information that is posted.

Personal Experience 

From personal experience, I would say that most people make some type of social media account by the time they are about fifteen. Venturing into a communal space at such a young age can be damaging. Some of the risks may include the potential for:

• Cyberbullying
• Cyber-stalking
• Exposure to immature material

Considering these risks, many parents, if they even allow their children to have a social media account, monitor what their child is posting and who they are conversing with.

As someone who is at the end of their teenage years, I have personally had some friends whose parents let them have social media in the sixth grade, and other friends who were not allowed on social media until high school.  I have also found that it was those whose parents allowed them to get an account in the sixth grade, that ran into some trouble with other people on social media.  As social media becomes more prevalent in our everyday lives, I don’t necessarily see a problem with young people having social media accounts.  I do, however, think that privacy is an issue and, for young people to have a safe experience on social media, their parents should monitor what they are doing, to some extent.

While I have a plethora of knowledge about social media, I do not have much experience with actually having social media accounts.  As all of my friends were joining social media for the first time, I, while interested with the idea of social media, decided that I did not want to be involved.  Privacy has always been important to me, and the possibility of everybody knowing everything, scared me a bit.  The issue was not that my parents would not let me, it was simply that I did not want to.  As I got older, however, I began to become more curious about social media and watched, from the outside, as it started to take over the lives of everyone I knew.  I saw what social media was all about and I had witnessed some of my friends get in trouble for some of the things that they posted.

Until about a year ago, I had not even had a Facebook account.  As I realized that social media had more advantages than disadvantages, I decided to give it a try, but knew that I would have to be responsible with what I posted.  Even today, I rarely post on social media because privacy is still an issue for me.  I do, however, enjoy seeing what other people are posting. It is undeniable that social media is helpful in connecting people and is beneficial if used responsibly.

Conclusions 

The connectivity that social media has introduced to society is fascinating, yet the danger of a communal, online space is frightening.  With the possibility of anyone knowing anything about anyone else, it is necessary for people to set limits about what they are willing to share with the world.  Incidents like the home burglary in California are bound to happen, but can be avoided if people are conscientious about what they post.  Additionally, parents can protect their children’s privacy by monitoring their social media accounts.  Overall, social media offers so many opportunities for connectivity and it can be an amazing resource.  It is vital, however, that people are willing to consider what they post, in order to make the Internet a safer place.