Is Social Networking a "Good" Thing?

[Microcosm]

Some take the stance that the modern usage of social networking takes away from the personal connections that humans used to constantly have;i.e. We talk to each other over the internet more than we talk to each other personally, face-to-face.

However, some(seemingly more people) view it as a quick and great way to interact with each other without having to worry about the consequences of offending them(to some extent). While it should be noted that I do not condone the use of improper conduct such as this online, it is very possible, and many people do this sort of thing online. However, most social networking sites attempt to provide a safe environment that prevents this sort of behavior.

So, the question is...

Is Social Networking a "Good" thing?

Debate this topic in this thread. Have fun and keep it conversational.

[Uniquemind]

Well we need to establish some criteria on what to measure good outcomes and bad outcomes.


I'm not ready to take a position yet but when I hear social media I think this list of things and I may add to it:

But to be fair this debate can be expanded to acknowledge that people are glued to electronic screen devices or other reasons other than "social media" sites.
It could be expanded to the topic of the prevalence of electronic connectivity in our devices/tech being good or bad.


THE BAD:

1. Has provided criminal predators an playground that breaks international jurisdictions due to a lack of realistic and effective enforcement to keep the "too young and naive" safe from the online world.

2. Social media has provided avenues for a level of intense peer to peer bullying and harassment in a way that the law cannot catch up with under the innocent until proven guilty system. This level of harassment and bullying has not been seen in decades of bullying previous generations had to endure.

(SIDENOTE: part of the problem is kids outsmart parents regarding security measures)


3. As Rainbow said, people are glued to their devices with screens now and socialize in an imbalanced way between face-to-face versus cyber socialization.

4. mobile devices distracting drivers of all ages = the risk of driving drunk for oneself and others they might harm/kill with a vehicle. Slowed reaction time is equal to the delay from being drunk.


If I were to take a position id say more bad has been done in a quantifiable way simply on the premise of #4 than any good that has come from a more connected world.


5. A more connected world is causing national security issues in multiple countries, is allowing massive hacks and identity theft crime to be highly profitable.

[kev99]

Just as everything else, I think. It is not the invention that is by itself "good" or "bad". It is how you use it that matters.

I don't think social networks exist for long enough to fully appreciate the good and bad parts of it. I believe they are just a faster and wider development of social networks that already existed before Internet: guilds, political and lobby groups, social movements, etc. There are so many issues with them now simply because we didn't yet adjust our behavior to the reality it created - we are still trying to grasp how to properly use the thing, so to speak.

I believe that in a generation or two, we'll have fully understood the pros and cons, and adjusted our education according to them.

[Uniquemind]

Just as everything else, I think. It is not the invention that is by itself "good" or "bad". It is how you use it that matters.

I don't think social networks exist for long enough to fully appreciate the good and bad parts of it. I believe they are just a faster and wider development of social networks that already existed before Internet: guilds, political and lobby groups, social movements, etc. There are so many issues with them now simply because we didn't yet adjust our behavior to the reality it created - we are still trying to grasp how to properly use the thing, so to speak.

I believe that in a generation or two, we'll have fully understood the pros and cons, and adjusted our education according to them.

I doubt that very much unfortunately

[Let Me Be a Pony]

If you're using social networking to chat with random people, it is dangerous, since dem pedophiles be lurking the nets nowadays instead of lurking the school buses like the ol' days.

Days be evolving, broski.
Everyone can pretend under the wing of the interwebz. Never trust anyone here.
Sure, It's possible to get friendships but it takes a long time. This ain't a bar where you get drunk and be like "bro, I shared you the story of my life and you shared your story of your life and I feel you and you feel me... wanna be BFF naow?"
And even when you're drunk over the internet, it ain't the same. :<

Broskis be perverting 69% of the time, girlies be bating on the bate of the broskis, cuz most people don't treat them good, and one of the baits of the broskis is to treat victims good.
Bro, it's sad. If I ever have children, bro, I would act all biblical on them and ban all dem internetz.

Visit 4chan/b/ and see what happens to baited victemz. :C

Oh and viruses... and trolling.
Kids are so FREAKIN' easy to fool with a virus. I've watch a hacker friend do it before(screen sharing).
Trolling... easier. It's sad, bro.

The fact is that the internet is being exploited so much.
Let's talk about the Deep Web. Basically, it's a type of web that's hard to trace, but it is possible(if trained people know what they're doing).
Deep Web consists of illegal activities, such as sites that you can sell weed, meth, cocaine and any sort of illegal drug.
It has pedophile chan boards, and that sort of filth. Oh, and terrorist forums - literally. They're hide to find but they do exist.
The Deep Web links get replaced monthly and the webpages get new links(depending on how extreme the page is). This is done so it's harder to track.

The internet is a sick place, and if you deny it's not then you have not viewed any of the Deep Web pages I've witnessed.
I am sad I'm currently abiding in the 21 century.

EDIT: And yes, this is "Social Networking", lads. Sadly, it is. It's not connected with social networks such as FB, but the internet as a whole is a huge social web.

[kev99]

I doubt that very much unfortunately

Why so? Humanity did this with all possibly dangerous technology ever invented, from fire to nuclear power. Sure, some people use them the wrong way regardless. But the majority uses them in a responsible way that works for the greater good.

So I think though we should not see things with pink glasses of love, but it is equally wrong to see them through black ones of despair. The overall outcome will be positive, I believe, though marginal bad uses will never completely disappear.

[Uniquemind]

Why so? Humanity did this with all possibly dangerous technology ever invented, from fire to nuclear power. Sure, some people use them the wrong way regardless. But the majority uses them in a responsible way that works for the greater good.

So I think though we should not see things with pink glasses of love, but it is equally wrong to see them through black ones of despair. The overall outcome will be positive, I believe, though marginal bad uses will never completely disappear.

That's true the majority of individuals do use it for good.

But we aren't debating the ratio of good to bad users.

We're measuring the use of a more technologically connected world in terms of good and bad outcomes. Unfortunately it only takes 1 bad person to create 100's of really bad outcomes for a lot of people.


--

To your point about other innovations being used badly that's true too.


I will go on to limit the timeframe of when technology reached it's best good to bad ratio, around the time BEFORE smartphones working in tandem with cloud technology and services.

Before that there was a degree of separation which acted as a default security.

Also a lot of good things about the more interconnected world now, is that the benefits of good are mere conveniences most of the time.

For instance if those + benefits were lost, the - effects of not having them, must equal the bad effects of having them to be considered neutral.

[alanrogger007]

When I was trying to access the social networking site suddenly chrome keeps crashing (https://errorcode0x.com/chrome-crashing-windows-10-solved/) and it was causing a problem. I cannot open the chrome again after this problem.

[thatboi]

It's not like "bad" or "good". As most of the things these day, social media have their pros and cons.

They're good because it's easy to contact, if you let's say live far from your relative or friend. If you attend to school and you were ill, you may easily ask some friends for notes pics. Also it's easy to get some informations that aren't so easy to find in the browser, let's say you need some help with uncommon device, then you can join some kind of tech support group and you will get answer from people who know. Also if you have your own business it's pretty good space for advertising.

But when it comes to cons, there are some pretty common nowadays. If you make a photo of your house or car someone may see it and then rob you. Also unconcious kids can be assaulted by some pedophiles.

[Allover Kelly]

As someone that was on the streets, I hate it. Also with the group I'm with now I have learned that some people have a keyboard they get brave. Then they think in the real world you can act that same way. Like Say I'm for Trump(Yes I am) now others will get all bothered and say things about me. Try and paint me in ways that would be wrong. From what my Dad has told me 10 years ago or so you could say what you like and most did not care. But starting around the time when Twitter started to pick up you now got people with keyboard balls. Someone said something you did not like you could post to others and twist up what my have been said. and it changes over re-post it. Dad calls them Hashtag hero's. Now the longer Twitter and Instagram has been around the thinner the peoples skins have gotten. I have been learning to stay off networks of all kinds. Most forget that what you post will be out there in the Web World for ever. Like nude photos once they are out there you can never get them back.
The group I'm with still has land lines to call back and forth. Most have flip phones like mine.

[Spooky_Eli]

When I was trying to access the social networking site suddenly chrome keeps crashing (https://errorcode0x.com/chrome-crashing-windows-10-solved/) and it was causing a problem. I cannot open the chrome again after this problem.

why just why?


to answer the OP, its a great thing, period. end of, this hole its a bad thing is a load of bs

[Natacha]

It's good in the way that we can contact people far away. But I like to say we are entering not the computer age, but the selfie age. People are so focussed on promoting them selves. You will have a hard time finding a review on youtube without a face in front of the thing, which is being reviewed. And some people post every meal they eat, as if we F... care?

[Sailor Mars]

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