Dangers of Social Networking Sites

							Dangers of Social Networking Sites; Businesses, Job Seekers,
               Children and Adults Beware!
By MELISSA | AUGUST 11, 2011



Social networking is everywhere. It is common to find parents, children, coworkers and even
the elderly on the networks across the social media world onsites such as Twitter, MySpace,
Facebook, YouTube and LinkedIn. With social networks people across the world have access
to tools and options that were previously non-existent. However, there are just as many new
opportunities to connect as there are to get into potential danger. Social networking has
opened up many new doorways for cyber-crime, and with all the people on social networks
who are completely new to technology, it is more important than ever to make sure people
are aware of the risks.

Children – Children under the age of 13 should not be using the internet without some form
of parental supervision. Most social network web sites have a minimum age limit so that
young children cannot make profiles. However, it is easy to fool these systems. Make sure
they are not entering too much private data, such as their home address or what school they
go to. Just as it is simple for a young child to fake their age online, it is easy for a potential
predator to fake a profile claiming to have the same interests as, and be the same age as, your
child.



Phishing / Scams – There are a number of scammers on social networks who may try to steal
or use your personal information; Information that can be used for potential crime such as
identity theft or fraud. There are also websites that are set up to appear to look like your
favorite social networks in order to steal your password. Once someone has your password
they can use it to destroy your profile or send out spam messages and viruses, which could do
irreparable damage to your online reputation. Always make sure you are at the right site when
you enter your credentials. You can do this by double checking the address bar and making
sure you are in the right place before you log in. Never will log-in sites ask you to send them
your password. If you receive a message or email requesting your send them your password
do not reply and forward the message to the network’s support or privacy department.

Privacy – One reason that many people are wary of uploading their photos or videos to a
social networking site like Facebook is because they are concerned about retaining the
copyright to their work. There is a major gray area as to who would own the materials that we
upload. Someone who might be concerned about this might be a professional photographer or
a musician who might want to share their work. Uploading photographs or music is a great
way to get a lot of potential friends to notice it, but you might want to think about whether the
network could end up owning this material. Another controversy with Facebook is that it
could be sharing your private information with third party companies. This is why you are
shown a privacy statement when you install an application. The providers of these
applications are third party companies and websites who could be able to access your private
information such as your address or phone number.



Employment – One thing we often forget while having fun on social networks is that almost
anybody can see what we are doing. While we are tagging photos of what we did on the
weekends or using social networks on company time it can be easy to forget that someone at
work may see this and the result could cost you your job.

Businesses – Businesses have found a new place to market and brand themselves in social
media sites. Having a medium available to connect with customers in a non formal way
creates loyalty and awareness but could leave a company vulnerable to hackers and hecklers
feeling the squeeze on your new found success. A social site provides information on what
your company is doing and offers a platform to generate spiteful negative comments that
could hurt the reputation of your business. These attacks could be controlled with reputation
management and social media marketing strategies.



Social networks can be used to make friends, find romance or even to market yourself or your
business. The important thing is to remember that these sites can also be misused and we
need to take care of our privacy and reputation. Think twice about the way you use social
networks.



Be acutely aware of the hazards of Social Networks. Always remember what is possible
online. As with most things in life there are opportunities and there are risks; however
eliminate needless risk. There is never a need to share private confidential information online.
Use social networks to share and promote ideas. Be a giver but don’t give what you wouldn’t
want just anyone seeing in public just by looking over your shoulder or seeing into your
home or bedroom.
Summary:

        Based on the article above, networking is a one of the ways the use by all people
around the world to connect each other. However, the are many new opportunities to connect
as there are to get into potential danger. Social networking has open many doorways for
cyber-crime. For example, nowadays, there are many social networks through Facebook.
Facebook is that it could be sharing your private information with third party companies. The
providers of these applications are third party companies and websites who could be able to
access your private information such as your address or phone number. Moreover, from our
personal information, other people can hack our websites, this also will cause cyber-crime.
The hackers will know all our information easily. From this information they also very easily
revealed to those who could use the same information to steal identities, commit fraud, steal
information, and plenty of other life damaging crimes. The criminal who target people for
personal information, passwords, pass codes and other sensitive information, are extremely
skilled at what they do. They can con reasonable people into giving up information, and steal
valuable secrets, all without the victim even being aware a crime was committed at all.
Children should not having network social activities. This will cause them to influence with
the useless information that have on the site, for example, the wrong information,
pornography photos and more. There for, we as a user of the network should beware with the
cyber-crime although, we have private all the personal data. Moreover, we should not give all
the personal data which is unnecessary for us to show up.