The usage of SNS

The following information on social networking sites is based on what I read in the Media Literacy Report.http://www.ofcom.org.uk/advice/media_literacy/medlitpub/medlitpubrss/socialnetworking/report.pdf
Social networking sites such as Facebook (adults) and Bebo (kids)are currently the most popular in the UK and US. The main Issues surrounding their use include bullying, providing fake information, stalking, and the future risk from disclosure of private information. However, instant messaging is seen as a much greater risk than SNS from sexual predation, and becoming just as popular.

Problems arise because of a lack of rules,social conventions and obvious boundaries compared to the real world. 60% of users leave their privacy settings open sometimes inadvertently because of a lack in internet literacy or interface design limitations. Other young people scan profile pages of strangers,which is 2nd in popularity to communicating itself. I think,it's natural for the young to compete and get as many friends as they can.


Having taken a look at discussion pages related to young peoples interests the content does not seem particularly new...and would be the sort of thing I would talk about when I was at school. There must be some more extreme content out there, which could have a significant effect on young people, who may not know how to react as an adult would.


Most older people in my age group use SNS for keeping up with friends and finding old ones. There are a significant number of young women who use them for attention seeking -People, who are maybe insecure and looking to increase their self esteem. This follows from my own experience where a pretty family member has over 1500 personal photos of herself partying in provocative dress on her facebook. I also have a few mothers-2 I haven't seen or communicated with for over 20 years, who send me pictures of themselves with their offspring.I guess hoping I will comment!!!:)

There is some potential to use SNS for social and political reform rather than just connecting for social reasons. This is something that could emerge in the future. Polls and campaigns do feature somewhat now. It is possible that discussion boards could be linked to VLEs for examining and exploring issues, and maybe even polling for consensus. I am a little sceptical about younger children and teenagers who might not like this invasion of their social space for educational reasons...