When we aren’t tweeting about our blogs, we’re Facebooking about our Last.fm. A huge part of our lives has been taken over by social networking technology and yet it remains such a big mystery to us. Here are some pros, cons, and tips for surviving the virtual world.

Cons:

•  Time spent online detracts from time spent in face-to-face interactions with the people around us, and many substitute these interactions for a quick chat or a Facebook poke.

•  Social networking sites are designed to gobble up your time – the temptation of a quick Facebook check or Twitter update is usually too strong for most, and these sites tend to suck you in and spit you out, confused, reluctant - hours behind and craving more.

•  A commonly mentioned danger of social networking sites is the ease of access to information and contact it affords sexual predators with minors. Reports of missing children and kidnappings so often present us with the fact that these channels are used to gain access to vulnerable individuals.

•  The constant surveillance and information-harvesting that is present on all social networking sites is very invasive – according to your hobbies and interests on Facebook, specific adverts will be targeted at you. Your information is included in statistical research for advertising, and your whereabouts are even monitored by some sites! Facebook, for example, does not delete user information from its database.

•  How many times have you been ready to kick yourself after an absent-minded word or badly thought-out tweet has gotten you into trouble? There are many reports of employees losing their jobs because of Facebook status updates insulting their employers, students being expelled from schools, and marriages that have ended because of a lack of discretion on the part of the poster.

•  The massive amount of information we share on the internet makes us easy targets for identity theft and other major infringements of our privacy and rights.

Do it right:

•  Never share personal information that might make you vulnerable to identity theft or any other kind of attack online.

•  Think twice before you post.

•  Keep business and pleasure separate – use different platforms for different areas of your life, and keep them apart.

•  Know when to switch the computer off.

Happy social networking!

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