The Social Aspects of the Internet.

 

     Internet socialization has become the most popular form of interaction for teenagers and young adults.  As parents, we need to be aware of the growing trend, the social sites available, the pros and cons associated with their usage, general safety tips and the future growth in this setting.   It interests me because I have family and friends that belong to one of the most popular social networks out there, MySpace. I wanted to find out what was appropriate and what steps to take to protect my family.  In this day and age, teenagers and technology go hand in hand; it’s an issue that we can’t afford to ignore.

    

     Searching for information about social sites in the internet is an overwhelming job.  I researched my topic using several online research databases that are accessible through the QCC online library.  These databases are connected to others, which have access to magazines and newspapers like Business Weekly, and Searcher.  It’s an organized way of finding articles related to any subject, narrowing down a search and finding relevant information.

 

     One of the articles I found in the Issues & Controversies database, “Social Networking Web Sites,” mentions that social networking is a recent phenomenon, a popular trend among millions of teenagers around the world.  It has become popular because teenagers can create profiles, link them with that of their friends, add their own pictures, post messages or list their favorite things to do.  They can choose the layout and design of their profiles, giving them a unique freedom to be creative.  They use this mode of communication to talk about their lives, their teachers, friendships, post poems, artwork, songs, including ‘meeting’ new friends.  As the article observes, “teenagers use Web sites such as MySpace to do normal teenage things in an online setting” (Social Networking Sites).

 

     There are several social sites that offer similar applications. The most familiar ones are Friendster, Facebook, Xanga and MySpace.  MySpace is considered the most popular because it “offers a variety of additional applications that young people tend to like, including music, streaming videos, e-mail, instant messaging, blogging, list of local events, games, dating options, forums, and ways to invite people to events” (McDermott).  It’s the perfect place to have fun without leaving home.

    

     The fact that MySpace has all these applications available to teenagers makes it important for us to find out the pros and cons of their usage.  There are a few good things about using a social site like MySpace.  “It helps shy people come out of their shells by teaching them how to interact with others in a safe, online environment” (Social Networking Sites).  There are no considerations to barriers of class, race, or social status.  They have an opportunity to talk to people they wouldn’t necessarily socialize with because they’re not part of their regular circle of friends.  While these things help them develop social skills important to their development and to acquire new computer skills, it’s not without risk.  The negative side of social networking is immense.  Sexual pedophiles and predators can access teenagers’ profiles easily to entice them to meet in person, which can lead to sexual assault or worse.  They also spend a lot of time on the sites which means they are not being active and it can stunt their physical and social development (Social Networking Web Sites).

 

     As parents, we teach our children by example.  Parents that use the internet daily will have children that use the internet daily as well.  The results of a survey, “Parent and Teenager Internet Use,” conducted by the Pew Internet & American Life Project, show that out of 93% of youths that are online, 94% of their parents are online (Macgill).  Since this is a fact that we can’t change, technology being a big wheel that shows no sign of stopping, we need to take precautions and follow general safety tips to protect our children.  There is a safety tips section in MySpace for parents and users.  Several of these tips include talking to our children about why they use MySpace, being aware of how they present themselves online, report inappropriate behavior, warn them about being careful of what they post, and avoid giving out personal information that can make it easy for anyone to find them (MySpace Safety tips).  Also, apply parental controls to the internet, limit the amount of time they can be online, browse the internet history and be aware what sites they visit.  Taking these steps doesn’t mean our children are completely protected but it gives us a certain amount of control.

 

     Social sites are expanding and growing to the point that Yahoo!, a free online email service, will be presenting a new Yahoo Messenger that may be able to import MySpace contacts.  Teenagers that use this service will be able to see titles of blogs and photos pulled dynamically from MySpace (Kharif and Holahan).  MySpace will also be able to transport user profiles to other sites on the Web including eBay, a micro blogging service called Twitter, and Google (Holahan).

 

     We have to be aware of these changes because our teenagers will have access to some of these social sites in other portals.  The sites will be spread out on the Web so that teenagers won’t be able to visit a portal without seeing or having access to them.  It’s up to us to be aware of what our children are doing whether in school, with friends, or online.  The internet is just another place where we want to know where our children are.