# 18 Social Networking

Although social networks are rapid ways of distributing information, what kind of information is being distributed is the main question. The accuracy and importance of that information is also a question. Whether gossip about a celebrity, personal information about yourself, or destructive/vindictive information about another, I believe social networking is here to stay. Perhaps the destructive and invasive uses will prompt a few more controls than currently in place.

Teens and 20 somethings have been the focus of the social networking craze. As with anything teen, there are fads and fads fade. Lately I've seen articles saying the useage for this age range is fading. "Facebook fatigue" is the catchy phrase.

Whether for good in creating new circles of friends with common interests, or for ill in efforts to harass another, teens will always look to group with eachother because it is part of growing up and away from the bonds of the family. As these individuals grow it remains to be seen whether or not they will find new uses for the technology to network personally with another.

I haven't had a need for registering at social networking sites. I have become more aware over the past couple of years that whatever is put on the Web can have unintended consequences later. Additionally, the threat of identity theft is also ever present. Experts advise the less information you publish about yourself the better.

As with every other application of Web 2.0, the content is only as benevolent or malicious as its users want it to be. Since social networking draws a cross-section of individuals, it expresses a cross-section of intent. It is much like so many other inventions: the good or evil is not in the invention, but in the hand that controls the tool.