Practice for PAJITA Regionals

One click can change your lives. One click can uncover highways to a new world. One click can work for different purposes. It’s just one little click, but it requires a lot of responsibility from you.

For the people of the generation today, it is quite undeniable that social networking sites, including Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, Tumblr and etc., have been the most popular destinations in the internet. These sites are venues for interactions of people in cyberspace. These people are people who vary in their class. There are professionals and starters engaging in online businesses, celebrities, students, parents, and even scammers and perverts. The sites don’t choose their users. Everyone who has an e-mail account may join. Therefore, whether you like it or not, if you are not careful enough, you might just come to deal with these unruly users.

Social networking works wonders on the World Wide Web for the modern world today. But the benefits of it could only be acquired with smart social networking.

What do people get from social networking? There are countless things. Through it, long distance is just a screen glass away. Relationships are continually nurtured. The long lost are found. The separated are then reunited. Even strangers become friends. As to some people, they’d already consider the networks on the internet their world.

People tend to only see what’s on the surface. But really, these social networking sites are actually comprising an entirely different world. Thus, entering it entails much responsibility and application of right conduct. It has its share of both advantages and disadvantages which should be looked upon more intently. Christy Randall working as the department director of Spring Arbor University support services, helps manage the university's computer centers and filters that block out undesirable Internet content, such as pornography. She points out that social networking sites are like a double-edged sword. They have some real benefits, but they also have some dangers. Given are cyber bullying, sexual exploitation and identity theft as examples. Since social networking sites are popular especially on growing teens, parents would play an important role on their children’s safety on the web communities. They’re the ones having utmost rights to establish boundaries for their children and monitor them to ensure that they practice smart social networking along with their responsibilities and proper demeanor.

John Sileo, a reputable blogger, gives his ideas on the hazards caused by social networking. This article may be read on http://www.divinecaroline.com/22275/81551-seven-hazards-social-networking. He grouped them into categories. Based on experience, he listed impersonation as first of the hazards. Along with it are ownership, breach, fraud, disclosure and human error. He also wrote about tips on how to protect yourself online.

Interaction is basically in every social networking site. Here are some prerequisite guidelines when engaging in these networks:

• Don’t abuse your anonymity. In the cyber world, you are able to choose how you would want to be known. It wouldn’t mean that you can post all you want to the extent of going against the right of others or of your own.
• Practice truthfulness in the information you share. This is important especially when you are in the business industry. Clients would not want it if you lie to them. In the future, dishonesty might be the cause of your dilemmas.
• Be selective on what you share. Though encouraged to be truthful in information, those information shared should only be limited to what is needed. Personal data might be used in malevolence towards you or others. It’s preferred to be always tactful. Once you post something online, it would stay there forever. For example, even if you delete a flame comment the next day or the next hour, someone might have read it already and have caused for it to spread. Photos also are not permanently deleted in cyberspace. They might be deleted in your Facebook or Myspace accounts, but they’re still accessible through their photo URLs. Don’t allow these kind of stuffs to haunt you in the future, so be careful!
• Be decent at all times. As what is said previously, you should be selective on what you share. If for example, you start posting indecent stuff on sites, people would get the impression that you are that kind of person. Respect yourself so others would respect you as well.
• Don’t spam. Inspect whether what you’re about to post or share is worth posting or sharing. Don’t multiple-post either. Your audience is able to get what you’re trying to say with a single post. For what purpose are multiple-posts then? These would just irritate others.
• Only use sites appropriate for your age. Some sites require their users to be a certain age and up. Facebook and Myspace, top social networking sites, both have same age restrictions. You have to be at least 13 in order to join. If you’re under the required age, therefore it means that the sites’ content is yet unsuitable for you. Explore the web and you’ll find a lot more sites worth visiting.
• Never use the sites as avenues for bullying and harassing. Lately, cyber bullying had been a major cause of problem within the internet, especially on social networking sites. This creates a huge impact on those involved. Lives may even be ruined by this. A person’s self-esteem should never be the cost for improper behavior on the net.

Since social networking sites are just around the corner, you got to put in mind all these stuffs. Membership on this type of sites should not be easily taken for granted. There are other netiquettes to be followed as well.

Social networking sites aren’t merely web sites. They are communities of people too. They give you the access you need to get to the other parts of the world, connecting people of wide diversity. So treat people like how you want to be treated. Just as footsteps are made for us here on earth, mouse clicks for options are made for us on the internet.