Samuel Collins once said “Technology is neither good nor bad, nor even neutral. Technology is one part of the complex of relationships that people form with each other and the world around them; it simply cannot be understood outside of that concept.”
With this being said, Social networking is a great way to stay in touch with the public. One is able to find long-lost friends or even family members; in most cases, a parent finds their child on a social network, or other way around.
Perhaps one knows a relative, but they live on the other side of the world, do not worry, they’re able to I.M., webcam, or send pictures back and forth with social networks like Facebook, MySpace, Yahoo, and so on. Rather than just talking on the phone, and not being able to see the person’s face, and discover any physical changes, one is able to communicate in more ways than one.
Although social networking is mostly used to communicate, people neglect to do so, and use it negatively.
Megan Meier was messaging a guy on MySpace, Josh Evans, who was actually Lori Drew using a fabricated account, prior to her death. Megan never met Josh but still did not suspect something suspicious going on. Throughout the following weeks, the tone of the messages changed.
The last message Josh sent to Megan ended with “The world would be a better place without you.” She straightforwardly responded saying “You’re the kind of boy a girl would kill herself over.”
With the message being sent, her parents found her hanging in her closet, due to a suicide, 20 minutes later.Later finding out the messages were being sent from Megan’s friend, who Megan, recently, had an argument with, Megan’s mom was furious. Lori Drew, the parent of Megan’s friend, had helped her daughter manage the account.
Contrary to the affect of cyber bullying, most people comfort each other on social networks. People are able to leave polite comments on picture uploaded on websites such as Facebook and MySpace, thus leaving a nice first expression, and letting the person notice the respect, therefore next time one has contact with that person, there is a whole new positive attitude.
“Never be bullied into silence. Never allow yourself to be made a victim. Accept no one’s definition of your life, but define yourself.” declared Harvey S. Firestone.
Many people sit behind the computer screen not realizing everything they write can never be taken back. It’s like that one saying “ Trying to get something you wrote on the internet back is like trying to get the Kool-aid you threw in the pool back.”
