Facebook

I spend more time on facebook than any other website in the world. Is this a bad thing? Does it make me more vulnerable? Could it possibly cause me problems in the future?
First of all I will tell you a bit about the history of facebook. (A more in depth history of facebook can be found here, The History of Facebook). Facebook was founded by Mark Zuckerberg while he was a student at Harvard. Originally the site was only available to Harvard students, this was then expanded to colleges in the Boston, Then to colleges in the Ivy League, then to Stanford University. It then became available to High school students, and is now available to everyone older than thirteen. Since starting three years ago Facebook has gained over 175 million users and made Mark Zuckerberg the youngest billionaire in the world. Yet there are many controversies surrounding facebook, and there have been many problems with people's security. Originally facebook was not that private, this time last year anyone in the same network as you could see your page, meaning if you were in the London network millions of people could see your page. Students who have had facebook throughout University are being turned down by employers. In the past they have posted pictures, videos or written comments which do not put them in a good light with employers. If an employer saw a picture of the person when they were at a party drunk and they were doing something like jumping off a table they would probably trust them less and would be less inclined to hire them. People also can get bullied over facebook, internet bullying is a as bad as bullying in the real world. People can be discriminated over facebook, say if someone wrote on someone else’s wall, "oh so and so is being really annoying at the moment" if so and so saw this he would be upset, so friendships are easily ruined over facebook.However it is very easy to use facebook and get around all these problems. Security has been tightened on facebook; it is possible to have a limited profile so some people can only see certain things on your page. If you go through your settings carefully it is possible to choose who sees your page whether it is just your friends, people in your network, or anyone in facebook. If you are careful with what is put on facebook you can avoid the problem with employers, or you make you page private enough so they can not get onto your page. The same applies with what your friends see, you should never insult someone over the internet behind their back, as the odds are they will see what you have written.
In conclusion I think facebook is brilliant, it connects people all around the world and makes it easier to talk to your friends who you do not see everyday. If you are careful with you privacy settings and with what you written there is no reason to be scared of facebook, although you should respects its power.
Below is a very good video which explains social networks on a more general way.