But it isn't only bullying. These sites have huge potential for fraudsters to prey on people when they are at their most vulnerable. Again, going back to Facebook, there is a little thing on there where you can say what your status is. Recently, when my mother passed away, I stated on my profile that I was sad because I burying her.
Whilst this brought genuine condolences from people that I knew, it struck me afterwards that had I begun my experiment before my mother's passing and had posted the same message, would I have someone of less than honest character act as a friend in order to defraud me of any inheritance.
At times of bereavement, and at other times of personal stress, people become vulnerable and accept guidance, assistance and condolence without thought. We've all heard stories of people befriending widows and widowers just to get their money - I am sure there are cyber scams of this type but that we haven't heard of them yet.
It is our need to be part of a community, any community, that drives our vulnerability in this sense. Because so few us no longer take an active part in the physical community in which we live we have extended our needs to our technology.
Of course there is the fact that advertisers have caught on to the idea that social networking is a powerful marketing tool. All of these social networking sites carry advertisements for something or other and they know that they can be a part of our on-line “community”. They are our friends and our cyber-neighbours. And the social networking site operator makes a fortune from charging them to display their messages.
But don't get me wrong. I am not saying that social networking sites are in any way bad or to blame for our own vulnerabilities. We bear sole responsibility for those ourselves.
I personally like Facebook and log into every day, sometimes two or three times. I'm also registered with MySpace and Bebo. They are extremely useful sites and most helpful when I want to keep in touch with people. They have also helped me re-connect with friends that I had lost contact with years ago.
All I am saying is beware. Don't let your need to be part of a community drive you to use these sites as a shop window for your private life. Be careful what you say and where you say it but enjoy your social experience.
