MARINE CORPS AIR STATION IWAKUNI, Japan -- With more than 300 million active users worldwide, spending eight billion minutes a day, uploading more than two billion photos a month and the numbers continuing to grow, Facebook has expanded social networking exponentially in just five years.
No longer are individuals relegated to a modest list of friends they update via e-mail every few weeks, they can update hundreds of people with one post virtually anytime they can access the Internet.
More and more smart phones provide Internet access allowing these updates to be an hourly affair, and Facebook just represents one of the largest networks.
Even though social networks provide amazing opportunities for information exchange worthy of consideration, they are still a part of the Internet; precautions must be taken.
“If you remember school, it’s typically the quiet kids who get bullied,” Eric Schwartzman, an independent consultant and senior communications professional, said. “If you don’t speak your mind on the Internet, someone else will define your identity for you if you’re afraid to define yourself.”
Schwartzman has been publicly and privately contracted to teach social media and new media communications.
Social interaction, in a way, has become so simplified individuals no longer need to know one another to form an opinion about each other.
“We’re living in a time where people source opinions on the Internet,” Schwartzman said. “The reason we source opinions on the Internet is because it’s easier.”
This simplification can be good and there are plenty of examples where use of the social networks has incited social awareness of important issues.
“You get an opportunity to network with people who share your own interests,” said Schwartzman.
Making new friends has never been easier and many social networks already have groups formed by individuals with common interests.
By the same token, the simplification of friend making also expands the possibility someone you know is already on a social network talking about you right now.
“If I don’t sign up, my friends will define me,” said Schwartzman. “To be a young person today not participating in social media, is to be socially irrelevant.”
While failing to engage in social networking may not make the average middle-aged adult end up a social pariah, children are learning a different lesson very quickly, and therein lies an area of primary concern for parents.
“The most vulnerable are the children,” Gunnery Sgt. Jose Paloschavez, station operations security coordinator, said. “That’s because they are not really aware who is behind that screen.”
The fastest growing demographic on Facebook is 35 years and older.
Not only is the population of potential predators growing, but Facebook and other social networks are reaching upward in age, which increases the odds of affecting middle-aged adults.
At the very least, becoming familiar with emergent forms of social media is one way to help protect children and yourself if you choose to engage.
Choosing to engage creates another set of considerations, considerations for loved ones as well if they are engaging.
“When you’re in the Internet you’re in Times Square,” said Schwartzman. “It’s a hostile environment and you need to behave accordingly.”
“There are people with no money and no food who scrounged enough money up for an hour in an Internet café and they are looking for your personal information,” he added.
With any social network, being aware of what will and will not be visible to the public is paramount.
“Just because your Facebook profile is private does not necessarily mean it is,” said Schwartzman.
Making a profile as private as possible takes a few extra steps with the plethora of applications running rampant (see the end of this article for those steps).
Facebook alone has more than 350,000 active applications and it is by no means the only social networking site.
Besides the dangers presented by individuals is the potential for abuse by the stewards of the information provided during sign up.
Social networking sites may provide the information to other companies for marketing purposes.
“When signing up for these individual services, be cognizant of each individual site’s privacy policies,” said Paloschavez.
Schwartzman is less concerned with the marketing, but some might be and Paloschavez’s advice is sound if the prospect of magazine offers outweighs the potential benefits.
Schwartzman’s concern is the management of the information by those marketing companies and so he recommends certain information never be provided either through a profile page or during sign up.
Pre-existing health conditions, exact location information or travel plans, and information establishing a pattern of negative behavior, such as heavy drinking, are all areas of potential concern.
One more inherent issue comes from signing up and engaging; the duty to continue updating and engaging.
“Once you establish yourself, people expect you to update,” said Schwartzman. “To not update validates their negative statements.”
Non-response to negative statements, even untimely responses lends credibility to accusations.
“Social networks have their good, their bad and their ugly, so just continuously be in tune with each individual and find out what they’re doing,” said Paloschavez.
Parents need to be checking on their children just as leaders need to be checking on their subordinates and each other.
Anyone can make a slip.
As recently as June, the wife of Britain’s Secret Intelligence Service MI6 chief posted holiday photographs and personal details on her Facebook page.
“Think before you click — that one, two or three seconds asking should I be doing this will save a lot of damage,” said Paloschavez.
“Once it’s sent, it’s sent and there is no taking back; it’s gone,” Paloschavez said.
Bottom-line: if there is a moment of hesitation don’t post.
As time moves forward and social networks continue to grow, it appears the choice to engage or to not engage is rapidly disappearing.
Eric Schwartzman’s steps for making Facebook profiles as private as possible:
First and foremost, deciding who can see your profile is up to you. Carefully review what information is viewable by friends only or anyone by going to settings, clicking the privacy tab and then the profile section, this part is up to you.
Next, while logged in, click settings in the blue menu bar in the top right of the screen. Click the privacy tab. Now click applications. In the applications page click the settings tab. Uncheck all the boxes under the “Share my name, networks and lists of friends as well as the following information” radio button.
If you uncheck all those boxes, your personal information will not disseminate through applications.
But don’t let this give you a false sense of security; you’re still in a public forum where hostile operatives are still looking for information.