Social Networks – Good or Bad For Society?
By Anna Johnson on October 29th, 2009ProCon.org, a nonpartisan, non-profit public charity aimed at promoting critical thinking, has created the new website at http://www.socialnetworking.procon.org/ to focus on the question of whether social networking sites are good for society.
Social networking is now a significant online activity for many Internet users. According to ProCon’s figures, Internet users spend around 17 percent of their time online visiting social networking sites.
Furthermore, the popularity of social networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Classmates.com has grown by 400 percent from 2005 to 2009. As at September 15, 2009, Facebook alone had 90 million users in the US and 300 million users worldwide.
According to ProCon, the debate over social networking sites centers on whether the benefits outweigh the dangers.
Those in favor of social networks believe they promote increased communication with friends and family, familiarize more people with valuable computer skills, and allow contact with people from around the world.
Among the counter-arguments used by social network opponents are that they expose children to predators, increase vulnerability to computer viruses, lower worker productivity, and promote narcissism and short attention spans.
ProCon hopes its new site – which includes over 20 pro and con arguments, fun facts in the “Did You Know?” section, an image and video gallery, a reader survey, and a listing of all sources used – will help people think critically about social networking sites before or when using them.
