Social networking websites function like an online community of internet users. Depending on the website in question, many of these online community members share a common interest such as hobbies, religion, or politics. Once you are granted access to a social networking website you can begin to socialize. Some use these networking sites to promote their blogs, to post bulletins and updates or to use them as a bridge to a future love interest. These are just a few of the reasons why social networking is getting a lot of attention lately -it makes life more exciting for many people.

It has become increasingly popular nowadays as there are a lot of sites that offer this service. As much as there are two sides to the coin, there are also pros and cons of social networking sites. They are often overlooked, which should not be the case as they can tell what you should and should not do as a member of a social networking community.

Benefits of Social Networking

Online business people use these social services as tools to promote their websites, products and services basically because of the overwhelmingly significant number of people that they have brought together to form communities. Several social networking sites also act as application platforms. You can find dozens of applications ranging from quizzes to games to restaurant review programs.

More than anything else, social sites provide better ways to keep in touch with your classmates, friends and family. Even though we are far from them, you and these people both have easy access to how each other is doing, as you can send messages as well as upload photos and videos. One example is that instead of meeting in a certain place, you and your classmates could discuss a school activity by having a conference in a certain site that you are all members of, thus saving you time and effort.

Drawbacks of Social Networking

Identity theft and fraud are two bothersome concerns that have come out of social networking sites. There are also people who pretend to be somebody else and convince you that they are in for a business deal. But, the truth is they are there to rob you out of your money. Another danger is that scammers use social networking sites to trick people into downloading malicious software (malware). A common tactic is to use social engineering. Social engineering plays on human nature to get results. Cases of online harassment and stalking have also been a concern. People who have issues with you or for whatever reason just can search on your name and stalk or harass you. In order to address this, users are allowed to report or block users that go out of bounds.

The good news is that the pros for social networking outweigh the cons. And with a few healthy habits, you can avoid or minimize the drawbacks. Just remember to be careful and responsible before you sign up! So take your time and be careful in choosing who to trust so you can hopefully avoid this sort of unpleasant thing happening to you. Apart from that, social networking is great thing.