Facebook

Do You Have a Facebook? Probably.

When teenagers (and many adults) create a Facebook account, many do not understand what they are adhering to when they check the “I Agree” box in the Terms of Service. People do not assume that they are handing over a lot of their privacy, and that once the account is created, no matter what privacy settings are implemented, anyone can find out that you have an account. In many instances, if a person’s name is typed into Google, their Facebook homepage will pop up. We do not realize how much power we give certain media.

When agreeing to Facebook’s terms of service, you are giving them the rights to your entire profile, even after it has been deleted. Facebook has the ability to save all tagged pictures of a person, and every post that that person has ever written on others’ walls will never be deleted. It used to be that people could control the information that they put out into the world about themselves. However, ever since the MySpace boom occurred, people have been more and more eager to hand out information about themselves to the entire world. The problem is however, that people do not consider the long term affects of giving so much power to these social networking sites. The pictures that are posted on these sites and the messages that are written are never deleted. Imagine in thirty years running for a political position, do you really want one of your opponents campaign signs reading “Look what Senator Smith really has to say: HEY B*tch you were sooooo wasted last night, I hope you got some, love you slut.” Do you really think that that is going to further your career? I didn’t think so either.