Source: The New York Times
A New York Times article, written by Joyce Walder, tackles the negative implications of the world’s most popular social networking site, Facebook. Although the site offers many benefits including staying in touch with old friends and keeping up with family, it is also a platform, which I feel, is teeming with feelings of jealously. Mr. Walder, the author of the article, shares a similar opinion of the site. “A friend’s son got married a while back, and because of an unfortunate rift with my friend, I was not invited. I did, however, have the pleasure of looking at the Facebook pictures and seeing how old my friend had become.” With the many features of Facebook, anywhere you go, anything you do can be viewed by potentially hundreds of thousands of people. While this may seem like a spectacular benefit, it is not devoid of consequences. If we are not conscious of the repercussions, we can hurt others feelings unnecessarily. Before the days of Facebook we were without these problems, “In the old days, there were parties to which you were not invited, trips to the city where you lived when you were not called, and it did not matter because you did not know. And if you did, at least there were no pictures.” The site also endorses self-aggrandizing behavior, such as posting pictures of exotic vacations, unique experiences and newly acquired luxuries. A friend of mine relayed a story about a middle school student in Manhattan whose classmates routinely post their exemplary grades on Facebook. This act, which seems only self-benefiting and rude, is becoming increasingly common on these sites. While the technology of such a site can make the world a smaller, more connected place, it can also causing for unnecessary harm and hurt feelings.
