The net is not the enemy

The net is not the enemy

http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/the-net-is-not-the-enemy-20090809-ee6h.html?page=-1)


This article is talking about social networking sites and the progression from the 1990’s when the internet began to today’s world of facebook, myspace and twitter. The Catholic Church has argued that social networking sites and killing off real life friendships and people no longer talk face to face, when infact I believe it’s the opposite.

A lonely kid of the passed may have sat at the computer and participated in online chatroom’s which were a dangerous place of anonymounity and were barely regulated. These days he would have added people from his class and if not confident enough to chat in person can at least chat to his real friends over the internet through facebook and/or myspace.

Research also suggests that the new communication tools available to young people help enrich their offline friendships rather than commoditise them or replace them with superficial relationships. In addition to these social benefits, a study conducted last year by the University of Minnesota suggested that using social networking sites improved technology and communication skills, boosted creativity and exposed students to new and diverse world views.

Social networking activity taught students how to edit content, to think about design and encouraged the production and sharing of poetry, art, photographs and video content. These students also tended to do better in exams.

There are always going to be concerns over privacy and young people letting the world know too much about their likes/dislikes and where they live etc. It is important to teach these young people about the dangers of posting too much information on the internet.