Disadvantages of Social Networking Sites

Social media is all over the online space today. No matter what you do, where you go and what you use, it is always shared on social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook. Most of the Internet users spend at least an hour on social media platforms in a day. We know of the many advantages like connecting with people irrespective of the physical distance but are there any disadvantages of social networking sites that we are unaware of? Yes there are and this needs to be known to all of us. With a little care and awareness, we can still enjoy the social media revolution.

Privacy Invasion

When there were no social networking sites, keeping to your own self was easy. You didn’t have to create lists and decide what to share with whom every time you opened your mouth. Today, you add everyone on your social network friend list. We all have those nasty relatives, co-workers and friends of friends that we do not really get along with well, but add them anyway. Our personal life is exposed to everyone. Sometimes they come and leave comments that spoil the mood. One of the major disadvantages of social networking sites is that you lose control. You forget who is watching and it becomes difficult to share things with a selected number of people. An average Facebook user has more than 300 friends. It is hard to classify and manage them.

Security Risk

Even though some websites do have age restrictions, most kids and teenagers do use social media. They play games and come across many strangers in a day. These strangers might be good or bad people. One of the disadvantages of social networking sites for kids is that it exposes you to all sorts of people in very little time. Kids often face cyber bullying and other stressful situations because of such an exposure. Sometimes we end up giving information on these sites which can be misused and harm us physically or mentally. It is better to be in control and think twice before sharing anything important.

Opening Doors to More Spam

Most good social networking sites do not misuse the data you share through them. But they do have it for records. They might share your detailed data with advertisers to build better advertisements, study user psychology and what not. But the data is very important and one of the disadvantages of social networking sites is that you give it away for free. Moreover, by being active on more number of sites you are definitely prone to more spam and unsolicited communication efforts. Most of us have learned to live with it but it definitely is an inconvenience.

Surveys reveal that the average user logs in a social networking website at least once a day. Other users even spend hours liking and commenting of videos, photos, statuses and chatting with each other just of fun. There are many disadvantages of social networking sites but if used in moderation they can be pretty useful. We already have laws and security measures in place and more will be created as the time passes. In the age of today, social media cannot be ignored but a balance can be achieved and wise choices can be made.