What does Social Media really do for us?

When you think about it, what does social media really do for us today? We meet people through friends and then find them on Facebook and become friends with them, we post pictures... some more vulgar than others, and post with friends. Depending on your privacy settings, many people can see your profile and get to know you without you ever knowing. Even though social media can be seen as a positive, it can also be seen as a negative and have the potential to ruin relationships or your future career.

I had a professor my sophomore year of college who went through our Facebook profiles and pictures. The people who did not have their profiles on private and had disturbing pictures of their nights out posted were embarrassed in front of the entire lecture class. Some of the pictures I have seen made me ask why anyone would ever put up a picture like that so others can see. My professor put a new picture up on the overhead screen and told us everyday that this is what our employers are seeing. Luckily, I have a lot of privacy settings on my profile but at the same time I do not take nor do I post pictures that have the chance to embarrass me or cause a problem with someone I have a relationship with. I have been thinking about deleting my Facebook. I do not need to connect with people through it because the people that reach out to me on Facebook are the people I am friends with and talk to everyday. I also do not post many things on Facebook unless I really want my friends to see where I went on vacation or put pictures up with my friends so they can have those pictures as well.

My professor taught me to see Facebook differently. I do not think it something worth great value, even though it does have some positive things about the site. My professor's message was that anyone can see these pictures as well as our profiles and we should consider putting up some privacy settings or even taking stuff down. Even though Facebook allows us to connect and check out what someone else is doing and how their night was, the site has the ability to generate unwanted attention. So many people have made Facebook a big part of their lives. People let others know exactly where they are and what they are doing. Maybe it is time to take a step back from Facebook and see if it really has as much to offer as you think.