Facebook | The Underlying Dangers and Disadvantages

Disasters Waiting To Happen

While we enjoy the benefits and advantages of using facebook, sometimes we tend to overlook and carelessly ignore the dangers that could just be lurking around its interface not being aware that there are disasters waiting to happen.

I've gathered information from friends and from my own personal experiences about the dangers and disadvantages of using this social media platform. Let's have a look at them.

Cyber Crime Risks

So far, I’m thankful i've not been infected by any of these malwares. Sometimes, you may not have been aware that a post of a friend is infected with a malware. You might have noticed that some posts of your friends are very unlikely to have been posted by them such as indecent videos and photos.

The truth is they have been infected by a virus because they got curious of the same post by another friend and clicked on it. And boom, that's it. That's all they did, just clicked on it. So, the next time you see a suspicious post, just ignore it, otherwise, you'll get the same malware and it will automatically be posting the same post making it visible to all of your friends.

You definitely wouldn’t like such a very embarrassing moment.

Do you know that there are facebook applications that are only intended to get all your personal details and information? I’m not telling you to not trust the apps you're currently using, but instead, what I’m just saying is for you to be extra careful and choose which apps you think are worthy of using, and make sure they are trusted ones.

If you're someone who prefers keeping your personal details confidential, I would advise to just avoid yourself from any of these apps. But if you still would, just be careful on choosing and using any facebook application for any application you authorize makes that application legally able to get and keep a record of all your personal information.

The internet is already flooded with these kinds of stories. Apparently, this is true to any website where a comment feature is activated, or where a forum or a chat room is being utilized. Sure, adults can handle such behavior and can maturely deal with it.

But what about our kids, our teens? They are more likely to be weak to receive rude comments and ill-mannered, insulting photos and videos. These could affect their school performance and could ruin their self esteem.

Parents should always make sure that while they give their children the freedom to use the internet, they should advise their children to seek help from them should any issue arise.

Parents, on the other hand, should always be available and give time to their children sorting out issues such as this.

Personal Risks

Stalkers these days no longer does stalking physically, they do it online.

I have friends who prefer not having a facebook account because they told me they hated being stalked. Now, these friends are mostly female, and boy I tell you they are pretty. They always had stalkers and didn't like it. Guys, on the other hand, wouldn't mind being stalked by ladies, would they?

These ladies preferred not having one because adjusting the privacy alone does not make them completely safe from stalkers. They argued that they and the stalkers could have a common friend, and that makes them visible in their common friend's profile. The stalker could also make a fake account pretending to be someone they know and invites them for a friendship.

This might sound strange to some but these are true testimonies.

By giving away too much information on facebook, you can endanger your own or your family’s safety.

There was a recent TV news about abusing a girl in the school. The adult male suspect found out where the girl is attending school through facebook.

The suspect knows the timings of the school and has always been there just waiting for an opportunity to finally grab the girl and abuse her in isolation. The suspect had bruises indicating that the girl fought for her safety and that made the suspect lost his temper and did the gruesome act.

It might also be used by thieves to know if you’re on vacation and there’s no one left in the house.

This is dangerous when you’re cooking, babysitting, you name the rest. You certainly know what I mean in this.

A friend told me that one time she was cutting a fish to be cooked dinner, and while she’s still not done, she curiously checked her facebook out. When she returned, the fish was gone and heard the cat chomping on something. It was the fish and the cat is almost finished with it.

Another friend told that her baby niece lost a finger for inserting it in a socket outlet because the nanny apparently hasn’t noticed it. The nanny's job is to be with the baby and nothing else. How could she have not noticed? This is not acceptable.

My friend, however, wasn't sure if the nanny was at the time using her facebook, but since the nanny is very fond of it, the possibility of using facebook causing the incident is very likely to be.

I’ve seen teenagers having thousands of friends. Somehow this makes them feel popular.

Honestly, I couldn’t understand the reason behind having so many friends. Thousands of them? Unless you’re a celebrity, having so many friends to me is incomprehensible. You couldn’t even know if the person you’ve befriended is a real person.

This is so cheap. You are risking too much here. If the facebook account you’re using is a genuine account of you, then you are risking your own safety the more.

What really troubles me is that some of them will bother adjusting their privacy settings to be on the safer side but yet approves anyone who invites them. What’s the point, then?

By forgetting or not knowing how to adjust your privacy settings, you could accidentally reveal secrets through your posts. I’ve seen posts that obviously aren’t supposed to be read by certain people.

My brother-in-law for example was supposed to be hiding a secret admirer from my wife but accidentally have revealed it by posting indecent comment posts. It was a disaster.

Imagine the possibilities this could do. You could get fired from your job too if you’re too careless.

Productive Risk

Facebook, without a doubt, is one of the biggest reason nowadays to procrastinate. At least, this is true to some.

When someone gets bored, he goes to facebook. When someone feels lazy, he goes to facebook. When people likes talking, chatting with their friends, they go to facebook. When someone needs to find inspiration for a future project, he also goes to facebook. When a person is in a middle of something, he opens his facebook.

People just couldn’t help it. There never came a day, or even an hour when they did not open their facebook.

Facebook has already preoccupied the minds of people that it already had allotted a huge space in their everyday lives, often not being aware that this had already replaced their supposed-to-be more meaningful tasks and activities.

Professional Risks

I know of employers who despise the use of facebook in their office premises. In contrast, I know of people who can’t live a day without opening it. There might be employees like these in an environment where browsing of facebook is an unacceptable professional behavior. It’s a job termination waiting to happen.

There have already been employees who were sacked out because of their posts on facebook not knowing that their boss is one of its recipients.

By the way, employers nowadays browse their applicant's or prospect employee’s facebook account hoping that they can discern something from it about the applicant.

If you thought you’ve just had a nice interview, and you feel that from that interview, you’re very likely to be hired. Think again. Unfortunately, that’s not the end of it. Check if you have displeasing posts on facebook and immediately delete them. They can be used as a reference check of your character.

Remember, you are what you post.

Our company has just lost a prospect upcoming project from a client.

Our company, as much as possible, would not want to dispose the information or conversation they’ve had with the client. They are already having an agreement that our company would be their consulting firm and designer of the upcoming project.

However, we recently have learned that we lost the project because one of our colleagues had carelessly spread the information that we will have a project soon out of sheer joy. Competitors then have learned that that particular client has a project in mind, and as a result, they have contacted the client and have offered a better package than ours. We lost it.

It could have sustained our company in this struggling economy for years. That could have secured some of our colleagues’ jobs who now resigned because of the said loss. The guy who posted it no longer works in our firm.

Social Compromise

Facebook is making a lot of people introverts. It has changed the rules of social interaction. The advent of social media has converted many people to introverts even the extroverts themselves. It’s just unfortunately inevitable.

People now meet new people through social media. They chat in it, hang out in it, build relationships in it. While I am not against social media interaction, I just want to say that I still believe nothing compares to physical social bonding.

You can never truly know the other person by just pretentious typewritten words or a distant video chat. You have to be with one another to know them and genuinely be friends with them.

I have mentioned earlier that people now meet other people through internet and build relationships through it. Many have already been deluded to believe that the other person is what he/she purported to be. At the event of meeting, to their surprise, the person is totally not the person he/she knew online. He/she could have been that person physically, but not the inner person the other knew of him/her.

Some people also made fake accounts to lure others into believing that he/she was the person they see in the profile picture. And so, meeting physically will never be recommended by them.

Facebook could also be a haven for infidelity. Spouses can make confidential accounts enabling them to see other men or ladies.

Can you imagine that? Even the time for family is compromised.

Daddies now spend less time playing outdoors with their kids. The family no longer watches TV together. Sometimes, one family member may skip a dinner because of facebook. Some children start declining family outdoor activities and prefer being left thinking of the internet freedom he/she’d have. Parents don’t help their children’s educational progress and leaves it totally to them because of the preoccupation they’re in.

Sometimes, even parents when asked by their children to go out decline the bonding invitation and leaves their children in frustration.

This is sad but it’s truly happening.

The Extent of Freedom

Perhaps, the most vulnerable group to this particular threat is the younger generation. The young minds our teens have are not only very creative but also are still immature. Most of them are still hungry for attention and praise from their peers, and sometimes, this motivates them to post anything they want just to impress them and get attention.

I've heard a story from a friend where he got infuriated on his nephew because of the post his nephew made about his wife. The post was a picture intended to mock and make fun of his wife, which of course can make anyone get angry for such a disrespectful act.

Not all of your friends share the same beliefs and culture that you have. Some of them might be from another country, or practices a different belief system.

I’ve seen some posts of my friends which I believe are discriminatory particularly to a group yet they themselves profess to be part of that group. Whenever I see one, I just comment on it saying it is discriminatory. They will then delete the post they’ve made in embarrassment.

Think first before you post.

Closing Remarks

Just be responsible on using your facebook. Be careful of whom you befriend with. Think first before you post anything and be sure to only share it with the appropriate persons. Choose wisely which facebook apps you wish to use.

And lastly, do not compromise your time with family.

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