#1 Social Networking Sites

Beware of Facebook!

Facebook is fun! Last year, I finally joined up to see what the fuss was all about. My husband didn’t want me or my daughter to join Facebook because he said that your privacy could be invaded. For our daughter he had heard stories of young girls being friends with older men and secretly meeting up and running away. All my daughter’s friends were on and even my mother had an account.  So, last fall, when I was home alone doing 3 online courses, I decided it was time.

Getting an account was very simple, but you do have to put in some personal information and give an email account, so I got my first Hotmail account.  Once I was signed up, friend requests starting coming in. Soon I was able to talk to relatives and see pictures of my cousins in Toronto and Montreal. At work, I could keep up on people’s birthdays, vacations and special events. I enjoyed viewing the videos that friends put up on the wall and sent messages to my friend in Carbonear, who I don’t see very often. I even found an old high school buddy that I haven’t been in contact with in twenty years. I quickly learned how to post photos and make an album, plus tag them. Now, I post pictures all the time! I did make a short video of my tree swaying in the front yard during the Igor hurricane and posted it on Facebook. It sure took a long while to download and I was holding my breath the whole time. I am not worried about displaying personal photos because I know all the friends and there is no security breach there. A couple of times I did a chat with friends, but I really haven’t delved into special functions. Sometimes, I get invited into doing a survey or some other game, but I have stayed away from those activities.

A couple of months ago we let my daughter join Facebook. She wasn’t all that excited because the thrill had essentially gone with her friends…..it wasn’t a big deal anymore.  I was very careful not to let her reveal too much information. We set up a fake address and phone number. I debated revealing her real birthday. However, if you don’t list the correct one, your friends can’t wish you a happy birthday. She doesn’t show personal pictures of herself on the site and her profile picture is our family pet. I have been on her site and she has only invited friends she knows. She is careful not to say too much, because she knows that I can see her wall anytime.

Anyway, at this point I have been using Facebook as a social tool. I don’t stay on too long, but I do check it every couple of days to see what’s on the go. Recently, I saw a TV. program about Facebook where a boy had his account hacked. Someone got in and messed up his profile. The techie person showed the mother how to set up privacy settings so that this would not happen to her son again. The next day I got an email from my sister in Calgary who told me I should change my privacy settings. This convinced me to go right away and change the privacy settings to friends only. This was a simple thing to do so I told my daughter to do the same.  I didn’t realize that anyone could view my information. I thought that only my friends could view it….boy was I wrong! Today, I feel a little bit safer!

Hi Joanne, I looked for you on Facebook, and found a couple of people with names like yours. The ones with profile pictures weren’t you, but there was one with no picture. I didn’t put in a request because I wasn’t sure if it was you. If you want to be my friend send me a request! My email is valeriesb@hotmail.ca You can also send me a request through my Facebook page here:http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=hp#!/profile.php?id=100001691580280

Here is a screen shot of my Facebook page!

Next post- Facebook in the classroom!! Are we ready for that!