Facebook, like much of the Internet, is a great innovation! It offers you an opportunity to interact with an extraordinarily expansive universe of new people. You can sculpt your on-line identity and learn more about how the Internet and its various programs work to create new relationships and communities. For the entrepreneurially minded, it might be an introduction into business as you think of how to "market" yourself. Individuals with particular social identities or hobbies, say as a Christian gay person or someone who likes a narrow range of military on-line games, can use it to find friends with common interests. Facebook is a cool tool. People make the technology, not only in the fundamental sense of discovery and invention, but also in the sense that they make it happen and that they contour it in ways that reflect our basic humanity. Our basic humanity is for better or for worse, however. It is vulnerable to context, circumstance and interpretation. And so it is important to remember that Facebook is malleable and creates as many obligations as it does opportunities for expression. Below are five concepts to keep in mind when you use Facebook, if not other programs of personal creativity such as chat rooms or MySpace, on the Internet.
Facebook, along with much of the Internet, is a great innovation that allows users to express their humanity and an opportunity to create new communities. As such it represents a forum in which one can make choices about their identity, at least insofar as one chooses to represent themselves publicly. That freedom does not suggest that one can do so with impunity, however. Because we live in a society in which expression is judged in legal, policy and even personal ways, it is important to remember the consequences of that expression no matter how ephemeral or fun in the moment it might seem to be. This essay offers some things to contemplate when using Facebook, all of which can be summed up easily in a "Golden Rule." Don't say anything about someone else that you would not want said about yourself. And be gentle with yourself too! What might seem fun or spontaneous at 18, given caching technologies, might prove to be a liability to an on-going sense of your identity over the longer course of history. Have fun and make productive use of these new, exciting technologies, but remember that technology does not absolve one of responsibility. Behind every device, behind every new program, behind every technology is a law, a social norm, a business practice that warrants thoughtful consideration.
Always verify their identity either online or offline.
Don’t fall for the ‘collect as many friends as possible’ game that amateur Facebook users often get into.
Review your full list of friends once in a while (I know it’s daunting and who’s got the time anyway?) to ensure you didn’t add someone by mistake. There’s also a big chance that someone on your list was special to you for a particular moment and that’s no longer the case. You should not hesitate to remove him/her from your list.
Adopt a rule for yourself of considering who is really your ‘friend’. For example for me, I have received numerous invitation from co-workers or ex-coworkers. I have decided that I’ll use Facebook only with people I considered friends and not co-workers or people I’ll never meet again.
Change your privacy setting especially in the Privacy > Search section. This screen defines what they can see when people wants to add you as a friend. If you’re super-paranoid, you are likely only allow friends on search visibility. But I can tell you this also blocks old school friends from ever finding you. And so my approach to this is to allow Everyone to be able to search and get to you. However, what you need to control is how much they see
Look at the name and picture carefully. Also click on the “Name” to see the complete profile. If the profile has little details, then chances are it could be a made-up account.
Look for the “You have no friends in common” line. If this person is a friend of yours, there should be some connections.
If this person who’s inviting you is a brand new Facebook user with no friends, then pick up a phone. If he/she is a real friend, you’d probably have something in common to chat about. Call him/her up and find out if there’s a genuine request from them. Always be careful rather than be sorry.
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