Facebook Divorce

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/hyderabad/Break-up-in-marriage-Blame-it-on-your-social-network-site/articleshow/7125184.cms

  This article is about how Facebook is involved in one out of five divorces in America. Facebook is one of the primary sources of evidence in 66% of divorce cases. Pictures and videos off of Facebook are admissible in court. Using pictures of young married people with classmates, friends, and colleagues makes it easier to charge with infidelity. In a recent case, a man took photos of his wife to court of her with male colleagues before they were married and used them against her in court.
  This article is about how Facebook is involved in one out of five divorces in America. Facebook is one of the primary sources of evidence in 66% of divorce cases. Pictures and videos off of Facebook are admissible in court. Using pictures of young married people with classmates, friends, and colleagues makes it easier to charge with infidelity. In a recent case, a man took photos of his wife to court of her with male colleagues before they were married and used them against her in court.

  I believe that this issue is important because there is no longer any privacy in young couples' relationships.  Jealousy is a natural feeling, and when seeing pictures of their husbands or wives with the opposite sex, it starts fights and causes the relationship to crumble. If couples' respected each other's privacy and trusted each other, I don't think that this would be an issue.

  I want to know why couples' give their partner their passwords to these websites. Obviously people want to be optimistic about their relationships but they should also be realistic. If things don't work out with their partners, and love becomes hate, their ex's can and will use pictures off the internet against them. I also want to know why Facebook can be used as evidence in court. Pictures can be taken from any time period and can also be manipulated. I don't understand why Facebook pictures are admissible in court. 

You've Got To Have 150 Friends

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/26/opinion/26dunbar.html

  This article is mainly about how Facebook has revolutionized how we interact with one another. Scientists have discovered Dunbar's number, which is the number of people we can have meaningful relationships with; around 150. People leave your life and enter your life, allowing someone who was once one of the most important people in your life to be one of the most distant of your 150 friends. Facebook helps to connect people, who otherwise we would lose contact with. The article states that in the real world, we devote 40% of our time each week to the 5 most important people we know, and that it is impossible to have more than 5 best friends when interacting face to face, one person at a time. Facebook allows us to speak to many people at once.
  Dunbar's number is very thought provoking, simply because it makes a lot of sense. There are few people that I interact with every day. Having more Facebook friends does not mean that one has more friends in the real world, because they cannot maintain more than approximately 150 relationships. This means that they could know a person, but never really interact.
  I believe that this is one of the most positive aspects of Facebook, simply because it allows us to connect with people around the world that we normally would lose contact with. Personally, I met people from many countries when I was in Africa, and Facebook has let me continue to contact with them. I also know many people (from past sports teams, vacations, etc.) that I can still talk to because of the social networking site.

Facebook Child Pornography

http://www.smh.com.au/technology/technology-news/policing-predators-vigilantes-blast-facebook-for-failing-to-protect-children-20101214-18w8m.html

  This article is about Facebook predators who are sharing child pornography pictures and videos, and internet safety experts who believe that the social networking site has failed to put an end to it all. A group page has been made, called Social Network Safety Watch (SoNeSaW) in which they search out pedophiles and report them until their account has been deleted. Unfortunately, it usually takes 50 to 100 reports before a profile is removed, and it can still take a few days after that. Then, the person who has been reported can simply make a new profile, come back and do it all again. Some in the group SoNeSaW want the US government to lay charges on those swapping child pornography.
  Unfortunately, online predators can easily get to children without them knowing. They pose as children by using pictures of young kids on their profile and listing that they are still in school on their page. This can help them to convince their victims to send naked pictures or videos of themselves to them. This article states that there are over 500 million users on Facebook, and there is no way that the social networking site can keep up with policing all of them.
  I believe that this issue is important because it should be so easy to find and arrest those posting child pornography on Facebook, simply because there are so many users, and people should be able to find the pedophiles. Unfortunately, they are able to block their profiles so only their Facebook friends can see it. I think that Facebook should hire people (if they haven't already) to find the dangerous people using the site and get them removed permanently.
  I want to know why Facebook hasn't made it so that, if someone gets reported multiple times on charges of child pornography, they are banned permanently from the computer they are using. This would make the search for pedophiles seem much less hopeless, because every time someone got deleted, we would know that they weren't coming back.

Chatroulette

  http://www.eaglenews.org/taking-your-chances-with-chatroulette-1.2418213

  This article is about the social network Chatroulette, in which you are connected with random people around the world. In 2010, Chatroulette was the top searched website on Google. This article shows that even though there are many messed up people that you may be connected with, such as naked men, or people threatening to hurt children or animals, many students like to sign onto the website just for the entertainment purposes. Chatroulette was first created in 2009, with 500 people a day when it first debuted. Now the website has over 1.5 million users a day.
  I believe that this website is both a genius and repulsive idea. I think that if there weren't as many frightening people logging on to the website, those who use Chatroulette could learn more about cultural differences and meet many new and exciting people. Unfortunately, I think, the website has been used in a sick way, causing those to go on to just expect to see many naked men and trolls (one who deliberately causes maximum destruction and damage in a conversation on the Internet). There have been users who have threatened to harm their children unless those who have been connected to them remove their clothing. There have also been others who have placed a bird in front of a snake and threatened to let the bird be killed unless, once again, the opposite party removes their clothing.
  I want to know why a website like this hasn't been made, just with more protection and monitoring. If there was a website where all the naked men were banned, then people could actually meet someone on the Internet and get to know them. Being able to see the person you are talking to can make it much safer, because you know what they look like, and their age. If someone made a website like this, it might even be safer than social networks like Facebook, where you cannot see who you add.

Facebook Pros

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/newfoundland-labrador/story/2010/12/20/nl-amber-alert-facebook-122.html

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5i1YDxbwr5sBWN48HUGx9GJsokVUw?docId=CNG.392d1ff158beced710b2f76ae920bf97.531

  These articles are about two positives about Facebook. I put them together because of the length of the articles. The first is about an Amber Alert page that has been put up in Newfoundland and Labrador which helps to find missing children. It uses radio, television, and electronic road signs to help raise awareness and provide information that could be useful to find missing children.
  The second article is about how Facebook (and Twitter also) help to contain the spread of pandemics. From people being able to communicate with others, messages from worried local populations can help to detect an emerging pandemic.
  I think these are very good ideas for many reasons. Being able to communicate with people around the world can allow us to detect potentially harmful diseases, thus saving lives. Also, if people get together on Facebook to discuss missing children, it could help to find them faster. In the article, it says that the majority of children (over 90%) murdered by kidnappers are killed within the first 24 hours. With a web page like this, it can allow whole provinces to keep watch for missing children. This could also save lives.
  I want to know if the Amber Alert page is going to spread to other parts of Canada, as well as the rest of the world. It is a quick and easy web page, which could help us stop kidnappers and murderers. I also want to know if there will be scientists or doctors monitoring social networks to detect pandemics and save lives.
 

Jessi Slaughter

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Technology/jessi-slaughter-viral-tweens-violent-online-rant-spurs/story?id=11224731&tqkw=&tqshow=GMA&page=1

  This article is about a seventh grader from Florida, who posted videos on the internet addressing all the people who were cyber bullying her. She said many inappropriate things in her videos, such as "Because you hater-b*****s? You're just, like, jealous of me."This caused even more negative attention, and many anonymous online users found her home address, her full name, and her phone number and Jessi Slaughter started receiving death threats.
  She posted another video, this one in which she was crying and her parents yelling could be heard in the background. Her father appeared on video and started yelling all of the people who had been threatening his daughter. When the threats didn't subside, Jessi Slaughter was put into police protection. A detective came to her house and taught her how to use the computer properly. Jessi went on the show Good Morning America, in which she said she was glad that she had posted the videos because it cleared a lot of things up, and that she would continue using the Internet despite the death threats.
  I think that this issue is important because it proves how powerless people are to anonymous people on the Internet. An 11 year old girl was receiving death threats for posting a video that was offensive, but completely harmless. Obviously, according to this story, and many like it (such as Katja Puschnik, the girl who was anonymously posted throwing puppies into a river, only days later was receiving death threats), no matter who you are people can find out everything about you through the Internet.
  I want to know why there isn't an age limit on social networks on the Internet. I think that it is the parents' responsibility to know what their children are doing on the computer. I also want to know how these people are able to find out information about everyone they want to, because I find that very terrifying.

Cyberstalking

http://www.uticaod.com/topstories/x1499832246/Utican-Jason-Fiume-in-Maine-court-for-cyberstalking-his-wife

  This article is about Jason Fiume, a 27 year old from Utica, who cyber stalked his wife. He constantly called her, sent her sixty messages on Facebook over twelve days, and text messages. His wife, Megan Fiume was forced to flee to her parents' home in Maine, change her email address, and her phone number. Jason Fiume was charged in 2009 with third-degree assault after authorities claimed that he attacked his wife. When he was released from jail in June, 2010, his wife received over 100 electronic messages from him in one day. Jason Fiume has pleaded not guilty to these charges, and his trial will take place in February.
  I believe that this issue, and issues like it are important because the Internet allows us to find people much easier than without. People set on finding a specific person can check Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, Google; anything they need to find information about someone. Unlike this story, many may not even know that they are being stalked. Sometimes, cyberstalking can even lead to death. This is such an important matter because it is incredibly dangerous, and difficult to prevent.
  I want to know how the government is planning to stop cyberstalking. Fortunately, there are things being done, such as privacy blocks on Facebook. I also want to know if there are support groups or protection programs for victims of cyberstalking.

Teenage Suicide

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Parenting/girls-teen-suicide-calls-attention-cyberbullying/story?id=9685026&page=2

 
Mean Girls: Cyberbullying Blamed For Teen Suicides is an article about the affects that cyber bullying have on teenagers as well as preteens. Phoebe Prince, a young fifteen year old girl from Massachusetts, was led to death caused by girls sending nasty messages to her through the internet. These girls didn’t stop after Phoebe had died. There was a memorial page on Facebook for her, in which some people sent horrible messages that had to be deleted.
  Phoebe was not the only person led to death by online bullying. In this article, it also talks about how a thirteen year old girl killed herself when the mother of her former friend created an account online and harassed her in 2006. Three other children, aged thirteen, eleven, and nine hung themselves because of online bullying.
  I believe that this issue matters because it can be completely eliminated and unavoidable if parents keep a closer eye on what their children do on the internet. These situations are unfortunate because the internet allows people to taunt and bully people that they normally wouldn’t in person. The internet gives people courage because they don’t have to face the victim. Far worse things can be said on the internet, where they have time to think about their threats before sending it. This is one of the worst aspects of social networking.
  I want to know what people have done to try to stop online bullying, especially the families and friends close to those who have commited suicide because of it. I would also like to know if those who have caused these suicides have been severely punished and I hope that people are doing something to stop it.

Affects of Social Networking On Society

  My topic is the affects of social networking on society, in which I think there are many interesting aspects. I believe that there are very good things as well as very bad things about social networking. Websites such as Facebook, and Windows Live allow you to talk to people around the world for free. This is a huge step in technology and I personally find it amazing. Unfortunately, there are also many things that cause a bad affect on society. Teenage suicide, cyber bullying, social stalking, and safety for children are just a few examples. In this project, I will be talking about both sides of networking, the good and the bad. In the end, I want people to be able to make their own decisions about the internet.