Remember the good old day's of writting letters as a form of communication (like who still does that anyway) has changed with the growing excitement of the "informational technology age". This day an age and technology getting faster and better has lead our form of letter writting to transform into e-mail. And as the technological age has come head on it has lead us to the expansion of such social networking web sites like Myspace.com and Facebook.com. And now has given birth to a new way to communicate and that is Twitter.com.

Most of us have either experienced these web sites or have sites as well for our own reasons. But as we get better and technology improves we will see a more drastic need to communicate in a quicker, faster manner. I know my grandparents can recall the time when all you did was write letters and personally send cards, and as things change some of our elderly are not willing to accept these changes, but have adapted to e-mail more for comunication. Another form of communication is the instant messaging services available by such providers like American Online, Yahoo.com and ICQ and other companies who provide our communication needs. But it is social networking that continues to lead the way in our lives, because it allows us to see a snap shot into the soul of others we know.

For many of us we understood communication to be either e-mail, instant messaging, or communicating on Myspace or Facebook and now Twitter, has yet expanded again to an online world called "Second Life" as a way to meet people or co-workers and colleges in a cyber environment. All it takes is an avatar representation of you (representation meaning look-a-like) image can now enter this world to meet with others in a social unatroosive environment. I guess one could argue that how would dating services like Match.com and other services who match you up with a potential mate can be compared to meeting in a social environment online.

With the ever presence of social networking places imerging, it is our responsibility to moitor not just as parents what we do, but what our kids do as well. Most recently Myspace.com has intiated their do-dilligence in user recognization and has allowed users who are under the age of 18 years to not sign-up because of the dangers that have learked on their web site with certain users looking for under-age children. Facebook followed, by revisiting their privacy settings and have made changes to users vulnerability to people you don't know contacting you. As a parent, I know the dangers that leark out their and know when my daughter is online I am aware of her presence and know that she is only viewing child appropriate web stes.

But with the number of children my daughters own age I am glad the only main concern she has is wanting a cell phone which I will cover in a later hub. It has been explained to me by other online users that if your child is under the age of fourteen, should they be allowed a computer in their bedroom? I draw the line to that, I want to know as many of us do as to what our children are doing online. Their was a mother who had no idea what her child was doing on Myspace.com and she created her own profile just to check-up on her child, and it was posted in an article I read, the mother even made a date just to be able to spend time with her own son. Is this the kind of parent you want to be.

Social networking is popular, but as it's popularity grows so does the couriosity of our influeintial children who can be captivated by branching out on their own one day. The eyes of captivity will soon be answered when social networking becomes proper for them not at an early age. Chances are our kids will know more about social networking then we will ever know. As many of us who have read or seen on television, that the women who falsified her name, used a computer without permission of the court, manipulated the system by convencing a fourteen year old that the world would be better of without her, the end result, the girl killed herself. The family was left with many answers, but since her passing the family has initaiated the Megan's Law, which prevents people who bully online.

So why do we continue to allow people to create profiles and have access to harrasing others online, it stands to reason that bullying is not just what we felt in high school if you were called a nerd or geek and made to feel inferior. Chances are we now need to take a more pro-active approch to what our kids see and do. But can Social neworks change?

Some social networking sites like Myspace.com and facebook.com are slowly making improvements, but us as parents can't accept just what the web sites do we have to do our part as well. Social networking is not just these two web sites, but recently another web site I stumbled across has yet to be evaluated and that is "second life". Who has heard or used second life? I have not, so I hope nothing gets reported about that, but if you have comments about it feel free to post them below.

So now that I have shared some of the dowsides, what are some of the positives about social networking. It can be a fun place to meet friend, co-workers, and others we know if we sign-up for these sites. Chances are as long as your honest and not plagerizing your information you post online then nothing can happen to you. Always watch your children online, chances are their i a preditor out their looring their hook into them and conviencing them that what they read is true. Make sure that your personal or family computer is in plain view of your eyes. Some people I have spoken too have suggested that the best place is in a family room or a place in your home that you have full access to their communications online. Another good tip is install personal passwords and keep it well hidden from eyes who need not know the information and change it often. Another option is to install proper keystroking programs on your computer, so that way you will have a record of all your childs where abouts online. If your child wishes to establish an e-mail account make sure it is shared with you, so you have full access to it and make sure what is being communicated can be apropriate.

Last but not least, make sure that you utilize the computer parential setting's, this option is great for moitoring a childs online usage as well as their computer usage. In this day in age we need to make sure our children are safe from poential harm when socializing online.

So where do we go from here after the negatives and positives have been documented, we can safely assume we all as parents know what our kids are up to. But as social networking continues to imerge and become the forefront of our lives we still need to be aware that no matter wher, when or how we meet it is up to how we use these social network sites.

I hope all of you enjoy reading this, I know it at times seems like a boring piece of writing, but when we are talking about social networking it is important to know all we can, so please do research, use proper visability, and make sure that what you write rather it be personal or private is to be what you are not what you are not. Feel free to comment below and alwas feel free if your a fellow hubber to add yourself to my fan base and I will do my best to view your hubs as well.

Thanks again