Facebook dangers

Facebook is one of many blogging systems that people of all ages from all over the world find themselves getting involved in. Blogs first began as a sort of online diary where you could share your daily activities with close friends and families. They then expanded to include the ability to upload photos, attach youtube.com videos, and play games. Facebook is now the most widely used blog that keeps you connected with the people that you care about, even if you are living far apart.

To give you a better image of how popular Facebook actually is, try to imagine the 70+ million users worldwide that have joined this site. It ranks in the top 10 list of just about every search engine, in terms of traffic. The popularity of Facebook continues to spread and you'd be hard pressed to encounter someone who wasn't already a user of this site or hadn't heard about it in the news.

To anyone who is new to the online world of blogs, jumping onto a site like Facebook looks like a lot of fun. There are plenty of games and activities that you can enjoy with your friends, like raising and fighting dragons, keeping pets that you can race, feed, and take care of, or make up quizzes and jokes to amuse you in moments of boredom. However, there are also several reasons why you should use this site with caution.

One major concern with Facebook is the lack of privacy. You supposedly control your privacy settings and have the say over who sees what in your own little space. But be warned that when you share photo galleries with your friends, their friends and associates will also be able to view what you've posted. Facebook accounts also tend to turn up during searches on search engines like google.com. If you're curious to know whether there is information about you on any blogs (including Facebook), performing a search might display some interesting (or disturbing) results. Due to the issue of privacy, Facebook has been blocked by many universities, work places, the Ontario Government, and even countries like Syria, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates.

Another negative aspect of Facebook (and any other blog) is how addictive the service becomes. Users fall into the habit of continuously checking their account for updates, sometimes up to several times a day. Other social activities drop in terms of importance and communicational skills go out the window.

Perhaps these types of blogs would not be such a bad thing if they were used in moderation and with security and privacy issues being taken into consideration first and foremost.