Dear Editor
I am writing to discuss whether socializing on Facebook does more harm than good to the users. Nowadays, socializing on Facebook is very popular. Almost everyone is one of the users of Facebook. However, is it true that Facebook is so good that everyone should sign up for this socializing website?
Facebook is considered to be a place for the users to express their feelings or opinion of some issues. Users of Facebook could share their lives to their friends by uploading photos or videos on the website. Besides, users could also show their points of view on a particular topic freely without any restriction, and others could also comment on their opinions. Therefore, Facebook is a convenient platform for users to convey their thought to others.
Another possible good brought by Facebook is that it enhances users’ social network. The social networking site is an international website which means that users could approach people all around the world. Compared with blogs, Facebook is a much easier and faster way to make new friends or find old friends. Somebody even claimed that he successfully liaised with a friend whom he lost contact with for over 30 years. Therefore, people generally think that Facebook could boost users’ social intercourse.
Although socializing on Facebook really brings some good to the users, it is undoubtedly true that it also brings some harm at the same time.
It is extremely likely that Facebook could not protect users’ privacy. Unlike other social networking websites, Facebook does not provide the function of setting passwords to the uploaded information. That means one’s privacy can be invaded by other users anytime and anywhere without any difficulty. They could download the user’s photos and videos freely even though without his/her permission. It is clear that users’ privacy is not protected.
Apparently, users could get lots of information from Facebook, including the harmful one, so users will do the wrong things or even commit crimes after being influenced by the unhealthy messages. For example, a mass-suicide group was started on Facebook and one of the members really tried to commit suicide. It obviously shows that there are potential dangers of socializing on Facebook.
Taking both the advantages and disadvantages of socializing on Facebook into considersation, I think that its harm outweigh the good. It is because no matter how many things we do, we still could not totally avoid all unwholesome messages and it may cause long-term effects on the users.
Yours faithfully
Mandy Leung
Mandy Leung