Social Networking Sites: What's the Risky Behind Socialization?

Have you ever been on Social Networking Sites (SNS)? Or have you ever received an invitation mail to join SNS?
SNS have been the most popular sites in internet world these days. The idea behind SNS is sharing interests in online community. According to Google, social networks Bebo and MySpace were the most searched-for terms in 2006.
MySpace get 300000 people signing up everyday with 50 million mails per day (more than Yahoo, Hotmail and Google), while Facebook receive more than 14 photos uploaded everyday.
Have you asked yourself what's the impact of the information that you leave in the internet? The risk of identity theft is high due to leaving of the internet footprints. Internet fraudsters can join up your information and generate username and password of your other online accounts. According to internet security experts, three quarters of Facebook users leave their profiles open to all risking identity fraud. Last year, Sky News reported, in every ten seconds someone in Britain become a victim of cyber crime.
While some young teenagers use these sites to post pictures of them drinking and practically naked, the SNS does not have control over kid’s doings online, rather its parental responsibility. Here, the SNS probably invites sexual predators. What if teens can lie about their age and start dating adults?
October 2006, a teenager named Megan Meier from Missouri, USA committed suicide after being teased in her MySpace page by a fake member. The police arrested Aaron Clow, 21, for having sex with 13 year old girl. It is suspected that a man was contacting underage girls via MySpace.
It has been a common thing for people to lie their identities in these sites. What is the effect of contacting the person who lied to you about his name, age and residence? Can we term it selfishness? As you he can get to know the real you, but he does not want likewise? Or may be they value their personal information than you do. One such occurrence was reported by news.com that, Tom Anderson, the founder of MySpace having a fake profile on SNS.
People registered in these sites can form and join groups with different interest. Apart from forming groups like, college-mates, awful groups can be made also. For instance, people can organize to form hackers, gays, lesbians and even terrorist groups.
Some companies started to use SNS as the tool in selection and de-selection process in hiring. Posting indecent photos of you or you doing something illegal can lead you to some trouble. Apart from the possibility of your boss viewing your weekend album, you photos can be altered and used without your awareness. For example, last year, 20-year-old Jason Johnson was expelled from the University of the Cumberlands after revealing he is gay on SNS.
Have you had a time to read on the privacy policy of these sites? Bear in mind that the information you entered can be used by the SNS without consulting you. For instance, one of the statements in a SNS’s privacy policy, Hi5.com states that”...Hi5 may analyze any collected information for its own internal purposes. In addition, Hi5 may remove personally identifying information from collected information to render it anonymous. Hi5 may use Anonymous Information for any purpose and disclose Anonymous Information in its discretion...”
There has been a rumour that, SNS’s data are used by the government for monitoring their citizens. Last year, MySpace agreed to give away to the states the names, addresses and online profiles of identified convicted sex offenders having account.