week 8:social networking ... issues

Is it true that younger generations embrace social networking sites yet the older generations do not? Check out this TIME magazine article ... http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1879169,00.html. Grossman writes a humourous article but I believe that there is some truth here and that "Old Fogies" are catching on. Let's be fair ... the younger generation has grown up with the internet and the older generations have not. The latter should be given time to "catch up", to learn and adapt to this new technology. Many are becoming quite good at using the internet for on-line communication ... I would guess that most began with email correspondence and, finding it quick and easy, were looking for what was next in this exciting new world. In a very current article written by Amy Porterfield http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/social-media-differences-among-teens-boomers-and-moms-new-study-findings/, we can see that in 2009 there was a jump in the Baby Boomers use of social media ... "Forty-six percent of Boomer respondents said they maintained a social network profile (compared to 30% in 2007, according to a recent Deloitte study). "

The privacy issue of social networking sites is an interesting and controversial issue ... do all facebook users read The Terms of Use? Are people aware of the Beacon? In this article http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/tech/hightech/facebook-beacon.html
we are told that Facebook has a huge database of consumer information and this new system allows advertisers to get at it. Companies that sign up for the plan will be able to target their ads based upon the information Facebook collects. Collecting information? Is that o.k. with everyone? Does that mean collecting all information ... like photos that have been posted? Isn't my photo, my photo? Maybe not. Yikes, that one crosses the line for me. Check out The Terms of Use. Social networking is great ... quick, easy and very handy ... but do we sacrifice privacy in order to socialize on-line? Perhaps, but for some, it is worth it and they can't live without it, for others it is not. It is a personal choice.