Social networks are used to connect users to family, friends and new people through mutual acquaintances and common interests. Facebook is one of the most popular used social networking sites as of today. It has been attracting people of all ages to interact with each other to exchange views about topics like politics, news, music and more. However, people are increasingly sharing more personal information on Facebook than they did in the past. Sharing personal information on Facebook can put peoples' safety at risk and it can reveal information others should not know about.
The lack of physical interaction provides a false sense of security. Facebook allows others to know a person's contact information, interests, habits, and whereabouts. The consequences of sharing this information can be dangerous because it can lead to stalking. Stalkers can hurt others due to the accessibility and amount of personal information available. For instance, my one friend Diana had a bad experience for sharing too much information on Facebook. She's the kind of person to share her whereabouts on it. One day she updated her status saying "On my way to Applebee's"; little did she know that a weird guy was stalking her Facebook and followed her to Applebee's. The guy approached Diana and told her he had been following because he liked her. If Diana wouldn't have shared her whereabouts, the weird guy wouldn't have followed her.
Despite the dangers of displaying too many information, adding people you don't know to your friends list is a bad idea. I recently accepted my best friend's uncle friend request on Facebook. Since I know her, I thought it would be okay to have him as a friend. However, I was wrong. This person would not stop harassing me and messaging. He comments in all of my posts and questions me about my relationship with my boyfriend. It is very uncomfortable and scary because he is an old man.
