EzzellSes493

Why is Facebook so often inside news and why did it generate so much passion; after all, isn't it simply a site?

I guess the most apparent response to this subject is 'no, it is not only a website'. It is a place, a home, an expression of style, a space to connect and possibility to share. As a result, supporters of Facebook guard their to certainly its use, defending it as ardently mainly because any heavily fortified 'Castle'. However, with equal valour, others (dwelling within Castles) seek to dismantle it, or at the very least, impose restrictions on the use. I realise the castle analogy may look unusual given Facebook's objectives of open communication. However I use it here to illustrate the simplest way attitudinal walls have generated a grand divide between those who understand how to use Facebook, those who think they find out how to use Facebook and those who don't find out how to use Facebook.

Michael DuBasso

It has been indicated that Facebook (as well as other forms of social media) could very well be useful in emergency and disaster situations given it offers the opportunity for 'real-time' updates which are not restricted by conventional media regulations. However, even as I type this I am able to hear the collective outcry these who suggest social media could have devastating consequences in those same situations, especially when 'untrained amateurs' or perhaps 'rubber necking' glory seekers offer false or confusing information. Of course there can be the danger of exposure to tragic circumstances involving close relatives before 'official notification' will be given. Worse, are the bullies who use Facebook as an approach of torture and even more serious still, are the heartless (faceless) those that deface tribute pages.

These arguments are repeatedly raised (particularly as a result of parents, politicians and school administrators who you should not use or understand, Facebook), as evidence that Facebook's use must be restricted or even stopped. But, isn't this a event of blaming the program, when really, it is the wielder on the tool? After all, a simple fork (designed for eating utensil) may become a toy in the hand from the child in a sandpit, or a weapon from the hand of an attacker.

It is with this at heart that I offer a pair of suggestions, one to parents, politicians and school moderators; and the other to the team who administer Facebook.