Social media has been a great way for me to stay connected with friends and family. I probably began using social media when MySpace was still considered popular, mainly because of other friends using it. MSN messenger was another way that I'd communicate online on a regular basis. Nowadays, Skype and Facebook have become great ways for me to stay in contact with family and friends that I don't see on a regular basis. The immediacy of these kinds of communication has a big appeal to me, and obviously countless others.
Privacy on these sites has definitely started to concern me. I try to get around these kinds of issues by uploading as little factual information about myself as possible, but I feel that perhaps collection of personal data might become something that we just have to accept when using sites like Facebook. Recent research (O'Brien and Torres, 2012) seems to suggest that there is a growing concern and awareness of privacy issues online.
References
O'Brien, D and Ann M. Torres 2012, 'Social Networking and Online Privacy: Facebook Users' Perceptions', Irish Journal of Management, vol. 31, no. 2, pp. 63-97.
Update -
An interesting article on government access to Facebook user information - http://www.aljazeera.com/news/americas/2013/08/201382862037300755.html
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