Social Networks

The maturity of the technology age has seen the rise of social networks that have dominated conversations of many consumers of technology. To some extent, the social networks have come to break the barriers of space and time as people can communicate synchronously while at different places.  The networks have also lowered the costs of communication across both in terms of actual costs and indirect costs associated with time. Despite this positive attributes, the social networks have various negatives impacts.

Among the paramount negatives impacts of the social networks is insecurity that has been put across by impersonation that has been common in the social networks, notably face book and twitter. The social networks lack vetting procedures to authenticate the legality and accuracy of identities that have been presented for account activation. Due to these failures, a person can easily use a wrong identity, post another person's picture and then have a total control of an account that is anonymous as it represents a fake identity. Such an account can therefore be used top carry out criminal activities or to lure innocent persons into trap and harms the victim. In 2010, a 17 year old girl called Ashleigh was raped and murdered by a serial rapist who had posed in a popular social network as a teen and posted a picture of a handsome teen on the wall of his page. This therefore shows that these social networks have huge negative impacts to the society.

Another notable negative impact of the social networks is that they have actually led to the loss of human touch which is an important aspect of social life. Although they have been hailed for bringing people together, these social networks have created a barrier in human communication and ties of social relationships by replacing them with virtual ties. The levels of person to person relationships have been affected greatly making it hard for persons to maintain the required society's social ties. This perhaps has caused most behavioral experts to term the rise of social networks as the most critical social problem of the 21^st century.

To begin with, the social networks have created a form of communication where actors can communicate without being controlled by the values mores and virtues of their societies. For instance, topics that are seen as inappropriate for public discussion depending with cultures and personal upbringing can easily be discussed through the social networks. This is because the social networks have the ability to dissociate a person from the norms and virtues of the society. The most affected lot has been the teenagers especially who are on the onset of puberty. The networks have provided ample areas where they can use their inquisitive nature to explore topics that their own culture prohibits them to cover. The fact that one can hide the true identity has exacerbated this problem especially in topics that are restricted by cultures.

In conclusion it is evident that the rise of social networks has some negative implications that whose magnitude is large enough to worry those keen in human behavioral trends. The fact that the social networks threatens social ties and replaces them with virtual ties that are not controlled by the society's norms, value and mores makes the rise of social network worry many behavioral scientists. On top of this, the security threats that this phenomenon rises has made them be issues of concerns. The dangers posed by this social networks can however be mitigated by stricter registration processes of persons. People should avoid using the social networks where face to face communication can take place. This shall help to preserve the societal ties that are important pillars of social life.