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Jasmine Jaggers
Mrs. West
4th ELA
4/13/11
Facebook: Insecure Website or Internet Champion?
Is Facebook a major internet champion that draws its users toward it, or is it or is it a
menace that needs to be killed? Facebook is not just an ordinary social networking site, but is
the most popular public, free, and social site on the web. However, Facebook isn’t all that it
appears to be. Those who use it do not understand why it isn’t an eligible site because they are
blinded to what Facebook is really trying to do. Research has concluded that most users have
lower GPAs in college and has proven that Facebook is “Bad For The Brain” (Facebook Bad For
The Brain?). Facebook privileges in the United States of America should be eliminated. It is a
very unwise decision to continue facebook use in America and terminate it permanently because
Facebook is a very unsafe site for its users, anyone anywhere can use Facebook, and Facebook is
a very addictive site and has negative effects on people.
Facebook is very unsafe for multiple reasons and dreadful things happen on this popular
site. For example, if I post a picture of myself smoking marijuana and I delete it because I don’t
want my mom to see it, that picture never goes away and is automatically saved in Facebook’s
database. Anything that is posted on Facebook isn’t really private. Once something is posted, it
becomes Facebook’s property (“Internet Safety Facebook: More Pros and Cons of Facebook”).
Another reason that Facebook is unsafe is that if I say my name is Megan Marygrove and I live
at 5927 Rockefeller Point in Austin, Texas, someone could track me down, steal my identity, and
use all my credit card money. That’s why it’s not a good idea to post information about you.
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Due to people spreading too much information about them because Facebook has no limits on
the information people give out, people have experienced personal injuries, have had their
identities stolen, and experience burglaries (Internet Safety Facebook Safety Issues). Facebook
is very unsafe because if you’re not careful, others can view your page.
A friend of mine and I were at her house. We went onto her
laptop, and her brother had been logged into Facebook. She
was very excited at this, because he had blocked her from seeing his Facebook,
and wanted to see it. So she unblocked herself, and added herself as a friend. Now
I know to always log out of my Facebook before leaving my computer (Quoted
from a real user).
Facebook is clearly unsafe for its users because of “information overdose” (too much
information being shared), Facebook isn’t private and anything posted can still be viewed, and
people with felons and child molesters can access young children through this site because they
are able to make fake accounts.
It is very imprudent to allow everyone to use facebook and to not set limits to who uses
Facebook and when. Seeing as a lot of people use Facebook, they spend less time on more
important things; such as work. An example is some companies have banned Facebook use in
their buildings because they have caught some of their workers playing Farmville instead of
working (“Internet Safety Facebook: More Pros and Cons of Facebook”). Also, since everyone
can use Facebook, you don’t know who’s telling the truth, or who’s reading from a script. On
Facebook, child offenders can be found and they put nice pictures on their page to lure kids into
their trap (“Internet Safety Facebook Safety Issues”). Facebook should have a time when you
have to stop chatting with your friends because people who like facebook a little too much might
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stay up all night chatting and lose a full night’s sleep. It is very obvious that everyone shouldn’t
be open to everyone because some people who don’t use Facebook can’t focus on their work,
people lie on Facebook and you don’t know who’s telling you the truth, and people who enjoy
the site too much would rather lose sleep than do homework or study.
Facebook is most certainly addictive to its users and has negative affects over people.
Facebook is addictive because surveys have concluded facebook’s users in college have lower
GPAs than non-users (Multibrand). Proof of this is an Ohio State University survey that
concluded that Facebook users had a GPA average of 3.0-3.5, while non-users had a GPA of 3.54.0 (Grabmeier). Those who use Facebook more often than others clearly are “glued to the
screen” and can’t stop going on the site which is a very negative effect. Another study
concluded that those who visit Facebook more often are more narcissistic or have lower selfesteem than others (Multibrand). When kids, teenagers, or adults go on social networking sites a
great deal, they lose sight of what’s important and focus more on the screen than studying or
working because they feel that going on the computer is more fun than doing what they’re
supposed to do. It is very clear to us now that Facebook is addictive and has negative affects
over people because college users have lower GPAs than non-users, those who use the site lose
‘sight’ of what’s important, and those who have low self-esteem and are narcissistic use the site
more often to get attention.
Nevertheless, believe it or not, Facebook isn’t a menace if it’s handled in the right way.
If a person chooses not to keep their personal information about themselves private, it’s their
own fault if they get hurt because they released information that could get them in trouble; on the
other hand, Facebook isn’t safe because children can be tracked and molested by child offenders.
Some might argue that everyone should be allowed to use Facebook because America is a
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liberate country and we all have free will. Although, since everyone uses Facebook, people post
inappropriate pictures and try to date on Facebook which isn’t proper for the younger genders.
One might argue that Facebook isn’t addictive just because a survey said non-users in college
had a higher GPA than users. The survey can’t even prove that it has to do with Facebook use; it
could depend on the person or their studying habits. The survey may not seem to prove
Facebook is bad, but the survey confirmed that facebook users had a GPA averaging from 3.03.5 and non-users 3.5-4.0. Also, the survey concluded users studied 1-5 hours per week, while
non-users studied 11-15 hours; so it’s very reasonable to say that Facebook doesn’t have very
many pros due to the site allowing users to permit a lot of information about them, allow
inappropriate pictures to be posted, and since they allow everyone to use Facebook, child
molesters can easily access children. These are very suitable reasons that facebook should itself
be “deleted” off of the internet.
Facebook without a doubt should itself be deleted off the internet to make the internet
safer for others, to keep people from getting addicted to it, and if Facebook were to be allowed, it
should limit its members. I have examined the pros and cons of Facebook and have seen two
different sides of the same story. Facebook is a bug that needs to be killed and isn’t a very
positive site. All social networking sites would be erased off the internet. Facebook, as the king,
must go first.
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Works Cited
"Bad Things about Facebook." Http://sites.google.com/site/samibrandt8/badthingsaboutfacebook. Web.
17 Mar. 2011. <http://sites.google.com/site/samibrandt8/badthingsaboutfacebook>.
Grabmeier, Jeff. "Study Finds Link Between Facebook Use, Lower Grades in College." OSU Research
News Index Page. Web. 20 Mar. 2011.
<http://researchnews.osu.edu/archive/facebookusers.htm>.
"Facebook Safety Issues : Internet Safety." Surfing the Net with Kids: Educational Site Reviews and
Kids Games. Web. 20 Mar. 2011. <http://www.surfnetkids.com/go/safety/788/facebook-safetyissues/>.
"More Pros and Cons of Facebook : Internet Safety." Surfing the Net with Kids: Educational Site
Reviews and Kids Games. Web. 20 Mar. 2011.
<http://www.surfnetkids.com/go/safety/754/more-pros-and-cons-of-facebook/>.
Rayno, Amelia. "Facebook: A Place For Fun, A Place for Concern." Web. 20 Mar. 2011.
<http://discoverer.prod.sirs.com/discoweb/disco/do/article?urn=urn%3Asirs%3AUS%3BARTIC
LE%3BART%3B0000307050>.
Size, Font. "Facebook Bad For The Brain? - The Early Show - CBS News." Breaking News Headlines:
Business, Entertainment & World News - CBS News. Web. 17 Mar. 2011.
<http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/04/15/earlyshow/main4946114.shtml?tag=mncol;lst;1>.
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"The Bad Things about Facebook." MULTIBRAND. Web. 17 Mar. 2011.
<http://www.multibrand.biz/2010/09/bad-things-about-facebook.html>.
"THE PROS AND CONS OF FACEBOOK - The Graduate." The Graduate - Where the News Grows.
Web. 20 Mar. 2011.
<http://grad.hg3media.com/features/grad1/the_pros_and_cons_of_facebook>.
"Why Facebook Is Bad for You | The Sun |News." The Sun | The Best for News, Sport, Showbiz,
Celebrities | The Sun| The Sun. Web. 17 Mar. 2011.
<http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article700350.ece>.
Yoder, Dan. "10 Reasons To Delete Your Facebook Account." Business Insider. Web. 17 Mar. 2011.
<http://www.businessinsider.com/10-reasons-to-delete-your-facebook-account-2010-5>.