Social networking

                   Social media such as Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn have changed the conventional ways of communication, and also opened up many previously undiscovered ways to explore more insights about both ourselves and within our network.

                   LinkedIn, for example, allows recruiters to see who's within the potential hiring candidate's network, and what are the primary interest/specialization for candidates. By going beyond the applicant's one-page summary, recruiters can better understand if they have found the suitable talent, so as to reduce the chances of getting a mismatch. Potential job seekers could also utilize the search function within the LinkedIn eco-system to find their previous contacts, and to re-connect and re-discovery within such already established network.

                   However, the real concern of identity theft also raised in the first article ' New Wave of Phishing Scams Uses Facebook Info for Personalized Spam'. By sharing more details about ourselves online, we are leaving behind more digital footprints for potential impersonators to learn the details of ourselves. Furthermore, our friends and connections will also let their guard down when they see the message is coming from someone their trust.

                  Privary settings about who have the privilege to view our updates and postings are also concerns about social media. In another article, private postings can be viewed even from the outside network, which brings us the question of how can that be? In this article ' Facebook Privacy Is So Confusing Even the Zuckerberg Family Photo Isn't Private', Randi Zuckerberg, the siblings of Mark Zuckerberg, who founded the gaint social media Facebook, was suprized to found out that a photo which was set to private mode can be viewed by people outside her network. It was later find out the reason: people who are friends within your network can also view your posting.

                 The controversial side effect of social media are multifaceted, and social medias have also opened up another platform for people to open up about themselves, finding community that shares the similar values and goals. And as of the future, I believe that the pace of technology progress will increase exponentially into the future, and will not doubt significantly improve our productivity and efficiency. However, social media technology will still be secondary to going out and meeting new people, and to re-connect with your friends.

1. BBB: New Wave of Phishimg Scams Uses Facebook Info for Personalized Spam. January, 28, 2013 http://www.bbb.org/blog/2013/01/new-wave-of-phishing-scams-uses-facebook-info-for-personalized-spam/
2. Facebook Privacy Is So Confusing Even the Zuckerberg Family Photo Isn't Private,” The Atlantic Wire, Greenfield, R. December 26, 2012 http://www.theatlanticwire.com/technology/2012/12/facebook-privacy-so-confusing-even-zuckerberg-family-photo-isnt-private/60313/