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Apart from the social benefits, social networking sites can be used to document school research, promote artistic talents and experiment with other forms of content creation. They provide a way to interact with others who share the same interests and to get constructive feedback on ongoing projects.

Cyber-bullying and harassment are most often perpetrated by other teens and tend to happen most to older girls and to teens of either gender who have a strong online presence. It may take several forms: publicizing private instant messages, text messages or e-mails posting threatening messages posting photos that will cause embarrassment spreading rumorsIt's rare for harassment to spill over into real-world conflicts, but it can still be a cause of emotional distress for teens.A greater danger is that teens may become targets of pedophiles.

The anonymity of some social networking sites makes it easy for unscrupulous people to target young teens and engage them in harmful conversations. It's easy for predators to pose as teens and lure children into harmful real-world contact as well. Most social networking sites have privacy controls in place, but teens seldom use them. Active monitoring of profiles and behaviors catches some predators, but not all of them.Another risk is identity theft, which can occur when teens share too much information about their name, date of birth and location.

Social Networking SafetyIt's up to parents to make sure their kids are safe when they use social networking. Many of the same rules that apply to online chat apply to these sites: Use an alias. Don't give out personal information to people you don't know. A last name and a town are enough for a predator to locate your child. Don't assume that people are who they claim to be.

Immediately end any communication that makes you uncomfortable and report it to a parent.

For younger teens, you should investigate any sites they'd like to use. Find out what privacy protections are in place and insist that your teen uses them. For children under 16, that often means a private profile that can only be seen by approved friends.

Older teens may want a public profile to promote a band or other creative work. In this case, have your child create a second, public profile for the project while still restricting the personal profile to family and close friends. It's best to set up these profiles with a free e-mail from Yahoo or Google using an alias that can't be traced back to find personal information.Encourage your kids to tell you if they're victims of cyber bullying or harassment. Many teens will try to deal with this on their own, which can have disastrous consequences. If your child knows who's behind the harassment, involve the other child's parents or school officials. If it's anonymous, remind your child that it's  not personal; some people just think it's fun to say mean things about others.

Social networking has its share of pros and cons, such as how it increases the way teenagers and adults communicate and how it changes the way communicate online and offline. It also alters the way people act and behave. The way we communicate with each other deals with much more than words.

However, face-to-face interaction with others is an important part of our daily lives and should not be replaced with social networks. Because the internet provides us with so much freedom, millions of people can communicate with each other all at the same time. With the help of social networks keeping in touch is cost effective and brings the world closer together. With social networks the emphasis is on your real world identity and networks through a safe, private web environment.

These social networking sites connect strangers and friends together, and incorporate a wide variety of communication tools such as blogging, mobile connectivity and photos or videos shared with other users. Many of these social networking sites encourage users to upload personal information, multimedia files and photos that can be shared with others – although, often indiscriminately.

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Negatives

One of the most serious problems related to these sites concerned safety issues and reports of sexual interactions between adults and minors on MySpace

Other issues related to privacy concerns include false information posted by online users

Teens who checked Facebook at least once during a 15-minute study period had lower grades. In addition, those teens who used Facebook more often are more likely to display narcissistic behavior, antisocial behavior, mania, aggressive tendencies, anxiety and depression.

Regular use of social media sites also increases the risk of teen alcohol use

Social networking sites enable users to keep up with their friends and can decrease feelings of isolation. Creating a profile or home page enables creative expression.