Social networking is fine, but do not forget the downside

Social networking sites are connecting millions of people around the globe and satisfying people's need for information. But the jury is still out on whether they are a force for good or evil. Readers give Viet Nam News their viewpoints.

Nguyen Bich Ngoc, Vietnamese, Ha Noi

Next week Yesterday, the Vietnamese gold price hit another record at VND33.15 million (US$1,683) a tael (1.2 ounces) as the world gold price reached an all-time high of $1,374 an ounce. In Viet Nam as in most Asian countries, many people place a lot of trust in gold as a reserve fund because of the occasional instability of the US dollar and Vietnamesedong. People buy gold not only as jewelry, but also a means of savings and, of course, speculation. They even are known to buy homes using gold deposited in banks that gains in interest. CNN's Asia-Pacific correspondent Andrew Stevens once described these habits as a "love affair with the metal" and Viet Nam being a safe haven for purchasing and storing gold. What do you think about this? What are the attitudes towards purchasing gold by people in other countries? What policies does your government apply to ensure the stability of its own gold market? We welcome your opinions. Emails should be sent to: opinion.vietnamnews@gmail.com – or by fax to 84-439332311. Letters can be sent to: The Editor, Viet Nam News, 11 Tran Hung Dao Street, Ha Noi. Replies to this week's question must be received by Thursday, October 21.

I agree that social networking sites can harm people, particularly the young, by making them lose face-to-face interaction. There are those who think this is just a storm in a teacup, but caging yourself at home causes detrimental effects to communications. And I'm not alone in believing so.

In Viet Nam, Internet users do not care much about the privacy of the information they provide. This can be damaging. It must also be said that depraved information appears on 80 per cent of social sites - and the traffic is increasing.

However, I don't think Vietnamese are in danger of losing their traditional ways of seeing each other. Modern technology can even help.

The solution lies in educating users and using advanced filter software that can stop people from clicking prohibited hyperlinks and also hinder hackers.

In my own experience, I found the Facebook page of a very special person who I'd never thought could exist. Interestingly, a mother in the UK, if my memory serves me right, finally found her son after years apart via Facebook.

Wayne Chornohus, Canadian, HCM City

Social networking is an inevitable modern phenomenon given our current level of technology. This method of interaction has been accepted by a large segment of the population regardless of the negatives. Young people in particular embrace the ability of collective interaction.

I personally avoid it as I'm not interested in sharing my friends with unknown others. As a senior, I value my privacy more than most perhaps. As with anything, there will always be predators.

But I fear the real danger lies in how the creators of these sites use their customers for personal benefit by exploiting innate weaknesses.

Nguyen Duc Thang, Vietnamese, Ha Noi

The young nowadays are living in an information technology era, therefore computers, the Internet as well as digital devices play an important role in their lives.

There is a controversy over whether networking sites are a boon or bane. This issue has been discussed many times. However, as I see it, what is new is our control of the Internet world.

The Internet brings a lot of benefits for the human race. Work can be done much more conveniently and successfully using the network. Some people even say they feel uncomfortable and can't work as well without computers and the Internet.

Others consider mobile phones and network computers inseparable. Besides working, we can use social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, Hi5 and Youtube for entertainment and cultural exchanges.

I believe these websites basically have good attitudes. This is because worldwide webs and their content are created by people.

But networking sites can sometimes be abused and lead to negative effects. Fighting video clips made by school girls, violent on-line games, on-line fraud and Internet addiction are making our society fearful. This is the other side of social networking sites.

I think the control of web sites should be controlled by education, financial penalties and even criminal proceedings. For example, game addicts would be helped by life in pagodas. People who use the Internet to hurt others must do public interest labour.

To sum up, if parents take more care of their children, it will help lessen the negative effects of networking sites.

Ryu Hashimoto, Japanese, HCM City

I think networking sites are one of the boons of the world. Surely, people can get information from networking sites if it satisfies their requirement and enables them to interact easily and quickly.

But what about the results of this development? I think people may forgot how to talk face to face and easily offend other people because they can't see how other people react.

Almost all people who use networking sites frequently lack the ability to choose the correct information from unarranged information due to a lack of intelligence.

Nguyen Hong Ha, Vietnamese, Ha Noi

The sharing of information about the recent flood in central Viet Nam proved the popularity of social networking sites, especially Facebook. People around the country showed their sympathy and sent donations to victims.

Another great boon with social networks were the elections in Iran earlier this year. Twitter was a helpful tool for the people.

Mark Pfeifle, a former US national-security adviser, wrote: "Without Twitter, the people of Iran would not have felt empowered and confident to stand up for freedom and democracy."

He later called for Twitter to be nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.

We are living in the digital age and the demand for socialising on-line is higher than ever. This decade saw the rise of lot of social networking sites. Almost everyone I know is hooked to Facebook, Twitter or Hi5.

The best part of social networking is that it has enabled us to climb the mountains of connectivity so easily. Almost everyone can enjoy on-line services as chatting and emailing are free.

I think social networking is a boon if used in a proper way and with maturity. It depends on who is using it. Abuses on social networking sites may be rising, but there are misuses of everything.

Every coin has two sides. The important thing is to watch how things develop. Just like in our off-line life, bad things can happen, but if we are careful, we can surely reap the rewards.

Henrik Stromberg, Swedish, Halmstad

The general effect of easier communications is to create higher productivity, but if it doesn't do this, it can be called social media. Addiction may follow and media such as Facebook is designed to capitalise on this.

Social media is, after all, a business that relies on commercial sales. Facebook has become popular because it is easy to create new social bonds, thus helping create a more social society.

This connection of interests can also be goods for business, not to mention what it does for international relations because long-distance friendship is made so much easier. If we spread the arms of friendship, we can prevent any war. — VNS