by Adja Roznic

Created on: January 15, 2009

As Caroline Kennedy wrote in her book about the right to privacy, "privacy allows us to keep certain facts to ourselves if we so choose. The right to privacy, it seems, is what makes us civilized." Our society is defined by our right to privacy.
It is the most important right of the citizens of the United States. Therefore, it needs to stop being violated by social networking sites. Privacy is one of the many detriments of social networking.

Some of the other major problems that arise because of social networking websites are:

1) Inappropriate User Behavior

2) and, that social networking can lead to the support of terrorism and other illegal actions

Given the rising popularity of social networks, it's little surprise that there have been several high-profile breaches of security on sites as huge as Facebook and MySpace. With over 350 million members combined, all it takes is one single person to cause major damage. Social networking sites are quickly emerging as some of the most fertile grounds for malicious software and identity thieves.
Anyone's privacy can be invaded through social networking. Whether you are a registered user or not, sensitive information can still be collected about you and your personal life. That personal information will reside on the internet forever, accessible to this and future generations through a simple Google search. In the past, youthful foolishness was eventually forgotten, giving an opportunity to change and grow. However, now with so much information from social networks, people must live with the digital baggage of their past. Currently, the administration of most high schools and colleges, as well as the heads of many businesses, have access to any of the information on social networks, and many of them have a "anything on Facebook can and will be used against you" policy. This can ruin in your academic life and/or your livelihood.

The negative effects of social networking can be even more evident in cases of inappropriate behavior of users affecting others. For example, in 2005, a 15 year old Canadanian boy became a victim of cyberbullying in front of an audience of millions. A Star Wars fan, the heavyset teen made a home movie of himself using a golf ball retriever as a light saber. Some classmates got their hands on the video and posted it through social networking. There are more than 10 million views of the video on YouTube alone. A number of television programs played the video, and the teenager had to deal with the

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