2nd article on social networks

http://news.com.com/Facebooks+Greek+drama/2100-1046_3-5895963.html

I found this online article by Zoë Barton extremely interesting because it talks about a topic not usually discussed regarding Facebook safety: the Greek system. It is apparently very risky to have a facebook profile if you are a member of a fraternity or sorority. This article specifically talks about "Rho Gammas" (the leaders in recruitment for sorority who are supposed to maintain an unknown identity in regards to what sorority they are a part of). People in this situation have to be extremely careful on how much information they lend out for younger pledges to see. In addition, the rushees have to be concerned with what information the sisters/brothers can get from facebook before they accept them. On the other hand, this website also pointed out the fact that being able to obtain the profiles of potential members makes the process of remembering and learning about them easier.

This website frightened me a bit because the end of it moved on to warn a wider spectrum of people (everyone that has a facebook account) of the dangers of having so much personal information on the web. According to Zoë Barton, there are plenty of people that can access pictures and information about you that you would not want shared: teachers, future employers, RA's, TA's, and "computer geeks", to name a few.

Finally, she briefly talks about the origins of Facebook and how a Harvard student created it. When it's popularity in Harvard grew faster than expected, they decided to expand the network to other schools.