To Facebook or Not to Facebook?

Facebook caught my attention but then made me lose interest for the same exact reason: everyone had one (well at least everyone that I knew). It didn't want one because I knew it would probably end up like my MySpace account- never used. I avoided making an account until this past summer. I attended a leadership institute and met plenty of new people. I became convinced that making a Facebook account would be the best way to stay in touch with them. So far, it has been my main source of communication with them besides text messaging. This is the main benefit that I see to using Facebook. I do not do much with my account other than to message people. I do not post anything so I think I might face less privacy issues than the person who regularly posts. The main risk I see with Facebook is privacy. Meaning, posting things that you may not necessarily want others to know about you. After reading the article, I am now aware of the startling statistic of 7.5 million kids under 12 are now using Facebook. I knew that there was a lot of young kids using Facebook but I didn't think it was that many. I think that this is a big issue that can have a huge effect on kids, mostly negative. Most of these kids have low maturity levels and do not think twice about what they post. This is a big risk on their part.