By Camille Taylor

In 2004 Mark Zuckerberg and fellow Harvard roommates, launched a social networking site now known as Facebook. It reached its height about ten years ago as the “cool, new social media” that helped you reconnect with old friends, share your feelings, meals, top ten movie lists, political views, and personal information.

Facebook has about 1.4 billion users and has assets over 40 billion dollars. Recently students at the University of Michigan were using social media to issue death threats/and encourage suicide to the punter who lost the ball near the end of the game that led to a Michigan loss. The athletic director of the school was compelled to plead to the student body to stop issuing the hateful, anonymous messages.I have to admit, I’m not on Facebook. As a former high school counselor, I spent way too much time dealing with Facebook drama, thus discouraging my interest to create an account.

An annual survey sponsored by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University has some dismal findings. Teens 13 to 17,are much more likely to drink and use drugs after viewing kids who are drunk, passed out, or using drugs on FB. However, the study learned that 87-89% of parents didn’t feel that spending time on social networking made it more likely for their teen to drink alcohol or use drugs.Other studies found a strong relationship between teens who are the victims of cyberbullying and those abusing substances.

A University of Missouri study found that Facebook use causes envy, followed by symptoms of depression in users who follow FB posts from friends about their expensive vacations, new houses, or happy relationships. They found that how users use the site makes a difference in how they respond to it. Duh?! I hope they didn’t spend too much money finding that outcome.

I think FB, like anything else, has it pros and cons. The majority of people I know on FB use it to connect with family and friends, posting pictures of reunions, new babies, etc. Unfortunately as user ship has grown it’s been a challenge to keep up with security breaches which has led to access users’ personal information and identity theft. My main concerns with FB are cyberbullying, its negative influence on young people, and the threat to privacy of personal information. I’m not sure what its status will be ten years from now. Let’s hope ways are found to prevent people from abusing it.