Social Networks - Are they really that dangerous?

Social Networks have been around for a while now, staring with Facebook and MySpace and moving into the Twitter era and now you can find a persons life quite clearly on the Internet. Ever since they were created though, people have criticised social media for not doing enough about privacy.

Recently, these social networks have come under increased scrutiny regarding the posting of blatantly illegal material on the walls of tribute groups on Facebook. I believe that some of these criticisms are uncalled for.
Why? Simply because it is not up to Facebook to decide what privacy settings to put on groups, it is up to the person who created the group. If the person who creates a group chooses not to change the privacy settings to make it more closed then that is their choice. The options menu is there and easily accessible but people choose to get the group made quickly and not well.

Then there is the identity fraud issue which is also completely wrong. All Social Networks have privacy settings which you can change. On Facebook you can set it so you have to be a friend to access any information, photos or wall on your profile. Only recently has this come up yet it has been there for years. Just because people choose not to notice or use it doesn't mean that Social Networks are places where identity fraud is rife.

Overall, Social Networks are one of the safest and most privacy conscious places on the web. People who say that this is wrong either are very ignorant or simply want social networks to move in the wrong direction and make everyone private and make social networks very, very anti-social. These sites are already doing a good job and the media and the general public should calm down and stop trying to find problems with something that is already fine. If you want to make yourself less public then change you Privacy Settings, you don't have to abandon the social revolution because you believe that you can't do anything about your own security.

P.S On Facebook the privacy settings are under the account menu in the top right corner of the page...use it!