西安乐华游乐场设施:10 Ways Facebook Can Ruin Your Life - Newsweek

10 Ways Facebook Can Ruin Your Life
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Face-to-FacebookFriend Feed: We talk to Facebook users (andself-proclaimed addicts) about how the social networking site fits intotheir lives. Download the video as a podcast for your portable device:http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/newsweek-video/id88000805
This week Facebookwill register its 500 millionth member.It's a milestone both significant and meaningless: yes, it's a reminderof just how big the social-media giant has become, but really—did weneed reminding? That Facebook is a part of many Americans' daily livesis clear.  But how it's affecting those lives is still being examined.We know that Facebook can be good for your health, and that it can makeeverything from networking to sharing photos easier. But there's also apotentially sinister side, even aside from dubious privacy issues.Below, 10 ways that Facebook can do more harm than good.
1. You'll be reunited with your biological parents. This can be good news, but it's not always.Take Prince Sagala,who found her biological children on Facebook—children she alleges werekidnapped more than a decade ago by her ex-husband. The mom and kidsare now reunited. The only problem: the kids grew up with their dad anddon't want anything to do with the parent who now has custody. And in aneven more horrifying story, Aimee Sword was sentenced to nine to 30years in prison recently forsexually abusing her 15-year-old biological son, whom she tracked down on Facebook.
2. Your creditors can track you down. Creditors use Facebook as away to both track the movements of debtors and keep their eyes on anypotential assets that could be seized to cover those debts. At first,lenders may use Facebook todetermine whether you're a worthy candidate for a loan. But should you come to owe a creditor money, the companycan track you down and discover your assets by monitoring your Facebook feed.
3. Your insurers can deny your claims. Remember the woman who was receivingworkers' compensation for depression,only to be "outed" by Facebook pictures of her smiling? Her insurancebenefits were cut off, with insurers saying that her photos showed shewasready to return to work. That's leftattorneys who argue for disability benefits concerned.Many now advise against giving away too much on Facebook.
4. Your ex can use it against you in a divorce. Facebook is apopular tool for divorce attorneys, who comb pages of their clients'spouses for evidence of neglect, infidelity, or deception. (One studysuggests that Facebook comes up in oneout of five new divorce petitions). Mashablesays a woman lost custody of her children after her ex proved she wasspending time tending her crops on Farmville instead of spending qualitytime with her kids, while divorce lawyers have givenmultipleinterviews extolling the site's virtues as a way to air damaging dirty laundry.
5. It could make you depressed. Researchers from Stony BrookUniversity in New York found that teenage girls who spend the most timediscussing their lives with friends were more likely to be depressed.Apparently, spending too much time dwelling on gossip and your problemscan make you feel worse, not better. The researchers didn't studyFacebook in particular, but they indicated that social-networking sitessuch as Facebookmade it easier for people to be in constant contact with friends and perpetuate the unhealthy discussions.
6. It can cost you a job. A British survey of employers found thathalf of those polledhad turned down job candidates once something unsavory about thatcandidate surfaced on Facebook. (Examples include tales of drunkenness,photos of illegal activity, and bad grammar.) In the U.S.,20 percent of employers admit to scoping out the Facebook pages of potential job candidates, while 9 percent say they're going to start soon.
7. It can out you to your family.  Even if you're discreet onFacebook, your loose-lipped friends might not be and could post commentson your wall that betray your secrets. But there are also moreinsidious outings going on: MIT students designed an algorithm thatsuccessfully pinpointed gay users by analyzinghow many of their friends were gay.
8. It can make it easier for your stalker or abusive partner to follow your movements.  Let'sbe honest: if there weren't Facebook, abusers would find anothertrigger to set off their rage. But Facebook has made it easier for thesepeople to keep tabs on their victims and respond to their movements,even after the victim has tried to sever ties. Inone particularly sad case,a woman who changed her Facebook status to "single" was killed by herhusband, from whom she had separated. After seeing her status, he brokeinto her home and stabbed her repeatedly.
9. You can be sued for libel. There are already several cases oflibel suits over content posted on Facebook. In Britain, where libel iseasier to prove than in the U.S., a businessman won £22,000 when aformer classmatecreated a fake profile full of defamatory information. Stateside, an Ohio-area bandsued a Facebook "hate group," and aMichigan towing company sued a studentwho created a Facebook page alleging that the company tows legallyparked cars. (The company says those claims are false.) So far, the lawappears to be on the poster's side. But it's still a hassle.
10. Your kids could be targeted by predators. After a teenagegirl in England was murdered by a sex offender who posed as a teenageron Facebook, the British version of the siteadded a "panic button"that allows teens to report any unwanted attention—includingcyber-bullying—directly to the authorities. But the button is not yet onU.S. or other international versions of Facebook, and it's unclearwhether the company plans to add it.
Know of other examples? Leave them in the comments below.