Web Surfing Gangs Utilize Facebook

Web 2.0. Social networking sites. SMS. Blogs. Twitter. Professional networking sites.

All have outstanding capabilities. They provide opportunities to connect with personal, professional and business audiences in ways we've never had before. They can be rich in content or short, simple and immediate.

But we are still relatively early in the overall life-cycle for these mediums of connectivity. So far, it's been a mostly positive experience for users. I routinely hear stories about how people have re-connected with friends and family that were left behind as they followed careers from city to city.

We are becoming quite comfortable with the technology and this is perhaps where we as professional communicators need to take one step back to ensure that the uses are relevant and appropriate. As parents, we need to peek "behind the curtain" to see how our kids are using the technology.

Some examples I've come across recently that have caused me to reflect upon their uses:

1. A Facebook group was established to support a local organization ( a "cause") with all of the best of intentions. Within days, the group had hundreds of members. The first comments posted were all very supportive. But as time wore on, employees of the organization started posting comments that, at best, should have been communicated verbally amongst themselves or by way of "private" (no such thing) e-mail. These comments may in fact hurt their cause.

2. Criminal elements are utilizing these means to either entice innocent people into providing confidential information about themselves or to recruit members, as the headline link demonstrates.

3. A minor-league girls' hockey team established a blog to help parents and players communicate. The players came from a diverse region (six hours driving time from one area to another) and it was important to find a way to "connect" them. The blog worked perfectly for their purposes. Pictures and gadgets made the site rather entertaining. Team e-mails about practice times, game times and various administrative issues were also posted - one single repository of information for all things related to the team. But when this team showed up for a tournament, one of the teams they defeated pulled out printouts from the blog in an attempt to find a technicality that they hoped would disqualify the victor. They were unsuccessful because there were no issues with the team but it created quite an unnecessary and unfair distraction for the players. It demonstrates that some people will attempt to use seemingly harmless and even "fun" means of communication in unimaginable ways.

The moral here is not to be afraid of the technology; it is only that we need to continually look at not only what we communicate but also how we communicate. Refrain from universality; a wide audience is not always the best option. We need only connect with the intended audience.