Facebook: Good or Evil?

Facebook has two very distinctive sides. One of friendship and connection with people who maybe you cannot be with or talk to otherwise. However there is a very ugly side of Facebook as well full of slander, harassment, and bitterness.

Most of us use Facebook to chat with each other, show off our new photos and let the rest of the world know how bored you are with school. Even in one of my classes now we coordinate our study time and set up meeting times to work on a project via Facebook. Facebook has become an outlet for all sorts of media. However it can take just one bad outcome to ruin it for everyone.

15 year old Phoebe Prince moved from Ireland to Massachusetts and began high school. After several months of intense bullying, she hung herself because she could not take it anymore.

"The investigation revealed relentless activity directed toward Phoebe was designed to humiliate her and make it impossible for her to remain at school," said District Attorney Elizabeth Scheibel. "The bullying for her became intolerable."

This tragedy is an indelible black mark on Facebook. But does this make Facebook all bad?

No it does not. Like any other social networking site, it is nearly impossible to monitor all of the constant chatter going on to see if it is truly sincere, a modest joke, or intense bullying like in this case. Facebook offers a number of great services that over 500 million people worldwide have taken advantage of. It offers a connection to others that you can personalize and more or less put your stamp of approval on as "this is me in online form." Despite tragedies like that of Phoebe Prince, the good outweighs the bad with Facebook.