Global Q&A: ‘Do you think the Facebook phenomenon is positive or negative?’

Facebook has both positive and negative attributes—a great communication tool that can also easily be used for bullying. This is the view of Facebook people shared with Epoch Times reporters from Colombia to Sweden when asked:

Medellín, Colombia Adriana María Zapata Betancur, 30, Teacher Facebook is a tool for communication. It is important because you can create groups for study and research, but also as a result of networking you can find a lot of malicious people. So it is advisable not to enter personal information that people may use to make trouble.

California, USA Kelly McMeans, 29, Admin Positive things about Facebook would be [that] it makes it easy to connect with people from the past that you’ve lost touch with no matter how far away they live, so I think that is really good now. However, the negative side is that people can be really mean to each other, and it can be used as an avenue to encourage bullying.

São Mateus, Maranhão, Brazil Francisco Brás, 53, Hairdresser Facebook helps me get in touch with my clients, where I schedule time through. It also helps me meet new people. The downside is that it exposes my privacy to many people.

Kagebo, Sweden Irene Flemstrom, 72, Retired I think it is both good and bad this with the Facebook, but it could be fun sometimes. The disadvantage is that anyone can read about your personal life. Personally, I don’t use it so often, but I see that my children and grandchildren use it pretty often, and you can read about all their personal lives there. They talk about the things they do and add many pictures.

Sunshine Coast, Australia Kaye Ash, 45, Sales Rep I think that there is a positive and a negative to Facebook and it probably depends on the person using it, and how they’re using it. I think it has a lot of advantages and disadvantages to it. I was on there the other night, and I think it was Marcoola Surf Club had posted about a guy who was running down the main street of Coolum with a knife. He was hijacking cars, and [the post was] warning people. ... So in that sense it’s good; it gets out there in your local area and quickly. But there’s all the bullying, and people who can’t handle it, and do the wrong thing.

Greece, Athens Giannis Milios, 43, Artist Facebook is a tool and like every tool, if we use it with the right way it brings positive results; if you use it with a bad handling, it brings a negative effect. It depends on how we use something.

Look for the Global Q&A column every week. Epoch Times correspondents interview people around the world to learn about their lives and perspectives on local and global realities. Next week’s global question: “How do you think governments should handle massive debts?” The Epoch Times publishes in 35 countries and in 19 languages. Subscribe to our e-newsletter.