In an increasingly connected world, networking is seen as a fundamental skill. Who has not heard the expression, “It’s not what you know; it’s who you know”? Expanding your professional networks is a key investment to ensure success. Or is it?
Nowadays, much of our lifestyle experience plays out on the Internet. People represent themselves on-line, often by a profile, along with their social links. Many revel in the number of connections they have. More is always better, or so it seems.
Statistics tell us what’s happening in the world around us—from weather forecasts, to crime rates, to baseball rankings. Yet, with so much fake news sloshing around, we often fail to realize how easily statistics can lead us astray.
In 2011, Max Schrems, a 24-year-old Austrian law student, sued Facebook’s Dublin office for a complete record of his personal data. He received 1,222 pages of information covering three years of Facebook activity. But that wasn’t the biggest surprise.
Why do we use Facebook? We use it to find people “like me,” and exchange social and lifestyle experiences. Fundamentally, Facebook provides us with a sense of belonging. But it also comes with some worrisome downsides.
