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Well... I have had a very bad experience with social networking. I started off with myspace. It was very mild compared to Facebook. Posting "Comments" were a hassle and communicating was not comparable to the networks we use now. Then came MSN... I think I was hooked on it for about six years. I went on-line everyday after school and just talked to people I was just talking to –in person– twenty minutes prior. When I was in grade 9 I joined Facebook. Actually, my personal narrative outlines my bad experience with it. I will post it below.
 * What impact does social networking have on my life?**

As social networking develops into more effective and efficient modes of communication our interpersonal real-life relationships suffer. Facebook, for me, started as a great way of communicating with friends and family in Mexico. However, I soon found myself wasting my time on Facebook playing farmville and Drug Wars instead of doing my homework. Then the drama started... I don't know how many fist fights were started in my high school over Facebook comments and de-friend-ing.

All of this led to me disabling my account. I opened a new one restricted to family members in Mexico and close friends that went to other schools. I have no more than 40 friends... all which I consider "real friends".

So, what impact does social networking have on my life? Almost none... I don't involve myself with anything but my limited Facebook account. I don't need it, want it, or have any meaningful use for it. I aways said to myself, "real friends will keep in touch no matter what" and it is true. Social networking is not a virtual friendship contract. I much rather see my friends in person to dedicate private and quality time that can NOT be matched by any social network.

The bell rang, and I was finally liberated from this claustrophobic prison of rules that had been choking me for the past ten months. I remember that day as if it was yesterday. But, although I was filled with joy, I miss the days when even though I was hostage to a system of forceful rules I felt like I was in control. It all began in the summer of 2006 when my parents enrolled me in a private school called Kings Christian Collegiate in Oakville Ontario. I have been in the public system since grade two and I did not want to leave my friends, especially going into high school. I swore I behaved well in middle school, at least I thought so. In fact, to this day I still don’t fully understand the reason why I had a go to that school. From the day that I was enrolled I made a point of leaving the school by grade ten. That was a promise I was dedicated to keep by whatever means necessary. The first day of class felt like waking up after a long flight to a vacation spot. I felt alien to the school, students, and staff. I felt like I didn’t belong. Everyone was in the same uniform: black shoes, blue pants, white shirt, and the optional gray sweatshirt with the schools logo across the middle. I was like Waldo lost in a sea of near identical people. My individuality was lost. During my first class (Math) I met Christian (his name is purely a coincidence). He had long black hair and wore white skate shoes, and a West 49 sweatshirt. From day one he was already making a statement. We instantly connected. At lunchtime, Christian and I met the twins Gregg and Jeff. They were also dressed outside of the dress code with brown shoes long hair and non-uniform sweaters. I wondered why Christian, Gregg, Jeff, and I were part of the few students who did not want to be at that school and as time passed I came to realize the majority of the students have been home-schooled their entire lives. To them this school was normal. This was due to the system of rules, which we were to abide by in order to avoid dreadful consequences. Things became clear to us and we began a small reform movement within the school to protest against these law-like rules and ultimately achieve our goal of leaving the school by grade ten. We began by carefully executing various tactics to rebel against the system. These included wearing non-uniform shoes, sweaters, hats, long hair, baggy clothes, and using “inappropriate language and slang”. Through our tactics we were able to draw a line on what we considered an acceptable use of power from the teachers and higher staff. All was going well for us for five months until an anonymous radical imitator of our cause created a Facebook group called “Kings Christian Collegiate SUCKS!”. This was bad. Only a day after the Facebook group was created I could already feel fear and anxiety crawling in my skin. I did not want to get suspended. I knew from the beginning that making a Facebook group was the worst thing someone could do, and it turned out I was right. One by one students from all grades who joined the group were called down to the office to be suspended for one to two weeks. This depended on what and if they commented on the “wall”. However, I was lucky enough to “dislike” the group as soon as I realized it was inevitable that someone was going to report it. The fact that the school had a self claimed jurisdiction over students who simply joined a Facebook group, from their home (note that it was not a hate group) enraged the majority of the students and justified our cause. Christian, Gregg, Jeff, and I could finally prove to our parents the absurdity of the rules of the school. I filled the paper work for a transfer and by June of 2007 the four of us were each walking out with a 3’ by 2’ box full of confiscated clothing. Kings Christian Collegiate taught me never to trust social media ever again. It made me realize that every user is a set of eyes with the ability to lurk our profiles, statuses, and online actions. As more social media becomes available it is important to understand the repercussions of how we interact with websites and what we post online. Although the Internet gives us the freedom of expression that we longed for centuries, we are constantly under surveillance even with our profiles set to “private”.
 * Personal Narrative**