Maybe I’m getting old but I remember a time where social networking sites were about sharing and communicating (enter a Pepperidge Farm meme here for all you 9gag fans).

That’s why I’m a little disturbed by a couple of trends, one being fatally serious and the other only being slightly concerned. The first one is regarding the fact that being an admin of a particular page or group can actually be hazardous to your health. That’s how tense and violent the Egyptian political scene has become. There have been a number of such cases involving admins of anti-MB pages but no concrete connection can be found between their deaths and online activities. Despite the lack of physical evidence, a correlation between the two certainly exists.

The other disturbing trend, while not threatening to anyone’s well being, is making me lose even more faith in the music industry. Artists are now buying virtual fans, Twitter followers, YouTube and Facebook likes. I understand that it’s really competitive right now but there must be some sort of limit to whore yourself out for a record deal right? Apparently not.

Musicians accused of ‘buying virtual fans’ on YouTube

I understand the above two examples have little in common besides the medium, but that’s exactly the point. It’s important to occasionally look at the disadvantages of our online lifelines.