"The internet's no written in pencil, Mark. It's written in ink, states Erica, seething at the comments he blogged about her. Why is the typed word so powerful> Why is it tempting to misuse this power online? What positive things can social networking sites achieve when used to their full potential?

The typed word is so powerful, because anything that is typed via the Internet or on our computers is, as they say, written in stone.  You cannot remove it from being available out there for someone to see.  Each word that we write on our computers is saved for future reference.


It is tempting to misuse this power via the Internet, because you can say anything you want about someone, send it into cyberspace for millions of individuals to see, and the person sending it wields the power because regardless if the information is true or not, proving it to the contrary may become a daunting task as you try to reach each person who received the false information, and that may be impossible.


From a positive perspective, social-networking opens up a way to communicate with people that otherwise you may have never met, or help you to find someone you haven't had the opportunity to see in a long time.  As easily as you can't put false information out there for the masses, you can also spread positive messages that can effect millions of people in a positive way as well.  I believe that using this medium in a very positive light, is how it will reach its full potential by educating and providing a social medium not seen before.