Editorial: Friend or just a name

Photo / File

We all know someone who knows absolutely everyone.

It could be a friend, colleague or family member, but if you are ever out with them in public or with them for a decent amount of time, it's as though they say hi to pretty much everyone they pass in the street or their phone is constantly beeping and buzzing with emails, texts and social media notifications.

You do have to wonder if they actually know all those people, or if they are just being polite and engaging.

The Bay of Plenty Times Weekend reported a recently released survey showed that almost 30 per cent of New Zealand teens had posted something online that they regretted by age 16 and only about one-third say they "properly know" all their Facebook friends.

The AVG Technologies survey's results are in line with global figures and expose the potential for harm to young New Zealanders navigating the world of the internet and social media.

The survey questioned 4000 teens aged 11 to 16 globally on the topic of online privacy.

Although the majority of teens here and abroad say they put passwords on their digital devices, the survey found New Zealand parents are much less aware of their children's online habits than in other countries. And just 30 per cent of Kiwi parents know some or all of their children's passwords, compared with the global average of 70 per cent.

Facebook users can have up to 3000 friends on the social media site, and it is no wonder that only one-third of people actually know their online friends.

There seems to be a trend to add anyone and everyone to your Facebook friends list, whether they know them or not.

Among teens, having huge numbers of friends online is a status symbol, the more friends you have, the cooler you are.

But with the more people you have looking at what you are posting online, the more likely you are to regret some of the things you put up there.

With the desire to be cool and popular, teens will post just about every aspect of their life online.

The post can get shared around and, before you know it, everyone has seen that embarrassing photo.

If you don't want people to see it, don't put it online. It really is as simple as that.