Introduction
Social networking sites, also known as SNSs, are very popular. People use them in order to share photos and information. Some say that social networking sites are public spaces. Therefore, they think that anything posted to SNSs is public property. Others think that SNSs are private spaces because users’ content is personal. Let’s see what our debaters think.



Constructive Debater 1 Henry
Social networking sites are public spaces. The point of social networking sites is to connect with other people. Users communicate with their friends and family through SNSs by sharing photos or statuses. They can also talk with strangers about their common interests. They can do this by being part of Facebook groups or following different people on Twitter. We interact with other people on them. Therefore, SNSs are public spaces.



Constructive Debater 2 Ashley
Social networking sites are private spaces. We share photos and information with others. However, that content still belongs to us. For example, if I upload on Facebook a nice picture that I took, then this photo is my property. Just because I uploaded it on Facebook does not make it public property. People should not use the picture without my permission. Therefore, what we post on SNSs is private property.



Rebuttal Debater 1 Henry
You admit that when we post something on SNSs, it is made available to other people. It is difficult to make sure that others do not take it or use it. Therefore, when we post something on SNSs, we have to accept that we have posted something to a public space. We must also recognize that they are public spaces where people connect and share with others. SNS content is not truly private.



Rebuttal Debater 2 Ashley
I only use SNSs to share content with my close friends and family. Privacy settings on SNSs allow users to choose how private or public we want our SNSs to be. I choose to keep my SNSs private, so only my friends and family can see what I post. Everyone should keep their SNSs private. Sharing our information with strangers is a bad idea. It can lead to identity theft!



Judge’s Comments
The winner of today’s debate is Henry. Ashley committed the fallacy called red herring because she included arguments that do not address the debate topic. She talked about her own privacy settings and identity theft. However, the debate question is whether social networking sites should be considered public spaces.

Karen Lee