Facebook, despite being less than four years old, has seen a dramatic rise in popularity and power over recent months, but the potential dangers of social networking sites are not to be underestimated.

Facebook first started out in the USA as a means by which college friends could keep in touch with each other, but the trend soon passed overseas, and became a networking site not just for college or university students, but for anyone, anywhere.

The use of social networking sites has become one of the most popular pastimes for the younger generation, and the potential to spread information across a large population has not gone unnoticed.

Software giants Microsoft bought a minuscule stake in the region of 1.6% in Facebook, and valued the company at a reported $15 billion. In return, Microsoft is seeking to tap the surge of visitors and advertisers who use Facebook, and benefit from growing demand abroad.

Despite this, Facebook still receives its fair share of criticism. It recently had to part ways with its application 'Secret Crush' after fears that it was affiliated with a spyware manufacturer. Many of the applications which get added on Facebook are done so by outside sources, meaning Facebook itself is not responsible for some of the information and facilities it provides.

A statement from the company read: "Facebook is committed to user safety and security and, to that end, its Terms of Service for developers explicitly state that applications should not use adware and spyware. We have contacted the developers and have disabled the Secret Crush application for violating Facebook Platform Terms of Service."

Posting on social networking websites such as Facebook leaves behind an 'electronic footprint', which users need to be aware of because they are potentially leaving themselves exposed to identity fraud by giving away personal information.

There have been concerns regarding employers viewing the personal pages of potential employees. Last year, the Information Commissioner's Office found that more than half of Facebook users asked made most of their information public. Despite this, 71% of 2,000 14 to 21-year-olds said they would not want colleges or employers to do a web search on them before they had removed some material.

Further studies by the ICO found that 95% of users were concerned about their details being passed on to advertisers or other websites.

This concern turned out to be rightly justified. Towards the end of 2007, Facebook launched a social ads campaign, which directly targeted individuals with specific adverts.

Facebook described the campaign thus: "Instead of creating an advertisement and hoping that it reaches the right customers, you can create a Facebook Social Ad and target it precisely to the audience you choose. The ads can also be shown to users whose friends have recently engaged with your Facebook Page or engaged with your website through Facebook Beacon. Social Ads are more likely to influence users when they appear next to a story about a friend's interaction with your business."

The campaign was a disaster, and Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg apologised to users after large numbers of complaints.

Social networking sites such as Facebook therefore not only have the power to promote information to individuals: they can also promote brands and products to individuals, whether they are wanted or not.

Although Facebook offers a wealth of information and opportunities to connect with people from all over the globe, users should not forget that it is also a platform for some to misuse information. It is up to the individual as to what personal information they may decide to publish online, but they must remember one thing: anyone could be reading.

The article The Rise of Social Stalking originally appeared on 999 Today