Blog Project
With all of
the new media around today it is easier than ever to stay connected with
friends and family. Facebook is a great way to keep connected with everyone in
your life. “Facebook is one of the fastest-growing social media platforms on
the planet” (Relations) . It is easy to use
and completely customizable. You can have your profile covered with pictures,
personal information like your birthday, hometown, and relationship status. If
you don’t want people you don’t know to see this information you can have it
hidden and you can make your profile private so no one outside of your friends
list can see it. You can easily interact with others using the instant
messaging system and you can post what you are doing for others to see. You can
also post pictures for visual effect.
With such
and easy to use service, it can be dangerous for some users. With such great
connectivity anyone can find you. If you are not careful you could run into a
predator. People lie about who they are in order to get information out of
others. It is good to be aware of who you are talking too and be careful about
what you say. ABC News reported that, “undercover investigators posing as
children were allegedly solicited by sexual predators” (Gannett) . I would recommend
Facebook to anyone. It is fun and easy to use but I would warn them of the
issues that could surface first.
Another
thing to be aware of is cyberbullying. This normally happens in younger age
groups. ABC News reported that, a 14 year old girl, named Rebecca, girl killed
herself due to excessive bullying. It started at school but when she moved away
it continued online (Gutman and Haskell) . This is happening
quite often lately. It is a problem that needs to be stopped. Older age groups
shouldn’t worry about this issue.
Hacking is a
big issue online. It also seems quite easy. The reason I say this is because
while looking for information on this topic I found Facebook hacking programs
available for free downloads. According to Concord Security, there are 1.5
million hacked Facebook account which are for sale for others to purchase (J.) . This is a big issue
with the Internet. If any suspicious activity starts happening with your
Facebook account I would recommend shutting it down immediately.
Not
everything on the Internet is bad news. Twitter is a microblogging social
network. “This interface allows for less customization than Facebook, but
excels in the arena of rapid information dissemination” (Relations) . Twitter has a 140
character limit on each post. This allows for small bursts of information. The
information could even be news worthy. Twitter is an excellent source for news
if you decide to follow news teams and is a great way to stay up to date with celebrity’s
news.
If you do
not change the privacy settings on Twitter, each tweet will tell your location
and if you click on the location it will bring you to google maps and give
almost an exact location. This is a cool feature to look at when following
celebrities. It would be cool if they were near you at the time of a tweet.
This setting is easily changed through the privacy settings on Twitter.
Some see
this as an advantage and others see this as a disadvantage. Online dating can
be very advantageous. Many people found perfect mates for them due to
convenient online dating sites. A study by John Cacioppo, a psychologist at the
University of Chicago in Illinois, showed “that online dating is now
one of the most common ways to meet future spouses” (Bohannon) . In the past Online
dating was considered “creepy.” Now it appeals to many people around America.
Another
positive is online charity events. “Tech-savvy nonprofit organizations are
jumping into online auctions of everything from autographed celebrity photos to
famous movie trinkets, as a fast way to raise cash for their causes” (Eng) . This helps raise
money for people in need. Many charities run online and it is a great way to
help others. Charities have raised over $200,000 from the auction done last
year and could make more this year (Eng) . Many have
benefitted from these kinds of services.
Online
banking has made peoples’ lives much easier. As the years go on, online banking
is getting more secure and more convenient. It has moved onto mobile devices so
now you can keep even closer control of your bank account. A great thing about
online banking is that you can view and print lists of your account activity (Morales) . No more waiting in
line to do your banking.
With all of
these perks to using the Internet there is one downfall. Identity theft is a
huge issue. “Online identity theft is one the fastest growing crimes in the
nation and teens are becoming the latest victims” (Cha) . With such a crime
growing, personal information must be kept safe. “Clean credit and a low level
of identity theft awareness are the top two reasons teens are being targeted” (Cha) . The younger people
should be extra careful with all personal information.
Works Cited
Bohannon, John. Online Dating Really Can Lead to
Love. 3 July 2013. Article. 29 October 2013.
Cha, Cindy. Teens are Latest Victims of Online
Identity Theft. n.d. Article. 29 October 2013.
Eng, Paul. Charities Cash in with Online Auctions.
12 July 2013. News. 29 October 2013.
Gannett, Joseph Spector. Investigation claims
Facebook a target of child predators. 13 March 2013. News. 29 October
2013.
Gutman, Matt and Josh Haskell. Rebecca Sedwick
Suicide: Parents of Alleged Cyberbully Blame Facebook Hack. 16 October
2013. News. 29 October 2013.
J., Klassen. Facebook Accounts Hacked. 9
February 2009. Article. 29 October 2013.
Morales, Tatiana. Benefits of Banking Online.
11 February 2009. News. 29 October 2013.
Relations, Alumni. Staying Connected in a Brave
New (Social Media) World. 24 July 2013. Article. 29 October 2013.
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