Reader’s Response:
Communication in this day and age has been made
easier due to the advancements in social networks. Unfortunately, it has also
made it more convenient for those who wish to do us harm. In the text “Perils
of Over-Sharing on social networks” (2014), Emm shows the linear relationship
between posting too much on social media and security and safety issues. People
are often oblivious to the dangers of posting too much online. From
“checking-in” to posting of work related information on social networks, may
eventually lead to theft and increased opportunity for cybercriminals out there
to hack and strike onto people’s data. In order to secure and prevent such
incidents from occurring, one can install security software onto their digital
devices and also be extra cautious of what they post online.
The question now is, how much is too much information
when it comes to posting online? When would it become a personal safety risk? I
can only agree to what Emm says to a certain extent. Indeed the risks of over posting
online are often left hidden and difficult to guard against, but in my opinion,
Emm fails to highlight the social benefits of over-sharing.
Many do not really
understand the real danger of social media, which is social media stalking.
According to Cretella (2014), statistics has shown over six million people
being stalked in the United States. The number has tripled over the past ten
years due to the advancements in social media and amount of people using it.
These social networking sites give stalkers an opportunity to find people more
easily. North American
Man/Boy Love Association (NAMBLA), the world’s largest
pro-pedophilia supporting group makes use of Facebook to connect with
supporters worldwide. They make use of it to search for photos of children and
to identify their next victim to target against. It makes pedophiles find their
prey more conveniently, targeting the young and innocent looking children. These
two evidences clearly shows that posting too much information on social media
would eventually lead to personal safety being compromised and end up being
preyed on by these perpetrators.
Emm only
states the negatives of over-sharing online but had failed to highlight the
social benefits of it. Posting too much information can be useful for law
enforcers to be used against cyber abusers. We are living in a time of
excessive reliance on digital devices and over sharing of personal information.
Perpetrators often leave a trail of evidence behind on social networks after
committing a crime. According to Nasaw (2010), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) uses Facebook to catch criminals.
The culprits may be overly excited over their crimes committed on social
networking sites and boast about them online. Next thing that happens, a new
“friend” request notification from an FBI agent pops up. Also, the police
departments in Racine County in Wisconsin, United States, have looked into
investing in social media monitoring software to gather evidence against such
criminals (Spoto, 2014). Social Media in this case acts as a surveillance
camera that can be used to monitor and maintain the safety and security of its
citizens.
Social media is a powerful tool. It can
be both used as a weapon to commit crime and also as a tool to uphold justice. The
idea of over sharing is subjective. The concept of over-sharing differs with
individuals. The most important factor is to pay attention to what he or she is
posting and sensitive information should be released with caution.
580 words
References:
Emm, D. (2014,March 14). The perils of Over-Sharing in
social networks.
Cretella, Morgan. (2014,
July 28). How Social Media Stalking has become all too real
Winter, Jana. (2010
September 28). Pedophiles Find a
Home for Social Networking on Facebook.
Nasaw,
Daniel. (2010, March 16) FBI using Facebook in fight against crime
Spoto,
Cara. (2014, August 31) Police seeking software for monitoring social media
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