Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, all of these names should ring a bell. After all, it's websites like these that have burrowed their way into our daily lives and for some consume hours upon hours daily. While most recently the media has focused on the positive benefits of social networking giants like these, often the ugly truth behind these communication outlets gets ignored. Since the birth of social media, there has been numerous criminal cases ranging from identity theft to acts as dangerous as rape and murder. Yet despite the flurry of dangerous and sometimes deadly Internet-related crimes, most people still continue to use these websites with little to no moderation.
MySpace
As the one of the first incarnations of the social networking frenzy, MySpace was no stranger to crimes committed between users. Founded in 2003 MySpace ran into problems starting 2006 when seven girls ages 12-16 came out to the public after being sexually assaulted by men whom they met through MySpace. From that incident on, MySpace a crewed infamy as more and more crimes like those popped up in the news. All a sudden MySpace was known less for the intention it was created, a place for friends and sometimes strangers to connect, but instead a tool for evil people to harp on naive teenagers. Things got the worst when two girls were found dead after what seemed like communicating with strangers on MySpace. What made MySpace different than anything else seen before was that these kids were actually unknowingly advertising themselves to horrible people rather than the criminals preying on children like in chatrooms such in the past.
Facebook
Although MySpace arguably gave rise to the greatest social media titan of all, Facebook. Launched all the way back in 2004, since then it has claimed over 845 million users. While it has been praised for its ingenuity and has become an important part in many peoples' lives, that is to not say it has gone through its fair share of problems also. As well as a place to keep in touch with everyone you know it has also become a home for con-artists and bullies. From the always prevalent cyber-bullying to now as complex crimes as downloading malware and jacking important personal information on a click, Facebook crimes are reportedly on the rise. What's the reason why people are so vulnerable to Facebook criminals? People trust the person they can't physically seen online, just not if they saw them in person. Users are so willing to post seemingly unimportant information on Facebook, sometimes enough so that a stranger could even set up a credit card in your name.
So what does this all mean for the future of social media? It really means that while our addiction to "staying connected" grows so does our need for privacy. The most depressing part of these stories is that many could have been prevented if these people just exercised their common sense, yet for some reason it appears that we tend to separate our "real" life with the one on the internet. For many out there, the great world wide web is a whole other world where they can be completely different people. For some I guess that means they can leave out their basic human ideals, "don't talk to strangers" and "don't do something you wouldn't do want done to yourself."
No comments:
Post a Comment