More people in today’s society are using cell phones and the internet to communicate with their friends and family than ever before. Adults and young individuals consist of a large amount of this technology-controlled group. In fact, according to the BBC interview between Danah Boyd and Aleks Krotoski, young people usually use their Facebook accounts to expose their social vulnerability to others. However, if they did not have one, people would wonder what they were trying to hide from the viewing public. Also, Aaron Smith recorded in his findings that up to 83% of American adults own some kind of cell phone. It is almost scary that technology that did not even exist a couple of decades ago has come to play such a vital role in our society.
Because Facebook and cell-phone-based conversations have become so important or common-place in today’s culture, the possibility of using either as references is constantly escalating. While this could prove to some individuals that certain bloggers are willing to make themselves vulnerable, it goes without saying that this could come with enormous risks. The risks include identity theft, mistaken identity, and increased “slamming” or cyber-bullying. Each of these is a problem that could easily become worse within the next 5 to 20 years if insufficient safeguards are used to do something about it.
Identity theft is a big concern. It’s one of those things that most people won’t notice unless it happens to you, but I know people who it has happened to, and it can be a nightmarish experience that lasts for years. I can’t remember what year the movie The Net with Sandra Bullock was made, but it was definitely before it’s time. It portrays an exaggerated narrative of what could happen that you have no control over. It’s a scary thought.
Identity theft has become a major problem. I have has two co-workers who found identity theft just last week. Could you image getting gas with your debit or credit card and someone obtaining your identity? Hoepfully as technology increase more ways of precautions will also improve.
I absolutely agree that identity theft is one of the biggest problems we face, and one that I think gets downplayed a lot by the discourse around “sharing.” Think about all those security questions they ask you for for banks, credit cards, etc. Your first pet? Name of your elementary school? Mom’s maiden name? High school mascot? How easy will it be to figure that stuff out from somebody’s Facebook account, especially if more and more people start sharing earlier in life?
I believe that somewhere I watched that people where stealing peoples money through facebook. They would hack into their accounts and pretend to be that person and ask their family and friends to send them money because they were in trouble. Family and friends would not doubt that it was not the person because it was coming from their facebook account so they would send the money. Con artists are witty and you have to double check everything even if your family member profile is really them. Very scary.
Privacy is a huge down fall to SNS’s and all the sharing and identifying required to create accounts, as prof Markman noted in her comment. People were not always so “trackable,” meaning you would have to do some paper trailing and foot work to find out information about them to steal their information. It is scary when you start to analyze the risk of banking and being online casually.
I am guilty I personally do everything online or on my smartphone, I have been sucked into the hype primarily because I feel in control but in reality I am at risk.
My daughter is 11 years old and she is been asking me to do a Facebook account for two years now but I refused because I don’t think she is old enough to have one. I don’t understand why parents they allow their children to have special account for them before they become more mature to distinquish between what is appropriate or not and what can hurt them in the future or not. I know one thing no matter how great parent you are you can not monitor everything your teen do. This is a big issue because they always complain that they want to have privacy but this make me scared that they won’t be able to use this privacy right or even get hacked from somebody. I sometimes don’t know whether I am doing the right think not allowing my kids to have any privacy or special account to do whatever they want to do and post what ever they like ?Any suggestions?
I agree with Dr. Markman. Identity theft is easier than ever now because people can go to your Facebook page and get your information. Hacking is a big problem with Facebook. A lot of people I know got hacked and Facebook ended up telling them to just make another account and they would delete their old account. I didn’t join Facebook until 2010. Before that I was on Myspace. It’s crazy to think how evolved social media and technology is.
We’ve had phones for a long time. Cell phones just provide us with mobility and have been widely adopted (obviously, 83%). The biggest backlash to this constant connectivity is the pressure to always be available, and maybe the side effects of attentive participation (being in the present in conversations, driving, etc).
Smartphones are a different story. I think the biggest threat they pose is intangible – to our memory, attention spans, and expectations.
We demand instant connectivity; the world of information must be available at our fingertips. We don’t have to remember things anymore; we just have to know where to find the information. (Transient memory.) This isn’t necessarily bad, but it does pose interesting question to how our minds will evolve as we incorporate technology into our lives.