The Dangers of Social Networking
Social networks are very popular these days. I think our culture and world
is very much immerse in sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Bebo, MySpace,
LinkedIn and the list goes on. Although social networking has its positive,
there are also many negative aspects involved. As social networking becomes
more popular, issues start to arise. The likes of cyber bullying, cyber
stalking and many more are all increasing dangers not only for teenagers but
adults as well.
Facebook, Founded by Mark Zuckerberg, a Harvard
student is one of the biggest Social websites in the world. It houses millions
of games and applications but the main function is for people to connect with
families and friends no matter where they are. Because you can have as many
friends as you'd like, some people would add people they hardly know or
sometimes, someone they don't know.
Many have become victims of armed robbery or
frauds like Cynthia, a student of the University of Nassarawa. She was drugged
killed and robbed by 'friends' she made on Facebook. This shocked many people
in Nigeria.
Some questions the misguided use of social media
and some feel there is nothing wrong with the social network as many businesses
are still connected to the medium. Nearly everyone in the world is connectable
with at least one social networking portal (Facebook, Skype or Yahoo messenger,
etc.). These networks are great for connecting with people around the globe but
it comes with many dangers as some use it for scams, frauds and other purposes.
There are mixed reviews from individuals and
expert opinions. Mrs Oluwabumni Anthony, a secondary teacher felt that with the
increase popularity with social media, Student's attention spam are shorter and
many cling on to their phone 24/7. Mr Johnson Korode feels that if you are
cautious the advantages out weights the disadvantage and that it bring people
from different religion, ethnicity and ages, closer.
Mr Gbenga Sesan, the Executive Director of
Paradigm Initiative believes social media would still be a communication portal
where students, business executives and many more will meet and connect. He
felt that if you meet someone online that is a friend of someone you know, you
can easily confirm with them before taking the risk of meeting them in person.
There is definitely an increase in cyber-crime in
the past few years. Why commit a crime when you can do it online and
anonymously or create a fake account? With the rise of cyber stalking, all they
need to do is to log on instead of hanging around your house. You might think
this isn't as scary as real life stalking but it is very much the same.
Karen Allison left his husband because he's been
abusive. Naturally she thought he wouldn't let her go easily. Immediately after
their marriage ended, she started getting sexually explicit text messages and
photographs on her phone. The husband even posted her details as available for
sexual services on a website for cross-dressers and sado-masochists.
He was only imposed with a restraining order of
100 yards of Karen and banned from posting her details online.
In a recent survey on British crime, 6% of men
and 8% of women have been stalked in the previous year. 20% of all women are
stalked at some stage during their lives. Shockingly, more than 200 women leave
the U.K because their lives have become so difficult they just can't bear it
anymore; the average length a woman is stalked is 7 and a half year. This is
crazy! Imagining your live being ruined by possibly your ex or someone you
don't know. No one deserves to go through this agony.
Many of these women are stalked by their ex's
because they refuse to believe their relationship has ended. These 'obsessional
stalkers' has the attitude that if I can't have her no one can. They don't just
get texts messages but emails containing pornographic photographs, videos of
themselves or any form of sexually explicit materials. Some even get sexually
explicit material to their work emails. This can cause humiliation and possibly
ruin their careers.
You would imagine stalkers as loners but there
are growing numbers of community online ( Avengers Den and Get Revenge on Your
Ex) that will help you plan your 'revenge' against your ex's. The things they
would do are just disturbing. They offered a service called "fake
SMS". What this basically does is you can send a message to someone and
make it look like it came from someone else.
I think there should definitely be more awareness
raised on these issues. Cyber stalking can affect people greatly and it takes a
long time for the victims to recover, if they ever do. They may never trust
people again and many change their names and move away from their homes. I
think everyone should be educated on the dangers of social networks. Don't get
me wrong, I think social networks are great and I truly enjoy it but I just
feel that we can and should be more conscience of the criminals out there that
will take advantage of people.
Many have become victims of armed robbery or frauds like Cynthia, a student of the University of Nassarawa. She was drugged killed and robbed by 'friends' she made on Facebook. This shocked many people in Nigeria.
Some questions the misguided use of social media and some feel there is nothing wrong with the social network as many businesses are still connected to the medium. Nearly everyone in the world is connectable with at least one social networking portal (Facebook, Skype or Yahoo messenger, etc.). These networks are great for connecting with people around the globe but it comes with many dangers as some use it for scams, frauds and other purposes.
There are mixed reviews from individuals and expert opinions. Mrs Oluwabumni Anthony, a secondary teacher felt that with the increase popularity with social media, Student's attention spam are shorter and many cling on to their phone 24/7. Mr Johnson Korode feels that if you are cautious the advantages out weights the disadvantage and that it bring people from different religion, ethnicity and ages, closer.
Mr Gbenga Sesan, the Executive Director of Paradigm Initiative believes social media would still be a communication portal where students, business executives and many more will meet and connect. He felt that if you meet someone online that is a friend of someone you know, you can easily confirm with them before taking the risk of meeting them in person.
There is definitely an increase in cyber-crime in the past few years. Why commit a crime when you can do it online and anonymously or create a fake account? With the rise of cyber stalking, all they need to do is to log on instead of hanging around your house. You might think this isn't as scary as real life stalking but it is very much the same.
Karen Allison left his husband because he's been abusive. Naturally she thought he wouldn't let her go easily. Immediately after their marriage ended, she started getting sexually explicit text messages and photographs on her phone. The husband even posted her details as available for sexual services on a website for cross-dressers and sado-masochists.
He was only imposed with a restraining order of 100 yards of Karen and banned from posting her details online.
In a recent survey on British crime, 6% of men and 8% of women have been stalked in the previous year. 20% of all women are stalked at some stage during their lives. Shockingly, more than 200 women leave the U.K because their lives have become so difficult they just can't bear it anymore; the average length a woman is stalked is 7 and a half year. This is crazy! Imagining your live being ruined by possibly your ex or someone you don't know. No one deserves to go through this agony.
Many of these women are stalked by their ex's because they refuse to believe their relationship has ended. These 'obsessional stalkers' has the attitude that if I can't have her no one can. They don't just get texts messages but emails containing pornographic photographs, videos of themselves or any form of sexually explicit materials. Some even get sexually explicit material to their work emails. This can cause humiliation and possibly ruin their careers.
You would imagine stalkers as loners but there are growing numbers of community online ( Avengers Den and Get Revenge on Your Ex) that will help you plan your 'revenge' against your ex's. The things they would do are just disturbing. They offered a service called "fake SMS". What this basically does is you can send a message to someone and make it look like it came from someone else.
I think there should definitely be more awareness raised on these issues. Cyber stalking can affect people greatly and it takes a long time for the victims to recover, if they ever do. They may never trust people again and many change their names and move away from their homes. I think everyone should be educated on the dangers of social networks. Don't get me wrong, I think social networks are great and I truly enjoy it but I just feel that we can and should be more conscience of the criminals out there that will take advantage of people.
I found this fascinating to read Tara. It really shocked me to see how many people are being stalked especially females and on average seven and a half years! I think people need to be more aware of cyber-stalking as it seems to be more prevalent than I would of thought, I definitely think it is overshadowed by cyber-bullying. Something needs to be done about it as it can very easily ruin someone's life as you mentioned.
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