WARNING: SOCIAL MEDIA MAY RUIN YOUR LIFE
The evolution of social media has been exponential and fundamental for our private and professional life: communications are easier, faster and free and we can do (literally) whatever we want but… what are the risks?
The implications of social media are several. As we have analysed during the course, one of the main problem is the vulnerability of our privacy. However, unfortunately the risks on social media are extremely wider. In fact, social media become also a fundamental tool for hackers, terrorist groups and traffickers. Even if we might think that these things happen only as exceptions and on the other part of the world, we are wrong.
Social media: for correct use, read instructions carefully
As soon as we sign up to a social media , we sign a contract, most of the time, without reading or caring about it. From that moment, all of our data will be on the Internet, and the risks are high.
Behind the screen there are not only innocent people just aiming to share their outfits and holidays online. Unfortunately, social media became also the paradise for hackers and we have to pay attention to it. We unconsciously face risks all the time while connecting to Wi-Fi, our hotspot, while giving our email etc. In fact, these are some of the ways in which hackers manage to access your data, pictures and all private information.
A not so uncommon strategy is to hack Facebook profiles. Once they have hacked one profile they can easily hack many others. In fact, by pretending to be the hacked profile’s person they write to its friends asking to sign for petitions or to open links. Consequently, friends won’t fear anything because they have no idea that their friend has been hacked! By doing so, in a short amount of time hackers manage to access all the data of several people and then start threatening victims asking them money or sexual requests. If they refuse all their private pictures will be sent to all their friends and go viral.
This is just an example on how social media can, in just few minutes, ruin your life. As one victims warns, don’t ever give private information through social media because even if you think it’s a close friend, you never really know who’s behind the screen.
Don’t accept candies from strangers
Since our childhood we hear this sentence over and over again. When we grow up, candies became jobs, false promises and many other things that strangers can offer us, for example, through social media.
Before social media, traffickers had to look for their victims in the streets, and episode were still happening and numerous but it was more difficult comparing to now. In fact, social media has facilitated global trafficking since criminals can easily reach thousands of “preys” through fake accounts in which they embody the perfect good-looking and kind person.
They focus, particularly, on victims that are going through a very difficult moments, and consequently are more vulnerable or simply people looking for jobs or love.
In fact, two of the most common strategies are:
- Starting an online relationship with the victims
- Offer them a wide range of jobs, from restaurants to modelling, according to the victims’ passions and objectives
The problem occurs when victims believe in these people and consequently, decide to meet them. At that time, they are kidnapped and sold to human trafficking market.
Ok, I know that while reading this you will think “you are so tragic, this is not very common” but it is.
All over the world, almost 21 million people are victims of human trafficking. Trafficking through social media it’s part of “modern slavery” and it is very common in the U.K. as well.
An example is, Chloe Ailyng’s case. She’s a 20 years old British model that was offered a photoshoot in Milan. When she arrived to the supposed agency, she was kidnapped and sold in the “dark web”.
It is important to be aware of these realities, not to spread fear and terror, but to be conscious that these things do happen and take all the cautions needed. It is also important to know how to recognise these cases in order to avoid it and to save victims.
ISIS, the new social media influencers
Unfortunately, social media have also become a very useful tool for terrorist groups, such as ISIS. In fact, as Awan declared, social media are helping ISIS to spread their propaganda and ideology all over the world. The main reason is that through social media they can easily reach thousands of people, with just one click and consequently, recruit and create a new generation of cyber jihadists.
ISIS has created a very sophisticated social media strategy. In fact, as well as normal influencers do, they have their accounts, they share posts, images, videos, campaigns, updates and tweets about their “successful” actions.
Such actions aim to spread hate online.
Through the, previously mentioned, abuse on privacy, ISIS can easily find the perfect prey to brain wash. The recruitment, or brain washing, is a long process based on manuals that explain how to recruit people.
As Engel denounced, recruiters mostly target teenagers that are isolated, with personal problems or vulnerable, because they are easier to manipulate and they can make them believe that ISIS can save their lives.
There are several steps to follow:
- Start as a normal relationshisp without mentioning anything related to islam or extremism
- start talking about islam and its beliefs
- Slowly, start sharing documentaries, books, articles or videos that are related to the extremist cause.
- “Stay in close contact” with them and help to fulfil the victims’ needs and be good to them
This happens all over the world, U.K. included.
To Conclude,
these three examples are huge dangers that can occur on social media. Consequently, I believe that this can eventually justify the access that the government or Institutional serveillance systems have on our data online. In fact, the only way to prevent hackers, traffickers and terrorists is by accessing all the data that is on the Internet.
It is important to be aware of what we publish,the dangers and be careful!!!
Reflection
I’ve decided to choose this course because I was realizing how much the Digital Society is changing not only our daily life but also many jobs. Consequently, I wanted to know everything about it and find out how I can properly use it to benefit my daily life and my professional life.
To engage with the positive sides, I felt that I needed to know anything beyond the Digital Society, particularly the risks of it. This is why I decided to focus my critical analysis on three serious issues that already existed before technology but that now, “thanks” it, are increasing and evolving.
This course was particularly helpful, because all the information acquired have expanded my knowledge and I have now a different perception of the digital society. During this course, I’ve started doing researches on the basis of the weekly articles on medium and lectures. Consequently, it made me want to discover more, particularly about all the risks that we face through social media, going beyond the “basic problems” such as oversharing our private life. After the lecture on privacy, hackers and the control of the State on our online data, I wanted to find out the positive sides of it while before, I only could think about the negative ones. That is how I have discovered the huge “black world” that hides behind the screens, and how government can prevent it.
It was also very interesting to analyse how things where before technology, because most of the time we take it for granted and we don’t even recognise the meaning that they have in our daily life and the amount of time that we spend (or waste) on it. That is why during this course I have decided to challenge myself and to do a two months detox from Instagram, which was the social media that I was more obsessed with. It was very helpful to scale back the importance of it and understanding that even though the digital world is extremely important and has completely changed our lives, we still have to have the control on it, and don’t let technology control us.
However, despite my critical analysis was focused on the high risks of the Digital Society, this course made me alsorealize how much technology keeps positively evolving at an incredible pace.
During the DigiLab, it was very impressive to see and try in first person the 3D printer. This is one of the example that shows the positive evolution of technology. Few years ago, we would have never thought that 3D printing could actually save lives.
Thanks to this course, I am now aware of a wider picture of the Digital Society and also of how to use the potential of technologies.
Weekly posts and the PechaKucha presentation will also be very useful in my professional life, because even if it was very challenging it taught me new ways to communicate and interact with others.
Moreover, I’m now also willing to see if what we analysed and guessed about how our cities will be in the future will come true.
