CASE STUDY ON SOCIAL MEDIA

What is Social Media?

Sharing of information and human communication by means of a tablet, mobile or
computer is said to be social media. Social media has become a vital part of today’s
society. Socializing and interacting is made possible by means of various websites
such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. Social Media has had a significant impact
on our society. Off late, it has been one of the most efficient platforms as a
communication gateway that associates business and customers. However, here are
various destructive as well as opposing effects due to social media misuse.

Social Media Misuse Consequences:

When social media is misused, it leads to sexual harassment, criminal offense,
employment obligations breach, unlawful discernment, misconduct, violation of
students, staffs or parent’s privacy, legal liability exposure, and so on. These are
illegal as well as serious unlawful activities that take place as a result of social media
misuse.

 Privacy loss:
Individual privacy is lost with social media networking websites and is one of the
greatest problems faced these days. Social networking websites these days, request
for personal information to be filled and this is easily accessible by people across the
globe. Though there are many privacy settings, many people are unaware of it or are
careless about its details.

It is also important to remember that the internet is a digital footprint, and details
cannot be erased as on normal paper. Hence proper decisions must be taken before
posting pictures on their profiles. There was also a survey conducted where 39% of
British teens regretted what they had posted online. This is because we leave digital
footprints when we post, publish, or send any form of information online and this
could be a potential that may be a threat in the future. For example, employers can
take a look at their Facebook pictures and profiles for illegal actions.

 Time depletion:
The biggest disadvantage of social media networking is that it takes up a lot of our
time and tend to be addictive. Time is precious and can be used for a number of
productive accomplishments. According to the Digital Entertainment Survey of
2008, in Great Britain, about one-third of students under age 15 to 19 allocate
less time for homework and more time on social media sites such as Facebook,
Twitter, Instagram, and their likes.

Apart from homework, students can get involved in physical activities as well as in
other productive activities; however, an ordinate amount of time wasted on these
social apps.

 Cyberbullying:
By making use of the internet or some other technology where individuals find a
platform to abuse others is termed as cyberbullying. The base platform is social
media networking for such issues. The main reason to blame social media is that it’s
simple and fast to initiate a nasty rumor, comment, upload embarrassing photos, or
send an intimate messages.
A recent survey on British teenagers reveals that about 37% of youngsters have
created profiles just to prank peers. They can hack others personal life and also
send abusive messages too.

How to Protect Your Privacy on Social Media

Here are some tips to help you protect your privacy on social media:

1. Read and Understand the Privacy Terms

Every website on the internet has privacy terms, including social media sites.
Before signing into any social media and registering an account, it is important that
you read and understand their privacy terms.

Pay particular attention to the privacy terms of the information you are registering
and agreeing to share when you sign up for an account with a social media platform.

For instance, what content can be shared with the third party, can you delete your
content on the website permanently.

2. Site Features
Ensure you familiarize yourself with the social media site’s functionality before you
broadcast or share any messages.

Understand who will see your messages and whether they will be only specified
recipients or all users on the platform.

Above all, understand the privacy settings and privacy vulnerabilities on the social
media site.

3. Adjust your Privacy Settings

For every social media platform you are using, always check the default privacy
settings on their site.

Most default privacy settings on social media may permit the sharing of your
information with other third-party online users.

Adjusting the default privacy settings may limit the amount of information that the
social media site can share with other users outside of your knowledge.

4. Biographical Information
To register an account with many social media platforms, you’ll be required to
provide your biographical information such as full name, year of birth, age, or
address.

Keep these pieces of information to yourself to limit what other social media users
know about you. Such information can provide cybercriminals with enough data to
cause you harm.

You may consider customizing the privacy settings on your media to minimize
personal information on the same platform.
5. Account Information
Consider carefully the kind of personal detail you provide on your social media
profile.

Never provide sensitive information such as nearest schools, political affiliation, bank
account information, former or current workplace, Social Security numbers, or
general interests, among others.

Providing this information may appear harmless, but it can be used to scam you or
serve you unnecessary ads.

6. Friends or Contacts
You do not have any obligation to accept a “friend or follow” request of anyone on
social media, particularly those you do not know.

Be careful when accepting friends or following friends or contacts with a keen

consideration of why you are using the site.

Before accepting any follow or friend request, research about the person, and
understand (from their timeline) who they are, what they do, and what kind of content
they share.

7. Turn Off Your Location

While adjusting your privacy settings, never forget to turn off your gadget’s location
sharing.

This way, you’ll avoid giving reviews to places and businesses you frequently visit.
Turning off your location prevents your Facebook, email, and Phone Lookup.

8. Be careful about posting photos online

Before you post any photos, think twice. Posting photos on social media has been
identified as one of the risky social networking activities.

For instance, a simple, harmless picture of your child without a name may already be
revealing too much information.

Advertising your whereabouts through pictures could make you, your loved ones, or
your home a tempting target for cybercriminals.

9. Avoid Clickbait
No social media will take responsibility for third-party apps.
When prompted to ‘comment below to see magic’ or ‘check which celebrity you
share a birthday with,’ avoid clicking these random baits.

They are third-party apps that try to capture and misuse your private information.

A Sad Story of Social Media

On 25 March 2010, a 15-year-old schoolboy was murdered in a busy London
railway station. It was a brutal attack, played out in public, in broad daylight.
Now that the trials have taken place, leading on twenty teenagers being charged
with murder; details are starting to emerge about the days and hours leading up
to that event. As the judge read through some of those accounts, he could not
help but notice the role of communication technology in the organisation of
that attack.

After a spat between two groups of teenagers resulted in one of them getting a
bloody nose, some youngsters used Facebook and the BlackBerry messaging
system (BBM) to ‘organise’ a revenge attack for the following day. Others used
Facebook to request for weapons. This article in the Guardian, reports:

“[Boy], then 16, repeatedly asked that evening on Facebook for “a flick up
thing (…) He asked [another boy] – as the oldest in the group – to “buy some
nanks from Argos”, referring to a box set of kitchen knives.”

Later, the same two technical platforms were used to confirm the intention to
join the attack on the following day, to ensure that everybody had some form of
weapon for the attack, and to encourage others to join in.

The attack or even the murder, were not caused by the technology, of course.
Still, it is striking to see how quickly the messages disseminated among the
group members, and resources were pulled together. Sometimes, that happens
for good. This time, it happened for bad. At least, eventually, the social media
and messaging systems that enabled those teenagers to recruit, resource and
motivate for action, proved instrumental in convicting 20 of them for the attack,
too.
 “PRIVACY IS NOT
SOMETHING THAT I'M
MERELY ENTITLED TO
IT'S AN ABSOLUTE
PREREQUISITE”

-Marlon Brando

Thank you!!