It's more common that you think! In fact, the reason I'm writing on this topic is because of a personal experience. Just last week one of my Facebook contacts messaged me with the claim that they were stuck overseas, where they had been mugged of their cash, credit cards, and passports. She then proceeded to ask that I wire her and her family money that she assured me would be payed back upon their return. Sure enough I called her, and not-so-surprisingly found out it was all a scam.
Robert Siciliano, an internet security analyst gives us insight as to why it's so easy to be hacked in social networks in his July 2009 Article:
"There's a lot of excessive trust in the Facebook world. People have entirely dropped their sense of cynicism when logged on. Apparently, they see no reason to distrust. Generally, your "friends" are people who you "know, like and trust." In this world, your guard is as down as it will ever be. You can be in the safety of your own home or office, hanging with people from all over the world, in big cities and little towns, and never feel that you have to watch your back."
Siciliano has also been interviewed regarding social network identity theft by well-known news broadcasting stations, including FoxNews, two of which are shown below. Here we are informed of several other reasons that we need to be careful when dealing with social networks.
There are several websites available that can provide helpful tips to avoid social network identity theft.
A few of these sites are listed here:
Identity Theft Fixes
Huffington Post
Federal Trade Commission
I hope you find this post informational, and that it makes you think twice when using your social networking sites in the future.
First off, I'd like to say I really like that classy picture of your hunting trip you added to an entry a couple weeks ago! Nice touch!
ReplyDeleteI've got a few ideas for you for entry topics. You've covered some interesting stuff. What about covering the influences Facebook and other social media sites have had on cyber bullying. I know it's kind of negative but it's becoming a big topic in our society. What about finishing with an entry about the impact social networking has had on the world? There are tons of people with opinions on this, and you can also add in your own twist with your own opinion. If you are really struggling with a topic, you can always just go to google news, type in Facebook, Twitter, or social networking and see what news pops up. Something that your haven't covered is bound to come up.
I also use google news a lot to find my sources. I can usually find a pretty good amount as well as quality. It's been good to me. I also really like the New York Times. I know it's something we've used a lot this semester but with their technology blogs they are constantly writing about whats going on in the techworld. There's usually a good chance they'll hit on your topic.
You've hit many of the big topics regarding social networking, identity theft, use in the workplace, and even recording a positive experience amidst all the negative feelings that tend to surface. How about a topic outside of the major controversies? I found a few articles that may get you brainstorming on a possible topic. How about one on the history of social networking? Maybe focusing on the early ideas and how they burned out or reinvented themselves to become more appealing. Like ICQ, I remember my older brother using this to chat with his friends and I thought he was so cool. I just did a quick Google search (expecting it to be a dead end) but a website for ICQ came up advertising how it was still around and allowing its users to get updates from Facebook and Twitter on their account.
ReplyDeleteI like to read news articles from a site called adage.com. It has lots of fun articles about public relations and advertising, and one article asked "Is Social Media Killing TV?" Which might be an interesting throught to research. I'm not sure how hyperlinks work in comments but I'll do my best to post both so you can take a look!
"Is Social Media Killing TV?"
http://adage.com/article/digital/social-media-killing-tv/227028/
ICQ and Facebook
http://www.icq.com/download/
A slideshow about the history of social networking (has lots of other interesting slideshows on social networking! Take a look for topics!)
http://www.slideshare.net/peoplebrowsr/a-brief-cartoon-history-of-social-networking-19302011