Social Media
Social Media
In today’s era, technology has evolved into a dominant industry. In particular, the World Wide Web has become one of the most important sources of information. Both, businesses and education heavily rely on the internet. There are many advantages and disadvantages of social media, and easily obtainable information. Social media is a new way in which people communicate and socialize at their convenience. A person can engage in conversations through messages and avoid face to face or telephone conversations. It is important for a person to understand these advantages or disadvantages because it may alter how a person utilizes social media. There is a lot of information on the internet, but not all of it is reliable or accredited. It is important to understand the credibility of every source that a business or student uses.
Easily obtainable information can be found all over the internet. Search engines such as Google, Bing, and Yahoo are just a few examples of websites that provide us various sources when researching information. However, we need to be careful when using sources. We need to verify if the source we are using is reliable and current. Otherwise, we would be using research that is not reliable, accurate, or credible. It is no longer necessary to leave a person’s home to conduct research and find sources for various assignments.
The disadvantages are that as a society we have become too reliable on internet based information. Libraries and dictionaries are rarely used as a reliable source of information and research. Internet-based research has outgrown traditional ways of obtaining information. As a result, we have seen many bookstores close from lack of interest and business. Social Media’s most important disadvantage is its privacy. Popular websites such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter have been a contributing factor in many crimes where businesses and people are victims. These websites are not known for their consumer awareness of such privacy liabilities. These websites contain personal and confidential information about their subscribers. Yasmeen Alufaisan (2013) states, “Social media sites contain public and confidential information about their users” (p. 1). When Facebook was first established, it allowed posted pictures to give specific information about a person’s location. These privacy tools have been known to compromise military locations in the past and as a result, the locations were used to attack our military with mortar and small arms attacks. Facebook has then rectified the location given on photographs. However, people continue to post their exact locations on Facebook and Instagram. Criminals continually prey on this type of information and use to their advantage to commit a variety of crimes. For example, people have posted their address and stated they are going on vacation. According to Theodore Claypoole (2014), sharing photographs and locations help create communities, but it also destroys privacy (p.1). Criminals view this sensitive information and burglarize the victim’s residence. Locations given also have been a contributing factor in homicides, robberies, and thefts. This is just one of many reasons in which government employees or discouraged from having accounts with social media websites.
The advantages of social media when used properly is that a person can re-connect with a long lost friend or family member. Countless friendships have been restarted as a result of these social media websites. Most of the social media websites ask personal information, such as age and high school attended. These features make it easier for anyone to find a specific friend or acquaintance. People can share photographs and videos for free for all of their friends and family members to view at their convenience. These websites make it easier to stay connected while juggling a busy work and family schedule. People can post comments on the photographs and