Irma Romero
Staff Reporter
Teenagers are now posting a large amount of information on their online profiles. Therefore, teens must be aware of the dangers out there on social media.
Typically, young adults often try to catch the attention of others and gain approval from their peers. Some teens tend to post content to seem popular or get responses from others in their online community. No information is truly private in the online world and it can be extremely easy to manipulate and spread it around. For example, an online "friend" can forward any information posted on one’s page.
According to www.ionos.com, "Young people are [likely] becoming addicted to the internet: in a phase of life where social [communication] with peers plays a significant role in self-esteem and identification. Likes and requests for friendship [influence] people to spend more and more time in front of the screen." The internet becomes so addicting that many cannot resist checking their devices every few minutes, waiting for messages from friends.
Identity theft is another danger to the online world. Some websites or apps may give people random links, and when one clicks on them, the device you are using can become hacked. Now websites also collect "cookies." Cookies are small files that websites transfer to your device that the sites use to monitor you. Then, those websites remember certain information about you, for example, the “wish list items” in your shopping cart on Amazon or your login information.
Another danger of the web is it is an invasion of privacy. Once information is posted on a social media or network site, it is no longer private and may be freely open to others. It does not matter how strong you think your privacy settings are. Default settings may allow more people to see and comment on your page than you may realize.
For example, according to privacyrights.org, "A social network can change its privacy policy at any time without a user's permission. Content that was posted with restrictive privacy settings may become visible when a privacy policy is altered." Therefore, information about you is collected over time and can be kept forever.
Posts never disappear entirely; they get backed up and stored permanently in systems. It can always be considered visible and teens especially must be careful about what they post, as it can be used against them even 30 years later.
Image Credit: Stop Ad Campaign
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