Social Media and Privacy

I do see that social media has helped in court to spread videos and charge rapists with their crime, but it is definitely a double edged sword. Putting myself into the shoes of these women, I would be absolutely humiliated and disgusted if photos or videos of myself being assaulted were broadcasted. You have to imagine that it isn't only teens and high schoolers seeing this (which is bad enough) but also coworkers, parents, grandparents, teachers, and community members. How embarrassing. I really can't think of a more traumatic incident than a young girl being raped and then to have it shown to the world like a feature film. I think rape has no place on social media. I do think if there is evidence, it should be turned over to authorities but never posted publicly, unless the victim chooses to do so. It should not be someone else's decision to post such a compromising video of someone. Social media wouldn't allow videos of people being murdered online, so why are other violent crimes being featured on news feed? I don't think this is at all justified, and whoever is posting these types of things needs to really step back and reevaluate their decisions and think twice about the effects it could have on a recovering victim.

I Have Nothing To Hide

I think we all should be weary of what we post online. Especially in today's world, many potential employers will look up applicant's Facebook and Twitter profiles. College kids often post pictures of themselves at parties or drinking, or use inappropriate language in status updates or tweets. Although this information isn't necessarily 'private' and you may not feel like 'you have nothing to hide,' there should still be some boundaries of what you post online because you don't know who could be looking at it. It would not be worth losing a potential job over a Facebook photo or status update.

I'm concerned about my online privacy because I have heard many horror stories about predators finding young girls online. I try to be careful about who I accept as "friends" and only allow in people that I know. However, I do like having my Instagram profile and Twitter profile public, which may seem contradictory. I just feel like to fully get the benefits of both apps, its more convenient to have them open. I try and be more careful about what I post on these sites for that reason. One instance in which I was concerned about my privacy was when Instagram created a "photo map" on your profile, and it geographically tagged each of your photos on a map of where you were when you posted them. Naturally, most of my photos were posted in my house and so on the map all of my tags showed a pin right where my house is on a map. This was unsettling because my profile is public and I felt like any stalker could easily decipher my address. I disabled the photo map setting after this, but I felt Instagram was not smart in adding this new feature.

Hi! I'm using this blog as a means to post and share assignments with my professor and classmates in a class that explores both the good and bad consequences of social media.