Dangers of Social Networking
Over the decades social networking has become a growing medium that men and women use to stay in contact with friends and family. Websites such as MySpace, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter, have become the largest social networking sites in the world. But unknown too many of its users are the dangers that can occur when a person puts their information online. For my blog I researched the different kinds of dangers that are present when a person uses these networks, or believes without any uncertainty the information being provided by the social networking sites is true.
One of largest and most talked about concerns regarding social networking is the deterrence of children under a certain age using these networking sites without some form of parental supervision (Stone 2009). Almost all social networks have a minimum age limit so that children can’t make profiles. In studies of social networking sites such as Bebo, Facebook, and MySpace it shows that over a quarter of children aged eight to eleven are able to bypass the online age restrictions set by these websites. This allows them access to adult content. Of Teenagers between the ages of fifteen to sixteen who use the internets social networks– twenty-one percent of girls and twenty-eight percent of boys put themselves at risk from pedophiles by meeting their “cyber friends” in person. The internet has become a public playground among children. 1 in every 10 teenagers has posted a semi nude or nude pic on their profile.As we live in a digital age access to the internet is apparent, parents and children need to be aware of stalkers and pedophiles that scour these social networking sites everyday. In the past two years, the social networking site MySpace identified and barred over 90,000 sexual predators from using their websites
Secondly, among the many dangers of social networking, people often feel that when they have an account with a secret question on it, that the account is safeguarded against someone trying to hijack their account. The truth of the matter is that the answers to those secret questions aren’t all that secret. Research from Microsoft and Carnegie Mellon University show that such security questions are usually insecure. The least secure questions are simple ones whose answers can be guessed with no existing knowledge of the subject. For example the answers to the questions, “What is your favorite town?” and “What is your favorite sports team?” were easy for participants to guess. Roughly 30 percent and 57 percent of correct answers appeared in the top five list of guesses. Most security questions are answered truthfully, and can be easily guessed. Questions Therefore the following questions; what schools have you attended? And what is your pet’s name? Are questions that are often in public record or on a profile page for anyone to see.
Social networking sites such as Twitter have been targeted by hackers around the world. An 18 year old hacker calling himself GMZ hacked into 33 Twitter accounts including Barack Obama’s, Britney Spears, and FOX news (Miller, Stone 15). He did this by gaining access to an account of an employee of the San Francisco based Twitter Inc(Miller, Stone 15). This hacker used a “dictionary attack” program, which is an automated program that attempts to find login passwords (Miller, Stone 15). The employee’s password was “happiness (Miller, Stone 15).” All of this trouble was caused because the password was too generic. This incident is similar to the case involving former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin (Weizhen 2008). In September 2008, hackers used the name of the location where Palin and her husband met to gain access to her Yahoo e-mail account via the “secret question” password-recovery mechanism (Weizhen 2008).
Hackers have become a very real problem for the millions of social networking users. Besides the fact that hackers can use people’s passwords to gain access to private accounts. They are also hacking into accounts on social networking cites such as Facebook, to defraud money from the account users friends and family. In an investigative report by KATV Channel 2 News, on the dangers of social networking, their news correspondent is on Facebook and is messaged by a hacker masquerading as his former teacher (Internet Marketing Services 2010). This hacker proceeds to make small talk with the reporter (Internet Marketing Services 2010). After a few messages the hacker then tries to ask him to send money to London, because she is in trouble and needs his help.
One of the most dangerous aspects of social networking are the people that are using social networks such as MySpace, Twitter, and blogs to display information that claims to be real or well researched, but is actually made up. The worst part of the fact is that most people will believe it.
For example internet entrepreneur- Jason Calacanis, sparked a debate about media credibility when prior to the iPad release, he posted information on Twitter, announcing his experiences with the iPad, and the various “cutting edge” specifications of the product. Notable media companies like CNN, the Wall street Journal and new age media sources like Tech Crunch, were quick to report his information that the iPad included; a fingerprint reader, wireless charging, facial recognition software, and Wireless internet through Verizon and AT&T, among a list of 20 other advanced accessories. All of these claims are obviously false. But because of Calacanis’s status in the world of technology, several on and offline outlets accepted his information as valid, and published what he said in their articles/blogs, without actually researching into his obviously made up claims.
In conclusion in this generation it is imperative for men, women, and children to be more aware of who they are speaking to online. To rethink the questions and answers they use for their different online accounts, and to research a statement or fact that is written or blogged about by reliable source or magazine before believing it.
