In today’s society a lot of new technology arises every
single day. The internet is one of the biggest sources for people and it brings
lots of concerns to society. Forms of social media, online schooling, and
banking are just a few things that could cause you big headaches if not used
properly. The top 10 things I believe concerning new media that people should
be aware of while using are:
I.
Identity
Theft – Defined as the unauthorized use or attempted misuse of an
existing credit card or other existing account, the misuse of personal
information to open a new account or for another fraudulent purpose, or a
combination of these types of misuse.(US Department of Justice)
a.
Between 1999 and 2000 a credit-company help desk
employee named Phillip Cummings, 33 years old, might just have committed the
biggest known case of identity theft. He stole thousands of credit reports
through Teledata Communications Inc., a company that provides banks with computerized
statements of people’s information. ABC News states that Cummings was paid $30
for each report he stole but also passed it on to another 20 odd people. After
obtaining this information the thieves can cash out by using credit cards or
get into the persons personal bank accounts. FBI said that there were about
30,000 victims with an estimated $100 million stolen. Phillip Cummings and
several of his accomplices were put to a stop in 2005, he pled guilty to fraud
and conspiracy charges, sentencing him to 14 years in prison.(Bell)
b.
In 2013 statistics show that an annual
11,571,900 people are victims of Identity fraud. An average financial loss per
incident is $4,930 and in 2013 a total loss of $21 billion. The misuse of an
existing credit card is 64.1 percent; existing bank account is 35 percent.
Average ages of 18-24 are the highest victims to this. Arizona shows to be the
highest identity theft complaint while South Dakota has the lowest complaint
rate.
II.
Miss-lead
information – it is very hard to identify where the information originates.
People seem to believe everything they read first and interpret it differently.
a.
With the new forms of social media, Twitter is
probably the first thing people will believe what they see on there. When in
April 2013 the Boston bombings occurred, social media users decided to do their
own investigations. They wrongfully claimed that a missing student was one of
the bombers because he looked like the bomber and seemed to be a little
“senile”, what seemed to happen was this student took his own life. The
mainstream media played a part of validating the misinformation by publishing
images of the wrongfully accused. It is truly up to the user to determine if it
is a hoax or not.(Vis)
b.
There really isn’t any statistics on this topic.
Everyday thousands of misleading information is spread on the internet.
Wikipedia is one of the most common sites for this. The fact that people can
edit posts from others with their own opinions is great but with that in mind,
people like to mislead others. It is solely up to the user to determine if the
quote, facts, and anything pertaining to something is a valid source or trying
to fool you.
III.
Internet
Predators – Never trust a friend request on a social media site. Unless you
truly do know them in person. People tend to change their ages and sex just to
“fit in” with a certain crowd of children.
a.
In 2011, a Roman Catholic priest was arrested on
child pornography charges. Bartley Sorensen, 63 years old, pleaded guilty to
receiving and possessing thousands of sexually explicit images of exploited
children. (Kelleher) The priest may not have had a fake identity but he was
preying on younger children and engaged in this activity.
b.
There are over 500,000 predators online every
day, kids from the ages of 12-15 are more to being manipulated, more than 89
percent of internet predators go into chat rooms and through instant messaging,
and 27 percent of them actually ask the kids for sexual photographs of
themselves. (Kempf)
IV.
Cyber
Bullying – aggressive behavior manifested by the use of force. Includes
verbal harassment, physical assault, or coercion and may be directed repeatedly
towards particular victims. Race, religion, gender, sexuality, or ability. The
“imbalance of power” maybe is social power and/or physical power. (Statistic
brain)
a.
In October 2006, Megan Meier, 13-year-old girl
committed suicide as the result of a cyber-hoax. A mother of a former friend of
Megan created a fake profile on MySpace just to gain information if Megan was
talking badly upon her own daughter, which turned hostile. The identity was a
“cute boy” by the name of “Josh Evans” It started out great but the comments
ended up turning into insults. Megan was facing low self-esteem as it is. “Josh
Evans” one day stated: “I don’t know if I want to be friends with you any
longer because I hear you’re not nice to your friends.” Later calling her a
slut and that she was fat. From a history of depression the stress and
frustration caused her to hang herself. (ABC News)
b.
California is the number one state with the high
level of bullying with New York following it. 37 percent of teens reported that
they were being bullied while at school with 52 percent being cyber bullied.
V.
Job
Security – Chances that an individual will keep his or her job due to certain
posts they may make. With Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, individuals need to
be careful of what they post to the internet. Such as statuses or
photos/videos. Something that maybe funny to you or your friends might end up
being frowned upon in a business setting.
a.
Rep. Anthony Weiner “tweeted and
Facebook-Messaged inappropriate photos of himself to at least six women is the
latest sexting scandal among politicians.” (Canning) Within seven years Weiner
engaged with six different women by sending photos and posting things on his
pages. This just proves that nothing is really kept secret, even if you think
you are sending them “privately”
b.
91% of people post photos of themselves onto pages,
about 8% of people in the US have been rejected jobs due to a post they have
made on a social media site.
VI.
Awareness
of Location – Location applications allow user based content on their
physical location via cell phones, laptops, or internet based devices.
a.
The “you are here” marker on a city map is the
most popular one for cell phone users. Application such as Twitter, Facebook,
and leaving GPS on can allow the app to pinpoint your exact location. The
downside is the concern of privacy and security of individuals. Upside of it
would be that it allows your search to be clearer and notice what topics you
have been searching more than others. Also if you are trying to find a
restaurant/hotel near you than it allows you to see the ratings by other people.
Weather is a big one as well! (Educause)
VII.
News –
The internet provides people with more sources on the topics going on around
the world. No longer do we have to wait for the morning newspaper.
a.
Twitter
is just one of the applications that allow people to connect to news faster and
unbiased opinions of others. The internet provides us with information that
hasn’t been filtered out just like news castings on the television.
VIII.
Communication – Internet provides us with instant messaging,
video calling, and applications like Facebook to connect with our peers no
matter where in the world. Skype is another program that allows connecting for
free.
IX.
Blogs – Blogs are a huge benefit to the internet.
It provides people to write their views on different sorts of topics. Also allowing
people to give their own opinions on what the person might have written out.
Canning, Andrea,
and Jessica Hopper. "Rep. Anthony Weiner's Sexting Scandal: Why Did He Do
It?" ABC News. ABC News Network, 06 June 2011. Web. 31 Mar. 2014.
"Cyber /
Bullying Statistics." Statistic Brain RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 Mar.
2014.
Kelleher, James
B. "Pennsylvania Priest Gets 8 Years behind Bars for Child Porn." Chicago
Tribune. N.p., 02 Jan. 2013. Web. 31 Mar. 2014
Bell, Rachael.
"Sensational Heists." The Biggest Identity Theft Case in U.S.
History — — Crime Library. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 Mar. 2014
Vis, Farida.
"The Rapid Spread of Misinformation Online." The Huffington Post.
TheHuffingtonPost.com, 25 Jan. 2014. Web. 31 Mar. 2014
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