Thursday, January 19, 2012

The cons of being connected continued


Faceless Stalkers
With all these social networking sites, it is indubitably easier to stalk, and I know this for a fact.  But when we use the word stalk, we mean the nice kind of stalk and not the creepy one.  But how can we know for sure what the people are up to.  We supply all kinds of information about ourselves.  We tell the whole world where we are by checking in with social networking sites.  We tweet about our whereabouts, our plans for the night or the weekend, everything.  And just thinking of the many possible uses of these information just scares me.  Well, partly because I realize I can have such a criminal mind.   But seriously, we’ve heard of stories of real life creepy stalkers and what they can do.  Checking in or tweeting about some really personal things may just do your stalker a big favor.

They can see you.
I know a friend who up until now has not subscribed to any social networking site.  The reason? He wants to go up the ladder.  Quite sensible actually.  He said it might jeopardize his promotion.  The background investigators aren’t what they were used to be.  Before they call your personal references, they might as well check your social networking accounts first where they could see a lot of things, good and bad depending on their interpretation of things.  They might see tagged pictures of you in a very rowdy party, or your hate posts on our last boss, those sort of things. I really did not think of it before, but yes, it really makes sense.  So, unless you’re someone with no bad bone in your body, take extra precaution.  You might just miss your big P.

Congratulations! You just won the lottery!
You won an X amount of cash.  To claim, we will need a deposit.  Scammers aren’t old dogs.  They learn a lot of new stunts, quite fast actually.  We are (hopefully) very much aware of all these scams to even entertain them, but some aren’t.  Well, who would not want a million bucks? But that’s just too obvious to fall for.  There are some online Budol-Budol tactics.  They assume the identity of your friend seeking financial help, ASAP! So, the goodie ol’ friend in you comes to the rescue and sends a money transfer to a certain account.  The next day, you find your friend perfectly fine and oblivious to the fact of his own supposed misfortune. 

Need vs Want
With all our friends posting about their latest gadgets, it’s really easy to get into the bandwagon.  We all know the B, and the i, especially when they follow a post.  And sometimes, our covetous doppelgangers just do what our subconscious (or sometimes conscious) wants.  They go to the mall, swipe that little blue, or red card, and voila! You find sparkling new gadget in your hands.  With the social networking sites, it’s difficult to draw the line between need and want.  We think that just because others have it, it’s a necessity and we get out of our ways to get it.  But we all know better.

My Mom is online.
To cap my top 10 list, I think having some people connected with me thru these social networking sites is a disadvantage.  Parents, guardians, teachers, you know what I mean.  Having them online is quite a challenge.  Your parents will definitely find the answers to their usually unanswered questions.  Where have you been? Who were you with? What time did you get home? Who are you dating? And the list can go on.  Simple as it seems, but it has been, quite frankly, the biggest disadvantage for me of being connected.  
  

Maricor Estrella, Entry # 5

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