After reading this weeks article "Facebook to make mobile users download Messenger" on CNN.com it made me more aware of how advanced the US is with mobile and social technology compared to other countries. Facebook has made it so mobile users are no longer able to use the messaging feature via the Facebook application. Each user will have to download Messenger to their mobile device in order to chat using Facebook on their phones. This article brought to my attention that Messenger is very similar to the app called WhatsApp. WhatsApp is a texting app that is used mostly overseas costing 99¢ per year. Applications like this take away from basic mobile to mobile texting because now we are able to get a text to someone quickly almost anywhere in the world. But is that a good thing?
Social media has come a long way and is now incorporating overseas text messaging and the use of Skype or other video chat application out there. We are able to communicate with people at all times in a matter of seconds. Convenient? Yes, especially for people with family and friends in the military or sent away for work. However, I do believe it can be invasive.
This past month I have been dealing with a "cyber stalker". This is a man I've never met who lives in Saginaw. He has been creating fake email accounts with my name, calling my phone hundreds of times a day, trying repeatedly to hack into many of my social media accounts, creates fake accounts on social media to try to add me on Facebook, texting me from many different phone numbers and email accounts daily, sends inappropriate Snapchats, and the list goes on. I have been to court, talked with the state police, and he has a PPO out on him, however, I'm told there is nothing that can be done because it's all cyber communication and the police say "their hands are tied".
Because of new application being developed everyday and allowing for people to hide behind their computers to communicate with people anywhere at any time can be scary. I believe that certain social media sites can be invasive because they will post exactly where you are located at the time of the post. Nothing online is hidden which is how this man found my phone number, social media accounts, and email addresses. It's nice having ways to communicate overseas and to people across the US but I believe we spend too much time trying to stay in touch with people via technology.
http://www.cnn.com/2014/04/15/tech/social-media/facebook-messenger-app/index.html
I think what's most scary about the openness of the internet are the subtle ways information can be obtained about you. For instance, have you ever been on a website looking at a product and then noticed an advertisement for that product on facebook? It's no coincidence! Cookies are used track everything we do and many websites we visit read those cookies because we give them permission to when we sign up. And then there are little things like "checking in" to places via Four Square, Facebook and even twitter has location sharing. It's becoming harder and harder to gaurantee privacy, even if you're dilligent.
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