Lauren Pavlecic
Reflection #2
February 10 th , 2015
Control Over Our Own Privacy
The World Wide Web is one of, if not the most important and resourceful tools that we have at our disposal. The Internet can be so many things to so many people at any given time. Gone are the days when the Internet was accessed from only your home. The Internet is now accessed from the palm of your hand. Basically, the Internet is everywhere. And like most things, the Internet is ever changing and constantly evolving. As we move forward, a big topic has been and will continue to be the notion of
Internet Security and Internet Privacy, especially in an era when Social Media dominates not just the
Internet, but our lives as well.
Employers in this day and age turn to social media when they are looking for potential employees. Once you are hired by your employer, they may also have rules about what you can and can not post about the company. Some companies will not let you post anything about the company, good or bad. I have had experience with this at my current employer Primanti Brothers. All of the employees started a Facebook page so that it was easier for people to pick up and switch shifts and post the schedule. Some employee’s decided to use the website to bash the restaurant, and therefore in return lost their job. I don’t see companies and employers looking at how we carry ourselves on a social media outlet is that bad of an idea. I wouldn’t want someone who goes out and parties every night and is posting pictures of inappropriate behavior to be working at my company. Although, if a person has
“party pictures” from their younger years, I don’t think that should be held against them either.

I also believe that social media can have a negative effect on an individual’s life. Some people take social networking to different level and become obsessed with it, where they are constantly on their computers, or if they aren’t at home, they can’t seem to exit out of the Facebook or twitter application. This can lead to isolation from the real world. I think that sitting in front of a computer screen or never putting down your phone can be exceptionally unhealthy for your lifestyle. If you are neglecting to interact with people on an everyday basis, you lose touch of how to socialize. The thought of only communicating and interacting with people via social media, email, etc., is quite frankly a scary thought to me. There are many people in the world who aren’t who they say they are. Today’s society has given us the power to be whoever we want to be once we are logged onto the internet. There are many stories about people who have been injured or gone missing all because of who they were talking to over the internet wasn’t who they said they were. Real world interaction and face to face communication has become almost scarce because of technology and how we abuse the option to use it at our disposal.
If you Google just about anything, whether it be a news article or information about the next
Transformers movie, you will see somewhere on the web page the option to "share." Furthermore, you're given the option to share it on a plethora of Social Media platforms. Personally, I find myself constantly wondering why my friends would want me to share everything? USA Today's writer Sharon
Jayson states that a recent study says "Facebook is transformed from a public space to a behavioral laboratory." People post numerous photo's and update status's of what they are doing. In my opinion, most people care about what I think about their posts, and also don't think twice about who else is viewing them either.
There are some tips that every individual is who is using a social media site should look over so that they are familiar with their privacy rights. One tip is that you shouldn’t put your age, birthday, and where you born. This personal information could be useful for identity theft. Another tip is to not

broadcast where and when you will be leaving your home and for what period of time. This will let strangers, or burglars know when your house will be unattended and easier for them to break into. I, personally think it is a good idea to go over who you are actually friends with every so often. You may not have talked to someone in years, or you could have also accepted someone you barely even knew for some random reason, or by just having one encounter with them. It is important that no matter where you log onto your social media account, that you make sure you log off when you are finished. If you don’t, you can put yourself at risk for strangers to hacking your account and getting and or using your information for whatever reason. The last tip is to check your privacy settings monthly, because social networks such as Facebook are always updating their terms.
I agree with Manjoo's belief that we don't realize the privacy rights we are giving up just to update the world on what we are doing every second of the day. When it comes to Privacy on Facebook,
Twitter or any other Social Media Network, it's comes down to common sense. Ask yourself one simple question: do I want the world to see this? If you do, share it. If you don't, don't.