Social Media Pros and Cons-Can posting be hazardous to your health

[Dr. Snubnose]

Not a big social media guy but I do have a facebook account....no twitter or anything else....On the pro side..I get to keep up with my friends and family...on the cons I see a whole bunch of things going on. First off if you are looking for a job...your facebook pics better not have you pictured at a BBQ with a drink in your hand. Potential Employers look at these accounts to get a feeling of what you are all about. Police are using accounts to catch the criminal element and to keep an eye on people who might make strong political statements or threats. Criminals are using the accounts to find those who are dinning out or staying out of state or country so they can rob these people homes. Two days ago one of the most favorite teachers of students in a local high school posted on her facebook account about a Special USA Day event at school for students she said " you can tell who the racist students are by their wearing of Donald Trump Gear" maybe not a nice thing to say....and I'm a Trump supported, but is she not entitled to her rights of free speech? The school is taking her to task for the comments, she is being disciplined by the school district who has disassociated and distancing themselves from this teacher by declaring disclaimers. I don't know....this type of thing is very bothersome for me. I like to read what others post, even though I don't post very much on social media I do like to make funny comments on what other friends share...I'm starting to re-think that because I don't want my sarcasm or my tendency to tease people to be misconstrued. Thing is..the people I'm typing to know that I'm kidding....the rest of the world does not know....I'm seriously thinking of closing my account or at the very least not posting onto anyone's timeline...and certainly not sharing any thoughts of mine on my account.......Am I being paranoid here? Are you experiencing some of the same...? ....Doc:)

[MacLaren]

No. Im seriously considering closing mine.
And really, I wish I had never opened the account.

[paladin]

There was a similar thread a while back...

I loathe social media!

Furthermore, it seems to me it has become perfectly socially acceptable <except to old farts like me> to have one's face in a phone while "engaged" in a conversation with another person...of course I use "engaged" in the loosest possible connotation :rolleyes:

My standard operating procedure is when someone pulls out their phone while I'm speaking to them, I just walk off.

Incredibly, this tactic got me called on the carpet with my supervisor almost a year ago because a co-worker felt I was being rude by walking off in mid sentence when she pulled out her phone and started typing while I was speaking to her. Seems she thought I was "mad" at her. :rolleyes:

Hardy-har-freakin-har-- seems the irony of exactly who was displaying rude behavior in this whole episode was lost on everyone concerned except for me.

I likewise feel like it's a violation of my rights to privacy when anyone, anywhere, at anytime can take a picture of me or my house and post it up on social media. :mad:

So yeah, just a few reasons why I pretty much hate social media, hahaha

[anagarika]

I too, don't have Facebook and the concern shared are all very familiar and it's truly a double edge sword.

I'm thinking though, to create one just so no one created for me (we have seen cases fake facebook created to defame a person). Haven't got to do that, but still watching the social media phenomena and the impact and rules / laws limping to catch up.

paladin,

I feel the same. Especially about someone just snap your pics and upload it, even if just shared it amongst their WhatsApp group .

[Evil D]

The key is keeping your circle small. I don't have any BS on my FB page because all my "friends" are literally real life friends or family, I don't "friend" anyone unless they're close to me. So, unfortunately that means no forum friends, no coworkers, nobody that I don't know and hang out with in real life. This way, if John Doe is posting stupid crap, I can smack him in the head in person and tell him to knock it off. Beyond that, 99% of my feed is about either bands, cars, or something funny. It can be as usable or as aggravating as you make it.

[Water Bug]

I enjoy participating in forums such as Spyderco's... other than that, I won't have anything to do with any of the social media stuff that's out there. Have no interest in them and feel they contribute to way too many problems.

[shunsui]

So what do you think happens to your job application when they go to Facebook and discover you don't have a Facebook account ?

[The Deacon]

Aside from this forum, BladeForums (where I mostly just post on Spyderco's sub-forum), and a Facebook account used pretty much exclusively on my HOA's page, I'm not a social media person. It probably doesn't surprise anyone who knows me in real life, as I've never been a very social person, closer to asocial.

So what do you think happens to your job application when they go to Facebook and discover you don't have a Facebook account ?

Probably going to depend somewhat on the job, but if it's anything that involves the use of technology then, at best, you're going to be perceived as a technophobe and, at worst, as either a Luddite or a paranoid conspiracy theorist, and your application will go to the bottom of the stack.

[SpyderEdgeForever]

I can tell you of a real-life near horror story that happened to a friend of mine that is very much related to this: Some years ago (this person is a mother and grandmother and she and her husband are two of the kindest, friendliest, most intelligent people I know), she was chatting on a social media account and she acquired a stalker. This was some guy who for some odd mental or emotional or spiritual problem from within himself, he started to get overly-clingy to this friend of mine. Well, somehow, using the social media account, he was ABLE TO FIND HER LOCATION, the very town she and her family lived in, and this guy SHOWED UP in the town looking for her! Can you believe it? She told me this after the events happened.

What happened was this: The guy showed up in her town going up to people at her local church and on the street asking for her, if they had seen her, etc, using her first and last name which she had posted on the Social Media account, and thankfully she had enough friends in the town, they and her husband went and basically told the guy to leave and never come back, lest he want to be arrested for stalking. The guy left and she told me never tried to harass/stalk her ever again.

She and her husband told me the guy found her after she had posted her: First and last name, her picture and info on her family, town and state location on the social media site. That was all he needed to find her. That is just downright sickening but this showed me one of the big dangers of such things. I am not telling people to completely stop using them, just, be careful what info you post there for the world to see.

[SpyderEdgeForever]

I can tell you of a real-life near horror story that happened to a friend of mine that is very much related to this: Some years ago (this person is a mother and grandmother and she and her husband are two of the kindest, friendliest, most intelligent people I know), she was chatting on a social media account and she acquired a stalker. This was some guy who for some odd mental or emotional or spiritual problem from within himself, he started to get overly-clingy to this friend of mine. Well, somehow, using the social media account, he was ABLE TO FIND HER LOCATION, the very town she and her family lived in, and this guy SHOWED UP in the town looking for her! Can you believe it? She told me this after the events happened.

What happened was this: The guy showed up in her town going up to people at her local church and on the street asking for her, if they had seen her, etc, using her first and last name which she had posted on the Social Media account, and thankfully she had enough friends in the town, they and her husband went and basically told the guy to leave and never come back, lest he want to be arrested for stalking. The guy left and she told me never tried to harass/stalk her ever again.

She and her husband told me the guy found her after she had posted her: First and last name, her picture and info on her family, town and state location on the social media site. That was all he needed to find her. That is just downright sickening but this showed me one of the big dangers of such things. I am not telling people to completely stop using them, just, be careful what info you post there for the world to see.

[SpyderEdgeForever]

Pardon me, I made a double post. I don't know how to delete the second one.

[Doc Dan]

I have a FB account but I hate FB and the owner of FB. It has zero security and FB has been used by criminals to know whose homes to break into, what to steal, who to rape, etc. It has been used in bullying and encouraging people to commit suicide. It has been used by governments to locate and imprison Christians around the world. FB has been used by all sort of nefarious characters and FB refuses, and even brags, about not changing.

[anagarika]

SEF,

The story demonstrated exactly the danger of information sharing. In addition, there is problem of people thinking internet is private (protected with password) while in fact it's not. The recent Yahoo compromise shows also what it's like to suddenly be in a compromising position where it shouldn't be.

The change of company owner will always pose a risk of privacy policy changes, mostly to the worse. WhatsApp is now owned by Facebook. Who knows what FB is going to do about users' data?

PS: just edit your 2nd post. Can't delete them.

[SpyderEdgeForever]

That is a very good point, too, that you point out.

I heard that recently there was an issue that came up regarding FB, and the issue was this: a person who was a survival of domestic violence/abuse had an account, and they sent a request to the administrators, that they wanted to keep their account, but, they wanted to use a false name or nick name of some kind. Their reason: They were afraid that the abuser who they divorced/left would be able to track them down and harass/stalk and attack them.

Supposedly FaceBook declined and said they would not allow the survivor to use a fake name, which was upsetting to the person. They were told to use privacy settings or something. I do not know what finally came out and/or if FB will or has changed their real name policy or not. The advocates for FB not allowing fake names or nick names, or at least one of their claims, is that FB was designed originally to allow long-lost friends and family to find each other, and, if they changed that real name policy, and allowed people to use fake names and nick names, it would undermine the original mission goal.

[The Deacon]

That is a very good point, too, that you point out.

I heard that recently there was an issue that came up regarding FB, and the issue was this: a person who was a survival of domestic violence/abuse had an account, and they sent a request to the administrators, that they wanted to keep their account, but, they wanted to use a false name or nick name of some kind. Their reason: They were afraid that the abuser who they divorced/left would be able to track them down and harass/stalk and attack them.

Supposedly FaceBook declined and said they would not allow the survivor to use a fake name, which was upsetting to the person. They were told to use privacy settings or something. I do not know what finally came out and/or if FB will or has changed their real name policy or not. The advocates for FB not allowing fake names or nick names, or at least one of their claims, is that FB was designed originally to allow long-lost friends and family to find each other, and, if they changed that real name policy, and allowed people to use fake names and nick names, it would undermine the original mission goal.

She could have just set up a new account under a false name, at least if she uses a computer rather than a phone. She'd need a second email account, easy enough with most ISP's, and it might be a good idea to use a different browser, but it's easy enough to do. How easy? Took me all of five minutes, and I type very slowly. Truth is, Facebook doesn't ask for a credit card or anything else linked to your real name, so unless you do something really stupid, like trying to sign up as Bugs Bunny or Jesus Christ, they have no way of knowing whether you're using your real name or a pseudonym.

[ChrisinHove]

I'm with EvilD - stick with real friends and family. Also, that way, if they express an opinion contrary to yours, you're more likely to think about it than something posted by a complete stranger.