Reader Response Draft 1

  

In the article “The Perils of Over-sharing in Social Networks”, Emm (2014) observed an increasing dependency on the internet and believed that it “exposes the minutiae of our daily lives” to individuals who can collect this information. Though the internet can make our lives more convenient, security can be easily compromised. Sharing too much information online can also threaten the safety of individuals and their organizations. Although the threat of cybercrimes on mobile devices has not been evident yet, Emm (2014) urged readers not to be complacent about security by using different passwords and changing them regularly.  

            Being part of the Generation Y, I can very much relate to the article when it mentioned that the internet is a necessity in our lives. In fact, most have become so reliant on their mobile device that they probably will be uncomfortable without it even for a few hours. However, I do not agree with Emm that such dependence can result in the details of our daily lives being exposed. The type of applications used on mobile devices has to be taken into consideration. Not all applications will contain or reveal personal details of the user. For instance, applications used to track expenses, watch videos, and check arrival timings of buses are unlikely to jeopardize our personal safety. For myself, I spend most of my time on my mobile phone on games, videos and articles and this dependency on the internet for entertainment and information does not contain any important content or informed others of my activities unless I chose to share it on social media. 

            Even for applications that contain private details of the user, security settings are put in place to prevent others from accessing this information. Using the example of internet banking, before users can carry out a transaction, they will have to go through a two-factor authentication system through the use of a security token and pin number send to registered phones. Also, to make our conversations more private, applications have come out with various features to protect our messages (Dredge, 2014). Telegram allowed users to have secret chat groups which self-destruct the messages after a few second while TextSecure on the other hand, allowed users to encrypt their messages and access it with a passphrase. Developers and companies of these applications are not compromising on these security features and consumers need to play their part by using these features provided.

            Relying too much on the internet or mobile devices also does not threaten your safety unless an individual chooses to share personal information and with strangers. Sharing of location is not a necessity and social media has the option of privatizing our account. However, I observed that some allowed strangers to view their profile and Foursquare, an application that allowed users to share their locations is widely used. I proposed that this tendency to overshare is due to the needs we have as humans. Research showed that 78% share information online to stay connected with people and 68% did it to define themselves to others (Moon, 2014). This is congruent with the social and esteem needs Maslow has pointed out.         

            In conclusion, dependency on the internet does not lead to overexposure of our lives. More stringent security features have been implemented to protect privacy. Also, the safety of users will not be compromised even if they are reliant on the internet as long as they practice precaution in the information they share.

(575 words)

References:

Emm, D. (2014, March 21). The perils of over-sharing in social networks. Huffpost Tech.Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/david-emm/the-perils-of-over-sharing-in-social-networks_b_5005276.html

Dredge, S. (2014, December 11). Worried about leaky chats? Messaging apps are responding with security features. The Guardian. Retrieved from http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/dec/11/messenger-private-chats

Moon, G. (2014, October 2). Why People Share: The Psychology of Social Sharing - CoSchedule. Retrieved February 8, 2015, from http://coschedule.com/blog/why-people-share/

Outline of my Reader Response to “The perils of over-sharing in social networks”

Thesis statement: Disagree that dependency on the internet results in the exposure of the trivial details of our daily lives. “exposes the minutiae of our daily lives”

1^st supporting idea: Nature of the applications used

2^nd supporting idea: Security Setting

3^rd supporting idea: Rather than dependency, it is the information that we share