Essay draft 1 + outline

In 2014, Singaporeans were reported to be one of the most active users of social media, spending 2.2 hours on average a day (Mohd, 2014). This is not surprising as through the use of social media, users are able to communicate rapidly, making them feel more connected to others. However, what is worrying is that this increase in connectivity is not just limited to friends and family members in users’ social circle, but also to strangers as well. More than 50% of Singaporeans have befriended strangers on social media (Trend Micro as cited in Nurul, 2013) and this has especially impacted the young people who are more vulnerable to cyber-scams. An organisation, Touch has worked with schools to implement cyber wellness programmes that they came up with to educate the young about the hazards of the Internet.

Youth are more likely to add strangers on social media as they are at the stage of looking out for new friendships. Their tendency to be reckless and trusting to their friends also caused them to be more vulnerable to cyber-scams. By allowing strangers to befriend them on social media, information such as their whereabouts, contact details and daily routine are made known to the strangers. This allows cybercrime perpetrators to look for targets that are more vulnerable. For instance, in 2012, a 15 year old teen was exploited to become a loan-shark runner after he posted on his Facebook that he was not receiving enough pocket money (Tai, 2013). Knowing his situation, a middle-aged man befriended the teen and offer him an irresistible offer of making a few hundred dollar for each “assignment” he took on. As evident, youths who are naïve can be easily exploited by cybercrime perpetrators who befriend them online.

Another growing concern is that these perpetrators would often chat with the youths through social media and attempt to meet them in the ‘real world’ upon gaining their trust. It was reported that 26% of the youth population had met an online stranger in the ‘real world’(“Norton Online Family”, 2010). This could lead to negative consequences such as rape or molest, which see an increase in the number of cases over the years (Tai, 2013). One of the cases that occurred in 2003 was when a polytechnic graduate used the Internet chatroom to find young girls to rape (Chong, 2013). As a result, three girls were raped. The statistics and cases mentioned above have highlighted the potential dangers of befriending strangers on social media and the urgent need of educating the young to be more aware of online perpetrators.

With the rising number of cases in Singapore, a non-profit charity organisation, Touch has come up with a cyber-wellness program entitled CRuSH (Cyberspace Risk and where U Seek Help) and has worked with schools to widen their outreach to students. Their program addresses issues such as cyber relationship and contact, equipping them with the skills to make informed decisions when challenging cyber wellness issues are encountered (Touch Cyber Wellness, 2013a). Assessment and counselling is also available to help those with online relationship problems and other cyber issues. Through counselling, clients are able to solve their problem through goal-setting while being guided by the counsellor. Touch is considered the pioneer in the development of cyber wellness education and has been awarded the Singapore Youth Award in 2011 for their commitment to youth development programmes. Touch 2013 report revealed an increase in the number of schools and students their programmes have reached to (Touch Cyber Wellness, 2013b). The rise in number is also evident in their counselling programs and TOUCHline, implying success in the area of public awareness and education. Furthermore, CRuSH also received positive reviews from secondary school students, with more than 90% of them rating the programme as ‘good’ or ‘excellent’.     

To further prevent teens from falling from cyber-scrams, parents can opt to install software such as the Singtel Family Protect or the Norton Family. These software allows parents to gain insights on their children’s online activities. The Singtel Family Protection allows parents to limit the amount of time their children spend on the internet and also block unknown email addresses to minimise conversations with strangers (Singtel, n.d.). It also increases parental supervision by recording down conversations on social media. In addition, the Norton Family extends these services to mobile phones as well. Despite that these tools can inform parents about their activities, it is also vital that parents are able to maintain a close relationship and have open conversations with their children when they addressed cyber wellness issues. Parents should also negotiate with their children the amount of time they can spend on social media and set boundaries in their monitoring of conversations. In that way, teens would not feel that parents are infringing on their privacy or being too controlling and would be glad to share their online activities with them.

Fortunately, the dangers of befriending strangers online have been made more aware to youths through cyber wellness education. However, users must nevertheless continue to protect themselves online. As the Internet evolves and individuals become more tech-savvy, cybercrime perpetrators can come out with new ways to exploit the youths. Parents thus also play an important role in monitoring their children’s online activities to prevent their children from having negative experiences on the cyberspace.

References:

Chong, E. (2013, February 5). 23 years' jail, 24 strokes for Internet sex fiend. Retrieved from http://www.corpun.com/sgj00302.htm

Mohd, A. A. (2014, January 10). Singapore among the most active on social media: Report. TODAY. Retrieved from http://www.todayonline.com/tech/singapore-among-most-active-social-media-report

Norton Online Family report 2010 reveals 73 percent of Singaporean kids have had a negative online experience. (2010, July 6). Retrieved March 6, 2015, from http://www.symantec.com/en/sg/about/news/release/article.jsp?prid=20100706_01

Nurul, A. A. (2013, October 25). 1 in 2 users in Singapore add strangers on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram. Yahoo! News. Retrieved from https://sg.news.yahoo.com/1-in-2-users-in-singapore-add-strangers-on-facebook--twitter--instagram-142503612.html

Singtel (n.d.) Family protection. Retrieved from http://info.singtel.com/personal/internet/addons/family-protection/detail

Tai, J. (2013, June 12). More teens falling prey to cyber-scams. The Straits Time. Retrieved from http://www.straitstimes.com/the-big-story/case-you-missed-it/story/more-teens-falling-prey-cyber-scams-20130612

Touch Cyber Wellness. (2013a). Educate. Retrieved from http://www.planetcrush.org/programmes/educate.htm

Touch Cyber Wellness. (2013b). Touch report 2013. Retrieved from http://www.touch.org.sg/files/annual.report.2013.pdf

Outline:

Problem: Raising number of Teens in Singapore falling for cyber-scams through strangers they befriended on social media

Affected target group: Teens in Singapore

Agent of change/stakeholders: Moe, schools, Parents, NGOs

Solution 1: Touch-come out with programs that educate youth about cyber wellness, implements these programs in schools

Evaluation: In its 2013 report, Touch cyber wellness programs, Project CRuSH was able to reach more students by working with more schools. Positive reviews: Lower and upper secondary school students also gave positive feedback with 99% and 98% rating the quality of the programme as “good” or “excellent” respectively.”
The increase in calls to Touchline and the number of youth undergoing cyber wellness counselling shown that the issue has been make more aware and individuals affected are seeking help.

Suggested solution: Parents to install parental monitoring software on computer. Maintain an open 

communication with children when they spot unusual behaviours.

Implication & Conclusion: increase in awareness, parent's monitoring still vital as cyber crime perpetrator might come up with new methods to carry out cyber scams

Thesis: More than 50% of Singaporeans have befriended strangers on social and this has especially impacted the young people who are more vulnerable to cyber-scams. An organisation, Touch has been coming up with programs relating to cyber wellness to educate the young and promote parent-child bonding through the internet.

Influential Event

Ironically, this event that impacted me was an idea that I was not keen in at the start. It was a youth camp organized by my church and I was recommended to help as an assistant leader in one of the subgroups. I was not keen on that idea as camp means deprived sleep, activities that are physically strenuous and under the hot sun. To be a leader also means that I would have to encourage my group mates to be excited even when it is hard for me and leading people who are older than me. Anyhow, I decided to take on the challenge and constantly push myself out there to lead cheers and do embarrassing actions.

In this camp, I was given the opportunity to create a remix for our group’s final performance, but I overslept and had to rush out the soundtrack as the camp carried on. It was very stressful as they needed the soundtrack to practice for the performance. In the end, I manage to complete it before the performance night and the other leaders were also very accepting and encouraging to me despite of my mistake. What touched my heart even more is that the group under my care was influence by this camp and one of my group members even shared with me that how my words encourage her to change her mindset and eventually change the negative situation that she was in.

This whole camp taught me that it is okay to make mistakes and not to belittle my ability. From then on, I constantly challenge myself to step out of my comfort zone as I believe that I am able to grow more when I am placed in such positions.  

(289 words)

Reader Response Draft 3

In the article “The Perils of Over-sharing in Social Networks”, Emm (2014) claims that that the increasing dependency on the internet “exposes the minutiae of our daily lives” to individuals who can collect this information. While the internet can make users’ 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 cyber crimes on mobile devices has yet to be evident, Emm (2014) urges readers not to be complacent about security by recommending measures such as using different passwords for different accounts and updating them regularly.  

Being part of the Generation Y, I can relate to this article since the internet has become a necessity in my life. In fact, most users have become so reliant on their mobile devices that they probably will be uncomfortable without it even for a few hours. Emm (2014) mentions that users depend so much on applications in their daily tasks that “our personal communications, our buying preferences, even our very whereabouts” are known to those who have access to this information. However, I disagree that dependence on mobile devices results in the details of users’ daily lives being exposed as there are several factors that the article has failed to consider. The first factor is that 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 contain personal information that jeopardize users’ safety.  

For applications that contain private details of the user, security settings are put in place to prevent others from accessing this information. For example, users using internet banking applications have to go through a two-factor authentication system, with the use of a security token and pin number send to their registered phones before they can carry out a transaction. In addition, applications used for communication purposes have come out with various features to protect users’ conversations (Dredge, 2014). Telegram allows users to have secret chat groups which self-destructs the messages (Albright, 2014) while TextSecure on the other hand, allows users to encrypt their messages and can only be accessed using a passphrase (Demi, 2014). As users rely more on the internet, developers of these applications are also strengthening their security features to better protect users’ information.

Lastly, it is not the dependency on the internet that leads to users’ lives being overexposed and their safety being compromised. It is the content that users choose to share on the internet and the people that they share with. It is not necessary for users to share their locations and social media has given them the option of privatizing their accounts. However, I observed that some allow strangers to view their profiles and Foursquare, an application that allow users to share their locations is still widely used. Sharing personal information on social media can lead to dire consequences. For instance, Helen Flanagan, a public figure got robbed after a tweet revealing that her boyfriend was away (Bull & Cooper, 2013). It is then important that users share responsibly on the internet.

In conclusion, dependency on the internet does not lead to overexposure of users' 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 online.

(578 words)

References:

Albright, D. (2014, November 17). Telegram provides a secure & fast-growing alternative to WhatsApp. Retrieved from http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/telegram-provides-secure-fast-growing-alternative-whatsapp/

Bull, S., & Cooper, R. (2013, June 19). Terror of Coronation Street star Helen Flanagan as three armed raiders break into her house and steal jewellery and mobile phone after she tweeted she was home alone. Daily Mail. Retrieved from http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2343839/Helen-Flanagan-left-shaken-armed-raiders-break-house-steal-jewellery-mobile-phone.html

Demi, J. (2014, May 13). TextSecure feature overview. Retrieved from http://www.johannesdeml.com/blog/textsecure-feature-overview/

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

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

Reader Response Draft 2

In the article “The Perils of Over-sharing in Social Networks”, Emm (2014) claims that that the increasing dependency on the internet “exposes the minutiae of our daily lives” to individuals who can collect this information. Though the internet can make users’ lives more convenient, security can be easily compromise. Sharing too much information online can also threaten the safety of individuals and their organizations. Although the threat of cyber crimes on mobile devices has yet to be evident, Emm (2014) urges readers not to be complacent about security by recommending measures such as using different passwords for different accounts and updating them regularly.  

Being part of the Generation Y, I can relate to this article since the internet has become a necessity in my life. In fact, most users have become so reliant on their mobile devices that they probably will be uncomfortable without it even for a few hours. However, I do not agree with the article that such dependence result in the details of users’ daily lives being expose. He mentions that users depend so much on applications in their daily tasks that “our personal communications, our buying preferences, even our very whereabouts” can be make known to those who have access to this information. The article, however fails to consider that not all applications will contain or reveal personal details of the user. For instance, applications use to track expenses, watch videos, and check arrival timings of buses are unlikely to contain personal information that jeopardizes users’ safety.  

For applications that contain private details of the user, security settings are put in place to prevent others from accessing this information. For example, users using internet banking applications have to go through a two-factor authentication system, with the use of a security token and pin number send to their registered phones before they can carry out a transaction. In addition, applications use for communication purposes have come out with various features to protect users’ conversations (Dredge, 2014). Telegram allows users to have secret chat groups which self-destructs the messages (Albright, 2014) while TextSecure on the other hand, allows users to encrypt their messages and can only be access using a passphrase (Demi, 2014). As users rely more on the internet, developers of these applications are also strengthening their security features to better protect users’ information.

Lastly, it is not the dependency on the internet that leads to users’ lives being overexpose and their safety being compromise. It is the content that users choose to share on the internet and the people that they share with. It is not necessary for users to share their locations and social media has given them the option of privatizing their accounts. However, I observe that some allow strangers to view their profiles and Foursquare, an application that allow users to share their locations is still widely use. Sharing personal information on social media can lead to dire consequences. For instance, Helen Flanagan, a public figure got robbed after a tweet revealing that her boyfriend was away (Bull & Cooper, 2013). It is then important that users share responsibly on the internet.

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

(571 words)

References:

Albright, D. (2014, November 17). Telegram provides a secure & fast-growing alternative to WhatsApp. Retrieved from http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/telegram-provides-secure-fast-growing-alternative-whatsapp/

Bull, S., & Cooper, R. (2013, June 19). Terror of Coronation Street star Helen Flanagan as three armed raiders break into her house and steal jewellery and mobile phone after she tweeted she was home alone. Daily Mail. Retrieved from http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2343839/Helen-Flanagan-left-shaken-armed-raiders-break-house-steal-jewellery-mobile-phone.html

Demi, J. (2014, May 13). TextSecure feature overview. Retrieved from http://www.johannesdeml.com/blog/textsecure-feature-overview/

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

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

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 

Summary Draft 1

In the article “The Perils of Over-sharing in Social Networks”, Emm (2014) observed an increasing dependency on the internet in daily lives and believed that along with the convenience of the internet, security can be easily compromised. Sharing too much information online can threaten the safety of individuals and their organizations. For instance, thieves can be informed of an opportunity to steal when people shared about going on a holiday. Emm (2014) thus urged readers not to be complacent about security by using different passwords and changing them regularly.

(88 words)

Reference:
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

My English Language Learning Journey

Looking back to my experience with English, I did not recall struggling much with that subject in my primary school years. This is amusing because as I grew older, I struggled with grammar, the foundation of English. I first realized that I was weak in English when I dropped to a class of a lower band. This left me with only one year to improve on my English before O levels. To improve, I would submit several drafts of my composition to get more feedback from my teacher. Also, I would read the newspapers and checked out the difficult words to widen my vocabulary. In the typical composition scenario, such efforts would have paid off, but unfortunately that was not the case for me. I was not able to reflect the best of my ability during my composition and this had been a regret in my heart.

From then on, I did not have much confidence in English and often labelled myself as someone bad in English. This deterred me from enrolling into junior college as I was terrified that my language would affect my General Paper’s grades. However, there is also no escape in the polytechnic as writing skill is necessary in the academic arena. In my academic papers, I would often need to use a grammar checker or employ the help of my friends. Occasionally, my friends would tease me about my pronunciation and grammar mistakes but instead of being offended, I reminded myself to be humble and learned from their corrections. 

My English is still not good and I am not totally thrilled at the idea of having to go through English class. Nevertheless, I hope that this experience will be a great opportunity for me to improve on my language and writing skills.

(297 words)

Edited 2 february 5pm