WEEK 1 "Keep Safe Online and Think Before You Click"

Social media should be a network where people can connect, communicate, share information and bind communities. However, the social media these days have now become a much more serious issue for the society. Its been used as a tool of cyber bullying, the users are concerned about their privacy and in some situations social media can put you in jail.

Many people may consider their social network accounts as a private space where they can express themselves and post or comment about any thing they want. And I think it should be like this (if your posts/ comments are not intending to harm others) then you should be able to post about anything you want without being jugged or criticised. However, this idea depends on what type social network you are using. And most importantly you must consider about your account’s privacy and the audience that will see your posts.

Justin Carter’s ‘joke’ was an example of a Facebook comment that shouldn’t be seen publicly. As BBC reported:

In February, Justin Carter, then 18, was engaged in a Facebook dispute with someone from his online gaming community. The gamer called Carter mentally disturbed on a public wall, and Carter, with withering sarcasm and a teenager's poor judgment, wrote back:
I think Ima shoot up a kindergarten
And watch the blood of the innocent rain down
And eat the beating heart of one of them.
According to his father the last two lines were lol and jk.
Nevertheless an unidentified woman in Canada who went on to see Justin’s comment didn’t realize it was all in jest, and instead set about tracking down Justin Carter’s address using Google.

Noticing that Justin happened to live near an elementary school, the “concerned citizen” immediately called the cops.

It wasn’t soon long before cops dropped by and arrested Justin, going on to charge him with making a terroristic threat — a crime for those unaware is punishable by up to eight years in prison.

         

From my point of view, I don’t think Justin Carter’s comment had any intention as a terroristic threat. Firstly, lol standing for laugh out loud and jk standing for jokes probably wouldn’t be written in a terroristic threat. Perhaps it’s because I’m in the same generation as Justin Carter and also a Facebook user myself, I understand that some times we might think our audience are just our Facebook friend’s. However, on Facebook we can’t always control our privacy.  Posting or commenting on other people’s timelines, post or pages are mostly controlled by the posts’ owner or the admin of the page.  The news article also mentioned the Canadian woman tracking down Justin Carter’s address. This reflects how easily our private space in the real world could be accessed. An example of how people can track you down is by ‘Checking In’ on Facebook. It may be used when you are on holidays, at a restaurant or somewhere special but I think checking in to your own house might not be a good idea.

Social media can impact on the users in various ways. Being crucial when using these social networks is extremely important. Social media should be used with responsibility and awareness of your own privacy. Most importantly, think before you post.

Source: BBC