Most things have downsides and upsides, risks and opportunities. Social media has made its way into today 's
society and is a big part of most peoples lives. This presents issues and exciting discoveries but also
shows that there are many risks and opportunities in the world of social media. These risks and
opportunities affect security and privacy, current events and politics, social research, and self-esteem,
habits and interests.
A main issue in today’s society is privacy and security because in social media information such as names,
addresses and phone numbers are on the internet for the world to access. Social media is a rapidly growing
online medium with millions of users online every day across the world. The distribution …show more content…
Issues about risk
have risen about how easy it is for hackers and other various groups to fetch personal user data without
the users or the sites knowledge. Which could endanger the user making them vulnerable to risks like
extortion, fraud and stalking. (Ibrahim, 2008). "Avatarism" is another idea present in social media today,
it is the idea that one user can create multiple online identities for themselves (Ibrahim, 2008).
“Avatarism” is more common on "nonymous" (opposite of anonymous) social media sites such as facebook and
twitter than it is on other anonymous social media sites like 4chan (Mehdizadeh, 2010). Another main issue with social media in today’s society is its role in current events and politics. As with
the issue of privacy and security, social media has found itself a role in the everyday lives of millions
of people thus it found a role in politics and current events. Social media is the fastest way to
distribute a large amount of information to a vast amount of people at once. In the case of the Arab Spring
this held opportunities for citizens in the Middle East to speak up about issues happening in …show more content…
All that is for sure is that social media is a powerful supportive medium that can aid in the
efforts of a revolution. However the role of social media could be reciprocated. Maybe social media could
be used by political parties as a tool to control and inhibit society (Khondker, 2011). Social Media has allowed researchers and social scientists to collect vast amounts of data in ways they
never could before. According to Miller (2011) researchers and social scientists have studied “tweets” from
the popular social network Twitter’s millions of users. From these studies researchers have noticed
patterns in politics and in the moods of the population (Miller, 2011). As discussed by Miller (2011)
Predictions can be made using social media when people discuss events like protests online and they can be
remedied or prepared for before they commence. Twitter has also supported the events that unfolded during
the Arab Spring with regular citizens recording events as they happen (Miller, 2011). This
society and is a big part of most peoples lives. This presents issues and exciting discoveries but also
shows that there are many risks and opportunities in the world of social media. These risks and
opportunities affect security and privacy, current events and politics, social research, and self-esteem,
habits and interests.
A main issue in today’s society is privacy and security because in social media information such as names,
addresses and phone numbers are on the internet for the world to access. Social media is a rapidly growing
online medium with millions of users online every day across the world. The distribution …show more content…
Issues about risk
have risen about how easy it is for hackers and other various groups to fetch personal user data without
the users or the sites knowledge. Which could endanger the user making them vulnerable to risks like
extortion, fraud and stalking. (Ibrahim, 2008). "Avatarism" is another idea present in social media today,
it is the idea that one user can create multiple online identities for themselves (Ibrahim, 2008).
“Avatarism” is more common on "nonymous" (opposite of anonymous) social media sites such as facebook and
twitter than it is on other anonymous social media sites like 4chan (Mehdizadeh, 2010). Another main issue with social media in today’s society is its role in current events and politics. As with
the issue of privacy and security, social media has found itself a role in the everyday lives of millions
of people thus it found a role in politics and current events. Social media is the fastest way to
distribute a large amount of information to a vast amount of people at once. In the case of the Arab Spring
this held opportunities for citizens in the Middle East to speak up about issues happening in …show more content…
All that is for sure is that social media is a powerful supportive medium that can aid in the
efforts of a revolution. However the role of social media could be reciprocated. Maybe social media could
be used by political parties as a tool to control and inhibit society (Khondker, 2011). Social Media has allowed researchers and social scientists to collect vast amounts of data in ways they
never could before. According to Miller (2011) researchers and social scientists have studied “tweets” from
the popular social network Twitter’s millions of users. From these studies researchers have noticed
patterns in politics and in the moods of the population (Miller, 2011). As discussed by Miller (2011)
Predictions can be made using social media when people discuss events like protests online and they can be
remedied or prepared for before they commence. Twitter has also supported the events that unfolded during
the Arab Spring with regular citizens recording events as they happen (Miller, 2011). This