We it Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or Snapchat, these platforms allow us to stay connected to our friends and loved ones on the go. Sharing life events, ideas and opinions are quick and more efficient than ever before. We’re always a click or swipe away from staying connected to the world.
While we’re busy indulging in this privilege, we tend to overlook the fact that our virtual personalities gradually supersede and take over our lives. Nowadays, when we get acquainted to someone we insist on adding them on Facebook, instead of making proper interpersonal communication. Internet being an artificial means of communication often hides the intentions of individuals and that is something that we usually don’t ponder on.
However, we’re not trying to coax you into stopping your interactions. Here are a few things about the social media that may just be food for thought.
Stranger, stranger: What may seem like harmless socializing can often lead to something else. The culture of adding unknown people on social networking sites has been there for the longest time. Being on either ends (adding or being added), interactions may not be in your favour. The fact that you don’t know the person exposes you to various threats and schemes. When in doubt, take a good look at the unfriend button; use it, don’t abuse it!
Cyber-bullying/Crime: Social media users aren’t alien to this. It’s happened in the past and still takes place. Cyber-bullying usually occurs when there’s conflict of interest and it goes without saying that it escalates to something you’d least expect. Want examples? You don’t have to look too far. Nasir Hossain, our national team’s cricketer became a victim of cyber crime when he posted a picture of himself and his sister.
Nettiquette: Network etiquette or ‘Nettiquette’ is something that the internet is devoid of. Public forums bear the brunt of lewd comments when discussing national or international topics. In other words, language can make or break your skills as a communicator over the internet. As individuals we too express our opinions in our profiles regardless of how it’s being received. If the latter applies for you, then you might want to increase your privacy levels a tad bit higher.
E- commerce chaos: Although a thriving business, e-commerce gives rise to exploitation. In recent times, shopping pages over Facebook got a bad rap for delivering services late and also for extortion via mobile banking. Before adding that bag to your cart, make proper communication with the owners of the respective shopping pages. Or else, there’ll be less shopping and more dropping.