A rising trend in crimes stemming from the annals of social networking sites adds a new layer of worry college-aged users who once associated Internet haunts like Twitter and Facebook with simple pleasantries like last weeks’ party photos and new friends from class. And while a word of caution can easily breed paranoia, it’s no stretch for social networking site users to consider thinking twice about just how public they want their profiles to be. In the wake of a rising crop of horrible crimes, like the Craigslist Killer case of last spring, users would do well to limit their trust to ‘friends only.’
All social networking sites have privacy settings and particular limits that can help prevent an unsafe overexposure of personal information. But beyond these parameters, it is the user’s responsibility to make wise decisions online. No one is being forced to post their addresses and phone numbers on their Facebook profiles ‘- the criminal results of the misuse of social networking sites, sadly but truly, are usually the results of a lack of guardedness on behalf of the victim. Even if the fear of another Craigslist killer seems too far-fetched, users should still be responsible about what they advertise about themselves on the Internet. Anyone ‘- job recruiters, parents, supervisors and yes, enemies ‘-‘ who can view a Facebook or Twitter can use the information they read in any way they wish, and by the time the information is accessed, it’s usually too late.
This isn’t to say that the fear of what could happen if the wrong Facebook profile falls into the wrong hands should make people rethink using the sites altogether. On the contrary, social networking sites have become one of the most salient watermarks of the intellectual and social uniqueness of the millennial generation. These sites and the people who contribute to them serve as watchdogs, springboards, classrooms, studios and cultural collages. And as the Internet grows ever-exponentially, so do the social networking options that shoot off from one another. Every day there are more Twitter and Facebook accounts, more blog posts and more Craigslist ads created. Along with these come more ideas, more connections and more outlets for users ‘- and on the negative end, more opportunities for those users to be exploited.
Like many of the most cutting-edge technological advances of the age, the Internet’s social networking sites, while exciting and useful, are two-way streets. If users simply tread lightly, post modestly to the public and ‘friend’ with a healthy level of discrimination, the sites will continue to flourish, safely.
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