Unknown dangers of social media
Published 7:00 am Tuesday, June 27, 2017
Child safety is a top priority for many parents. But with the rapidly growing technology in our world, it’s hard for adults to keep up.
Last week one of the most popular social media platforms released a new way for users to track one another.
In one sense, this feature is just part of the world we live in today where we are constantly connected to one another, whether on a personal level, or via technology.
This can create security problems. As technology advances to ease our lives, it must also advance to protect them.
Other social media platforms have gone through similar problems of trying to find a way for users to share their information with friends, without becoming susceptible to unfriendly advances.
This new map feature tracks each user while they have the map open and shares their exact location with their friends.
In some ways, this new feature could be worse, or less secure.
Fortunately for users of all ages, it does not automatically activate and share your location with other users; when it’s first launched, it prompts the user to select their privacy level. Yet, often we can be guilty of just clicking through things without reading fully.
Users should be sure that the privacy options they are selecting are the best choice for their personal security.
Some might argue that the feature only shares your location with your “friends.” However, if you have people on your friends list who are not close friends or aren’t trustworthy, this feature could cause problems. If a user notices patterns in a friend’s location, it wouldn’t be hard to break into their home or catch them passing through a secluded location.
The feature is gathering a lot of attention from parents of young children and teenagers who may not realize the scope of their actions.
While technology is a powerful tool in our society, we should not let it overcome or outweigh our personal sense of security and privacy.