Privacy

Although the introduction of the new media age has ushered us into a new era of life (one filled with amazing connectivity), it came with its own downfalls and necessary sacrifices. When we make use of all the new media available to us (like social media), we naturally expose ourselves to the world. Something as simple as creating a Facebook or Twitter account with things like your birthday, school, job, etc. expose you to the world. When we make posts, like posts, and interact within our new media, our actions are being noted down. Thought patterns are being figured out and programs are actively trying to figure out how our brain works (which is how we end up finding ads for things we never even searched). Sometimes, an individual can learn where a professional goes to work and what department they work in just by doing a quick LinkedIn search. With all this access to new media, we have to be weary and take precaution to avoid disastrous situations from opening ourselves to the world. We must remember that once you post something online (on social media) for example, it will always be there, and there is always the slightest chance your old mistakes could come back and haunt you. Although you can try and protect your privacy online through things like private accounts and encryption, there are still ways your privacy could be at risk no matter what you do. With the many accounts online with credit card info (like streaming services and music sharing services), a very skilled hacker could possible gain access to your credit card just because you have an account on that certain social media/new media site being hacked, and there could be nothing you could do about it. Private messages you send to friends, colleagues, etc. sent over messengers like Facebook Messenger could possibly be hacked into. This could lead to your personal/confidential messages being leaked out into the public. At the end of the day, new media has given us more good than bad, but there are ways to help protect your privacy. Always watch what your post, be picky about what sites you make accounts for, and be weary of where you put personal information and share personal messages.