Social Networking
Social media has been a hot topic for controversy in recent times. Especially after the Cambridge Analytica scandal regarding Facebooks privacy. However, in may ways, these technologies are here to serve a legitimate and good-hearted purpose, to connect. What used to be a phonebook full of different phone numbers and business cards became a friends list on Facebook. However, the usefulness of social media does not end there. In David Carr’s article on the New York Times from 2007, he states that the Obama administration used social media to help his chances with the upcoming election by collecting data and using social media as a way to spread awareness and his platform. Many other companies also use social media to gain consumer insight through advertisements and surveys. As for benefits for society, social media fulfills its purpose as a medium for people to connect. Social media can also be specifically catered towards what the algorithms assume you’d like to see. It does this through use of big data and cookies to track what you have seen and have shown interest in. Further, this point brings up the question of privacy and what is largely seen as the “dark side” of social media. Although Facebook has confirmed that they do not have the ability to actually see the big data and cookies they use to track activity due to encryption, people are still wary of big companies using data to strategically pick customers. In a 2010 study done regarding how students feel about their privacy and data, Marc Parry mentions in his article on Chronicle that most Facebook users modified their privacy settings at least once in 2009 and that engagement with privacy settings increased significantly between 2009 and 2010. Additionally, social media can be used to lure unsuspecting people into scams. An article posted on NBC-2 in 2018 by Rachel Polansky stated that many people use facebook to lure people in with ads for items on the marketplace such as RV’s and then send emails out for Ebay credit. However, with this “dark side” of social media in mind, I still look forward to the progression of social media technology and how it will further benefit day to day life for the masses. Social media began as a way to connect with other people but within the last 10 years has been repurposed for a variety of functions such as consumer studies and as a medium for buying and selling items. I am very curious and excited to find out what the next thing social media will deal with will be.
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