The Social Media Risk Zone

CEBU, Philippines – There is probably no question about the positive aspects of social media. The connectivity that social networking sites provide brings people with common interests together, and offers a venue for people to share the stories of their lives with the rest of the world. However, there are disadvantages of the social media phenomenon that are little heard of.

But social media participants need to be aware of the possible risks that lurk around the periphery of this amazing communication platform that seems to be spicing up everybody's lives.  As the saying goes: "To be forewarned is to be forearmed." By being aware of the pitfalls, one may be able to avoid them.

Foremost in the public mind these past months is the threat of being hacked. The hacking of the account of the Central Bank of Bangladesh is still a big shock to most people. More than 80 million dollars have easily ended up in the hands of hackers, who probably had their operations in a comfortable air-conditioned room the whole time.

Still many are asking how it could have been possible. Banks have always been a symbol of impermeable security. Now, if it could happen to a bank, how much more to ordinary individuals?

Actually, incidents of profiles and accounts being hacked into are quite commonplace. Many times it is done simply to play a practical joke on a friend. But it sometimes leads to the more serious misdemeanor of identity theft.

Geeks say that it requires only a low level of technical skill to hack someone's social media account. They call it social engineering, a technique that feeds on the psychological aspect of a "friend" connection, where the hacker uses common interests, background and professional information to extract sensitive information, like passwords and other details from the targeted individual and use them to create an alternate identity. Such data are all posted on profiles. Simple information like date of birth, name and location enables hackers to create fake social security cards, driver's licenses and ID cards, the website www.theresearchpedia.com points out.

In Cebu City, early last year, the social media account of a local beauty queen was hacked. Good thing that not much damage to the lady resulted from the incident. But it was enough to awaken everyone to the fact that identity theft is real - here and now.

The incident should awaken people with online bank accounts. Hard-earned money could disappear in a click. Notwithstanding the assurances of the local banking system of the security of bank deposits, the possibility of a bank account being hacked is always there. Again, the hacking of the Bank of Bangladesh is proof of the threat.

The website www.theresearchpedia.com states, too, that "social networks can also help create something which does not exist or may not be as good as it is presented." It gives as example going to the Amazon website and seeing a product that has 100 positive reviews, and another that has only 20. "You are likely to buy the one with a hundred reviews," the website explains. "It is how human psychology works."

But what if the positive reviews are merely part of the company's marketing campaign? "So if 100 people have shared a post," the website continues, "you are likely to share it too while it may actually be a hoax or plain spam. You must have seen those 'click Like and see what happens' posts on Facebook. They get thousands of likes!"

Indeed, the social media can be a launching pad of fakery and falsehood. There, it's so easy to create illusions. The happy faces and loving poses posted may not actually be closer to the truth. There's the case of a teenager who posted happy photographs in her social media accounts but who later committed suicide - to the great shock of her "friends!"

There have also been cases where someone's good image gets tarnished by false accusations in social media. A malicious post that goes viral causes damage that can never be completely rectified even if the post is later recanted. 

And photo and video posts could be used to defame their subjects. Photos can be photo-shopped to present someone in bad light. Parts of the video could also be used to intersperse with another video to make a whole presentation that is objectionable.

The www.theresearchpedia.com also cites an extensive range of mental and health problems known to be associated with spending too much time on social media. In addition to reducing productivity, creating distractions and increasing burnouts, they can cause some serious medical issues. And there's the gadgets addiction that parents complain of their teenagers.

This is another scary thing - most of the social media participants are young people. Aside from being rather too trusting of their virtual "friends," the young ones also tend to overdo their social media engagements… because it is just a lot of fun.

Social media affords people the kind of freedom not possible in face-to-face interactions. In a post, they can say the things they would never say to the person's face. And they can choose to be anonymous and be irresponsible in their behavior.   

There have been many cases where the social network is used to cheat people financially, emotionally and physically. By being aware of the risks and vulnerabilities that the social media exposes its participants to gives one the power to check on his or her own social-media behavior.  By being cautious and careful, participants make social media less of a risk zone. (FREEMAN)