I'm still working on narrowing my thesis down, but here is is:
Does the mass-scale, consumerist
nature of the internet give teens a false sense of security online?
The internet is a large part of
popular culture. In fact, our society is so dependent on this technology that
we are probably more equipped to deal with a zombie apocalypse than an internet
blackout. Teens seem to be the most common consumer of social media, which embodies
the commodified, mass-scale, instant gratification uses of the internet as a
whole. The sheer size of social media grants people a sense of anonymity,
because they feel that they are merely numbers, not scrutinized as individuals.
Yet this “safety in numbers” may be somewhat false. Sometimes teens overshare
personal information because they do not realize that it can be tracked by
strangers, or they do not believe that they would be targeted by scammers.
Teens also often disregard online privacy policies and license agreements;
legalese is onerous and time consuming to read. Blindly trusting companies to
keep consumers’ best interests in mind is dangerous; companies exist to make
money, and there is money to be made from exploiting consumer trust and selling
information. Targeted advertising exists because too many consumers
unquestioningly “agree” to be tracked by cookies or have their personal
information, like photos, used in new ads. Even other individuals on the web
can use information that is carelessly posted online, like the creepy troll on
Reddit that Raymond mentioned in one of our last discussions.
Sources so far:
link to site that Raymond posted in our discussion of incivility
gives both sides of issue on governmental mandate of privacy on social
networking- in database
2010 interview with Mark Zuckerberg published in Wall Street Journal:
discusses Facebook privacy policies
Surveys about
the percentage of people (or if there are any studies on just the teen
population) who actually read online agreements before consenting might be
interesting. Statistics on “oversharing”, like the average number of photos
and/or status updates a typical teen posts in a day might also add to my essay.
Other articles on the debate over regulating privacy policies, cookies, and
targeted advertisements could be useful, too.
I like your idea so far but I was wondering if you can connect more points to the consumerist nature part of your thesis. On the internet especially for teenagers on social media websites, there is a ton of information they are consuming everyday without realizing it. Overflow of information about their friends or even subject that they google. Are you offering a solution to the problem or are you just trying to inform about the dangers of the internet? And is it exactly fair to say "does" in your question when it could be just a simple yes?
ReplyDeleteGood job so far and I enjoy you using my source that i posted.
Good premise here. I've actually heard some jokes on a webshow that I watch that we won't have an electable president in a few decades thanks to Facebook being forever .Though the bit about technological "dependency" skeeves me out, as I'm not a fan of the strain of neo ludditism present in a lot of the members of this class.
ReplyDeleteBut, what about talking about the way anonymity plays into that equation, given that it is a lot less likely to have reprecussions in one's daily life, and works as a god way for a lot of people to express themselves in positive ways when they have no other outlet for them, such as those who are LGBT in the horrible repressive south or those with fetishes suitable to 4chan's /d/ board?
... Not that I know about the latter from :ahem: experience or anything like that, but regardless, I think you should talk about it assort of the more positive flipside to the "oversharing" coin.
I think that the topic that you have decided to wright your paper o is really good in the fact that it is something that we can all relate to and understand. I agree with you in the fact that people now days share too much of their personal business on the internet. I feel like in our society now we are becoming to dependent on social media and the internet. I think this is great topic to talk about and address.
ReplyDeleteI like that you chose teenagers as your demographic focus for Internet privacy. Indeed, most teens are unaware of how their Internet privacy is tracked. Additionally what they disclose about themselves can hurt their futures. Most teens are not educated in regard to setting boundaries for self-disclosure. There are many angles you could choose to narrow this topic. Such as, the effects of teens having their privacy invaded (Cyber harassment) leads to suicide. “Oversharing personal information” can lead to stalking or becoming targeted for illicit relationships or scammers as you suggested. Advertisers targeting and tracking teens is also one subject on privacy.
ReplyDeleteI don't even know what I could possibly suggest for you. I love the idea. I think that maybe the only thing you can do to make it more academic would be to show data that shows the risks these teenagers are taking on in number format. If you could somehow link abduction and various assault cases to internet use, I think it would make your point much more surreal and applicable to current use of social media.
ReplyDeleteSo many people over share on social sites. They may or may not know that their information is out therefor everyone to see, and it will be there forever. Although when someone puts their number or address for all to see, they know that its unsafe and that there could be really bad consequences. Teens in particular I have noticed to do this. That was a good age demographic to write about. Its a widely discussed topic, and some if not most of us have a chance to see this happening first hand. Great topic, very interesting, and good to be informed about since we are in the age of sharing way to much.
ReplyDeleteThe majority of teens today are indeed dependent on the internet, specifically social networking websites. I agree with the way in which you address this dependency: "a false sense of security." It's such as accurate description. One aspect of facebook that may illustrate your topic well is how easily external applications and web sites identify one's Facebook account in order to "sign-in with Facebook." Typically, a window appears informing the Facebook user that the external application or website would like access to his or her information among many other things. More than often, people press "okay" without even investigating further. In fact, I'll admit that I do this myself.
ReplyDelete