Risks of Social Networking Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Risks of Social Networking - Essay Example As such, many users often gain friends they know little about in terms of their behaviors and morals. Friends may post photos of them engaging in delinquent behavior such as smoking or indulgence in alcohol and since another surfer may not want to feel ‘left out’ engages in the same behavior to ‘fit in’ and create a name for themselves. Cyber grooming is also a risk for many surfers. With cyber grooming, predatory pedophiles pose as young attractive people, with whom the victim can identify with, but also older, appearing to have money, cars and other attractive possessions for their victim. As Haigh notes, young people expose themselves to real danger when they give out their personal information like their address, personal phone number and where they like to hung out (19). In most cases as the writer notes, the perpetrator usually only needs the teenager’s photo and the color of the school uniform to figure out which school they attend. Once there is trust between the two, the predator may then plan out their crime, for instance in kidnapping cases, or involve the teenager in pornographic films. Many young surfers often expose themselves to cyber-bullying. Many times, a person’s image once uploaded may be used by malicious people however they like. It may be downloaded, edited and shared in new forms, to offend, or cause distress, fear or embarrassment. Tech-savvy users may even hack into a user’s account and harass them. Due to the fact that one can totally hide their identity, individuals who may not be bullies in real world may be encouraged to take part in malicious activities as they can always cover up their identity. Cyber-bullying may take forms such as harassment, where one is sent offensive or frightening communications; flaming, involving engaging the victim in arguments that use offensive language; denigration, where one posts rumors and other false information to taint the