By: JAEMEE CORDERO, Editor
Whenever people are out in public – whether it be shopping with friends or going to see a movie – they are always sure to have their personal belongings close to them or those precious items might be stolen. They are careful about being so open with some random stranger that wants to strike a conversation with them because who knows what that stranger’s intentions are? They know to keep their guard up or something unfortunate could happen at any time. People are cautious out in the world.
It’s a smart habit that has kept many safe, but why do those same people also let that guard down in one of the most dangerous places in the world:the Internet?
It may sound like a silly statement, but how many times has a parent told their child to never talk to strangers? It’s not that much different from staying away from strangers on the internet.
Think of it this way: on any social network, people don’t just decide to add everyone that requests them as a friend or follower. They don’t want strangers or untrustworthy others to see their personal lives all over their profiles.
Enter MTV’s hit series, Catfish: The TV show demonstrates reasons why people should be more cautious when on the internet, specifically with dating. In one of the episodes, a young woman had fallen in love with a man whom she had befriended over Facebook.
“There’s always an element of mystery and curiosity,” Catfish host Yaniv Schulman said.
They had never met in person, but privately messaged and texted each other for two years. The show crew helped discover who the man was behind the screen for her, only to find that the man was not a man at all.
His Facebook profile turned out to be a fake and had actually been created by another woman, an enemy of the episode’s protagonist, who was only seeking revenge for an old conflict.
But there are bigger dangers lurking on the Internet, as well. For instance, on websites like Craigslist, there are multiple ways for anyone to lure sellers into a trap. AIM Group, a global team of experts on interactive media, found that Craigslist was linked with 330 crimes in the United States, 100 of them being robberies and twelve being deaths.
People should be savvy when interacting with people online just as they would in real life. They get a false sense of security being hidden behind the screen themselves, as if simply posting one status or accepting one stranger on their friend requests couldn’t possibly threaten them.
“Teens don’t realize that once something is posted on the Internet it can come back to haunt them. Even if they take down an inappropriate photo, the electronic record remains,” website Common Sense Media said.
They think it’s safe to just trust whoever messages them because that person isn’t physically in front of them. Sure they aren’t there physically, sure everyone on the internet is metaphorically wearing a “mask,” sure the person someone is communicating with is in another house somewhere else in the world. There are these boundaries between everyone in hyperspace, but those boundaries can be easily broken with some typing and a few clicks of the mouse.
When a person is in the mall, they only have to worry about the people around them. However, when a person is on the Internet, they aren’t even fully aware of what they should be worrying about. They can’t see all the threats around them. They are only expanding the number of people that could potentially invade their privacy or steal what’s important. The Internet connects an individual to the whole world. They may as well be standing on Michigan Ave. Some people find the online network to be some kind of “safe haven” away from the real world. The truth is, it’s not.