Are you an active user of Facebook, Friendster, and other social networking sites? If yes, make sure that you are careful in revealing personal information about yourself. You might be thinking that revealing some, such as your school and age, may not be harmful. This is wrong. Every piece of information you reveal about yourself could bring you harm that you would never have expected. In the short story below, you will find out the dangerous effects of revealing personal information online.
Linda is a 14 year-old teenager. Recently, she joined her friends on Facebook, a social networking site, and is quickly becoming hooked onto it. Everyday after school, she logs in to Facebook and chats with her friends online. She also enjoys using the various addicting applications available on Facebook.
One day, Linda, after returning from school and logging in immediately, saw a friend request from a stranger she did not know. Tagged with the request was a note, saying "Let's be friends!". Without hesitating, Linda accepted the friend request as she wanted to expand her range of online friends. Then, she continued chatting with whoever was available. However, that night, the stranger started a chat with Linda. He introduced himself as Jack, a 19 year-old student. As they chatted, Linda realised that they clicked well together, and she got more and more into the chat. Soon after, Jack had to go offline, and Linda followed too-it was so late that nobody else was online.
Linda looked forward greatly to chatting with Jack again after school. That day, she went straight to the computer after school, when she would usually take a shower first. To her delight, Jack was online too!
"Hi! How are you today?"
"Well, today..."
After a while, Jack suddenly raised the question "Hey, where are you studying in? How old are you?" Linda, without thinking of the consequences, told him where she lived and studied, how old she was etc. Although she had listened to many talks in school about cyber awareness, she felt so safe with Jack that she thought it did not matter. Little did she know that she was wrong... ...
The next day, when Linda was walking home from school, she was waiting for the lift, when suddenly, a hand covered her mouth, and she was dragged away. Linda was too stunned for words, and despite her struggle, she got brought away. Her parents, being worried that she did not return home even though it was midnight, made a police report. Days passed with worry and fear for Linda's parent, but she did not return.
Though we did not know what happened to Linda, and what was the cause of her being abducted, it is safe to assume that "Jack" had used her personal information to abduct her. If she did not reveal her personal information so easily, she might not have met with harm. Thus, we can deduce that the world of Internet is a dangerous place;the other party is able to hide his identity while commiting crimes or bringing harm to others. However, this can be prevented if we choose who to reveal our personal information to, and who not to. No one is resposible for our safety online-we have to ensure our safety ourselves.
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Many people all over the world use websites like Facebook. I think that the safest way to protect your personal information will be not to make friends with any people you do not know. In my opinion, social networking sites are not dangerous, it just depends on whether you are cautious. I find that exercising cuation, especially when surfing the Internet, is very important, as information can be accessed just by the click of a mouse. Besides using social networking sites to make friends, some people acutally create groups to advertise for a particular cause or company. This is also a reason why more and more people are joining social networking sites.
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