Is Social Media a threat!

[hamzaafridi_pak]

I have been on Facebook for around 7 years and have been using twitter now for around 4 years. What I found about Facebook and twitter was really interesting. I found it a gate way to the world. I found out that this platform is what is going to uproot the differences and make this place a peaceful place to live in. But as time went on I found many people taking it the other way. Countries now worried that these platforms have been acquired by the top agencies of the world and they are using it to collect data. The question is is it really like this? Is our privacy really at stake when we are using social media? And is social media really doing the job they are ought to!

In reference to ban on many social media sites like in Pakistan, China, Turkey etc.

Hope to get strong points from you side.

 

[JayAtl]

you know, you have a very valid and a great question. I think it is really is different from country to country. To be more specific between western and other cultures, democracy vs .... i.e. concerns about social media is more about stifling free speech and dissent in non western worlds.

western cultures concerns would be similar to mine: I personally don't use anything other than facebook, that too very limited. I struggle with - a need for security and how much personal information is gathered by the govt. To date the US govt ( that is whom I can speak on) has been toeing a thin line, but yet toeing close. And happy that we have a free press to check into 'that line'.

But to most people here, the overwhelming concern regarding Social media is for example: HR departments in companies actually hit your social media pages before an interview and courts have determined that if you say anything adversely negative about your boss or workplace that it could be grounds for being fired. Then there are the cases of criminals and predators that as parents people worry about.

But in other countries, even those you cited, it is a tool they hate because they want to stifle free speech and keep dissent or diverse ' political' opinions out of the national conversation. some of the concerns are valid- for example , a cartoon of mohammed on facebook would lead to riots and mayhem. But that speaks more of the culture of only those rioting and creating mayhem than the vast majority of the citizens in that country. So this small majority of rioters have essentially forced the majority's right of having social media access denied. does that make sense?

Overall I would say social media is a great tool. It has way more positives- we have families strewn all over the place , it has kept us connected and social with people we would have lost touch with. It has been a tool for democracy and outlet for injustices that a regular media could have missed. It has been a faster way to get a message out for many an opposition in many countries or a faster way to inform people of current news. It has made the world more " social"...

 

[AUSTERLITZ]

Intelligent thread,nice to see from new members.

 

[Leader]

I have been on Facebook for around 7 years and have been using twitter now for around 4 years. What I found about Facebook and twitter was really interesting. I found it a gate way to the world. I found out that this platform is what is going to uproot the differences and make this place a peaceful place to live in. But as time went on I found many people taking it the other way. Countries now worried that these platforms have been acquired by the top agencies of the world and they are using it to collect data. The question is is it really like this? Is our privacy really at stake when we are using social media? And is social media really doing the job they are ought to!

In reference to ban on many social media sites like in Pakistan, China, Turkey etc.

Hope to get strong points from you side.

if you are signed in to google, your each and every search is being monitored. ebable cookies, you are monitored, if you forget or mistakenly leave google maps to keep your location on twitter, you are pin pointed, and if you are using facebook....

anyway, hamza zamir afridi bhai the fact of the matter is your website is hamzaafridi.com which doesnot work

 

[hamzaafridi_pak]

if you are signed in to google, your each and every search is being monitored. ebable cookies, you are monitored, if you forget or mistakenly leave google maps to keep your location on twitter, you are pin pointed, and if you are using facebook....

anyway, hamza zamir afridi bhai the fact of the matter is your website is which doesnot work

It nice you searched me on the search engine. Ya I am kinda stuck with that these days so

you know, you have a very valid and a great question. I think it really is different from country to country. To be more specific between western and other cultures, democracy vs ...). Because concerns about social media is more about stifling free speech and dissent in non western worlds.

western cultures concerns would be similar to me: I personally don't use anything other than facebook, that too very limited. I struggle with - a need for security and how much personal information is gathered by the govt. To date the US govt ( that is whom I can speak on) has been toeing a thin line, but yet toeing close. And Happy that we have a free press to check into 'that line'.

But to most people here the overwhelming concern regarding Social media is for example: HR departments in companies actually hit your social media pages before an interview and courts have determined that if you say anything adversely negative about your boss or workplace that it could be grounds of being fired. Then there are the cases of criminals and predators that as parents people worry about.

But in other countries, even those you cited, it is a tool they hate because they want to stifle free speech and keep dissent or diverse ' political' opinions out of the national conversation. some of the concerns are valid- for example , a cartoon of mohammed on facebook would lead to riots and mayhem. But that speaks more of the culture of only those rioting and creating mayhem than the vast majority of the citizens in that country. So this small majority of rioters have essentially forced the majority's right of having social media access denied. does that make sense?

Overall I would say social media is a great tool. It has way more positives- we have families strewn all over the place , it has kept us connected and social with people we would have lost touch with. It has been a tool for democracy and outlet for injustices that a regular media could have missed. It has been a faster way to get a message out for many an opposition in many countries or a faster way to inform people of current news. It has made the world more " social"...

Thank you so much for such an amazing answer

 

[farhanalee7]

I have been on Facebook for around 7 years and have been using twitter now for around 4 years. What I found about Facebook and twitter was really interesting. I found it a gate way to the world. I found out that this platform is what is going to uproot the differences and make this place a peaceful place to live in. But as time went on I found many people taking it the other way. Countries now worried that these platforms have been acquired by the top agencies of the world and they are using it to collect data. The question is is it really like this? Is our privacy really at stake when we are using social media? And is social media really doing the job they are ought to!

In reference to ban on many social media sites like in Pakistan, China, Turkey etc.

Hope to get strong points from you side.

Social media itself is not a threat but how our people are using it.. it can be a threat.. and social media websites have very tough privacy policies but if someone still can go over them then it is a threat and In Pakistan social media played very positive role exposing our politicians and it become a great platform for advertisement and promotion for political parties.

 

[JayAtl]

Social media itself is not a threat but how our people are using it.. it can be a threat.. and social media websites have very tough privacy policies but if someone still can go over them then it is a threat and In Pakistan social media played very positive role exposing our politicians and it become a great platform for advertisement and promotion for political parties.

is facebook , youtube still banned? I thought occasionally they ban and then unban it in pakistan.

 

[tranquilium]

It is really not about "free speech" or "political dissent" as some people like to insist. Electronic social media is, just like real life communication, another type of communication medium. The same concern and debate occurred for other forms of social medium before them, such as telegram, radio, television and phone. In all previous cases, there are eventually rules and regulation established on what to do and what not to do.

Take facebook for example, the problem Chinese had with facebook isn't because it is a blog type social medium, rather, it is because it is a social medium that is based in foreign country and owned by foreign owners. There are plenty of electronic social media in China, such as WeChat, Weibo and QQ (which is more comparable to MSN).

My personal thought is that electronic social media is simple another step in development of human culture. Right now it is still like a child, with time and practice, rules, regulation and proper etiquette would be established.

 

[farhanalee7]

is facebook , youtube still banned? I thought occasionally they ban and then unban it in pakistan.

Only youtube is banned

 

[Skies]

of course, they know about you more than your family members and the close ones.

They know your search keys, desires, brawser patterns, psycology, secrets, So never share sensetive things at all

use: Startpage Web Search for search, not google and not as signed in, if things are sensitive.

Startpage searches google for u

 

[hamzaafridi_pak]

It is really not about "free speech" or "political dissent" as some people like to insist. Electronic social media is, just like real life communication, another type of communication medium. The same concern and debate occurred for other forms of social medium before them, such as telegram, radio, television and phone. In all previous cases, there are eventually rules and regulation established on what to do and what not to do.

Take facebook for example, the problem Chinese had with facebook isn't because it is a blog type social medium, rather, it is because it is a social medium that is based in foreign country and owned by foreign owners. There are plenty of electronic social media in China, such as WeChat, Weibo and QQ (which is more comparable to MSN).

My personal thought is that electronic social media is simple another step in development of human culture. Right now it is still like a child, with time and practice, rules, regulation and proper etiquette would be established.

A well delivered point there sir (Y)

 

[Indischer]

I have been on Facebook for around 7 years and have been using twitter now for around 4 years. What I found about Facebook and twitter was really interesting. I found it a gate way to the world. I found out that this platform is what is going to uproot the differences and make this place a peaceful place to live in. But as time went on I found many people taking it the other way. Countries now worried that these platforms have been acquired by the top agencies of the world and they are using it to collect data. The question is is it really like this? Is our privacy really at stake when we are using social media? And is social media really doing the job they are ought to!

In reference to ban on many social media sites like in Pakistan, China, Turkey etc.

Hope to get strong points from you side.

1. Who exactly has defined the roles and responsibilities of Social Media?

2. Who is forcing anyone to participate/enroll on such sites and provide personal/sensitive info willfully or otherwise?

 

[hamzaafridi_pak]

1. Who exactly has defined the roles and responsibilities of Social Media?

2. Who is forcing anyone to participate/enroll on such sites and provide personal/sensitive info willfully or otherwise?

Really amazing question there

1. Nobody has defined the roles and responsibility of Social Media. But yet don't you think there is a need? Don't you think our humanitarians should draw a line for them?

2. Well that's the very point nobody's doing that. But they are just provoking humanity to use them they knowing that it may be harmful. How do we deal with that? Well I would vote in the favor that people need to educated in this matter.

Hope I got my points cleared

 

[Indischer]

Really amazing question there

1. Nobody has defined the roles and responsibility of Social Media. But yet don't you think there is a need? Don't you think our humanitarians should draw a line for them?

2. Well that's the very point nobody's doing that. But they are just provoking humanity to use them they knowing that it may be harmful. How do we deal with that? Well I would vote in the favor that people need to educated in this matter.

Hope I got my points cleared

Social media suffers from a peculiar anomaly. It is a global enterprise with no one at the helm. National Laws do bind it, but they are neither consistent nor appropriate on a global scale. For a World that doesn't see eye to eye on the most pressing of issues, it's a big ask to define and regulate the rules of the game on a trans-national, trans-cultural level.

It's depressing, but that's the way it will be, as Nations will begin to feel more insecure about the mood of their subjects than ever before, all thanks to social media again.

 

[JayAtl]

It is really not about "free speech" or "political dissent" as some people like to insist. Electronic social media is, just like real life communication, another type of communication medium. The same concern and debate occurred for other forms of social medium before them, such as telegram, radio, television and phone. In all previous cases, there are eventually rules and regulation established on what to do and what not to do.

Take facebook for example, the problem Chinese had with facebook isn't because it is a blog type social medium, rather, it is because it is a social medium that is based in foreign country and owned by foreign owners. There are plenty of electronic social media in China, such as WeChat, Weibo and QQ (which is more comparable to MSN).

My personal thought is that electronic social media is simple another step in development of human culture. Right now it is still like a child, with time and practice, rules, regulation and proper etiquette would be established.

This has got to be a paid propaganda meme from you.... chinese are bothered and censors are bothered about facebook because it resides in another country!?ROFL.

This would be true if you alternatively allowed free speech and dissent on yours! YOU DON"T!

And why do you have a firewall?

and are you telling us, as an example, you can search for "Tiananmen square protests" on chinese search engines? NOPE... your govt blocks and censors tons from the chinese people, even on sites that sit in China!

You must think the rest of us are idjits for falling for that line of complete rubbish ...heh