Social media consideration / issues

Privacy

There are many issues surrounding privacy and Social Media.

Users often are naive about how their posts can be viewed, shared, copied or stolen. Thought should be given to the material and how others may view it. Consideration is needed before posting because although a post is deleted or removed from an account, it may already have been archived elsewhere on the internet from where it can be retrieved. Many instances have occurred of people being fired from their jobs because of an inappropriate post.

People also have difficulty finding and understanding privacy settings, and how to protect their accounts. Social Media companies update their privacy policies and settings and so users need to review their accounts when this happens. Different types of user data is recorded in many ways, theoretically to to tailor content and advertisements etc to the user. That data is stored and can be sold to other companies, or even hacked or stolen.

Fake news / Disinformation

Fake news is fabricated or false news that is created and spread online, often deliberately for political or other purposes.

Photoshop and other editing software has made it easy for anyone to edit images to support what they want to promote. Deep Fakes is a new term for videos where software is used to replace faces very convincingly. Unfortunately Users often retweet posts without checking the source, and thus accidently helping spread the disinformation. 

Social Media companies are making improvements on flagging and restricting false information, but often it is still a matter of interpretation from third party fact checking organisations. 

Cyberbullying

Bullying and harrassment online and through digital means is known as Cyberbullying.

People find it much easier to post things online that they would never say to someone in person. Cyberbullying can include posting personal information, rumours, threats, sexual harassment, or hate speech. Bullying or harassment is repeated behavior, and is often done with the intent to cause harm.

Due to the ease of creating false personas or anonomous accounts it is almost impossible to stop. It is very difficult to report and shut down accounts, due to the ways Social Media companies operate. Even when one account is shut down others can be created straight away.