Privacy

Privacy in new media is a controversial topic. While most people use some form of new media and enjoy its benefits, the threat of our private information being exposed to people we would not want to see it is always there. The photos you post on social media can be used by someone else. For example, people can pretend that they are someone they are not by using photos from someone's social media page. Additionally, there are definitely ways to get around measures intended to maintain users' privacy. For example, when Snapchat was first introduced, many liked that it deleted photos after only 10 seconds. Because of this feature, people posted photos that they would not want to be available on the internet forever. However, users quickly realized that an easy away around this feature was to simply take a screenshot of a photo before it disappears. This goes to show that once you post something on social media, it never truly goes away. There is always a way for someone to access old photos and posts even if you think you've deleted them. Additionally, social media companies have angered its users by collecting personal data from them without their knowledge in order to target ads to them. Many users have felt violated by this practice and it has led to increased distrust of social media companies. Lastly, there have been an alarming number of security breaches in recent years that have leaked personal information, such as passwords and credit card numbers. This is especially scary because it is getting more difficult to live in a world where we don't use new media, but doing so can lead to serious financial issues and identify theft if our information is leaked.