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 Little Thoughts by Sam - Opinions on Social Media
I know this blog is more about personal life and stuff like that (not really a place for this kind of 'formal' stuff) but I've decided that I'll save some space for opinions on issues. (Well, I always wanted to start of another blog for this purpose but considering that I'm a lazy, I'll just use this blog for that purpose)
Disclaimer.
Whatever that is posted here is based on my own opinions and not representative of any organisation or country. It's personal. If you find anything that you don't agree with or something that you feel strongly against/about, do leave me a comment and I'll reply.
Today's topic: Opinions on Social Media
social media
noun
I guess most youths these days have a social media account, be it the traditional FaceBook and Twitter to new pages such as Instagram and Dayre. Social media is where we share about our personal lives and express our thoughts "in private" But is social media really private?
FaceBook allows users to privatise their accounts to limit their viewers to only "Friends". But are our posts really safe when only our "Friends" can view them? The answer is, unfortunately, a NO. We may think that only allowing access to our "Friends" will limit who can view what we put online, but that is not the case. Anyone with a keyboard would have noticed the 'Print Screen' button designed to allow users to take a screen capture.
Imagine this, you have just posted something on your 'private' social media account and your friend feel sees the post. He feels like sharing it with other friends and takes a capture of the screen. This captured image can be passed on from one user to another user without the original creator's knowledge and permission. So you think you're posts are private?
Things on social media is never private and the worst part of it is the fact that it's up to the reader's interpretation. No one is there to actually explain what is written. I can write about being unhappy about some stuff and it can be blown out of proportion, making it look as if I hate the world.
Anyway, the reason for this post is with regards to Principal's Dialogue in school today. Didn't have the courage to speak up in school so I took to this blog to post what I think of the entire issue.
I wouldn't comment on whether what the student did was right or wrong because everyone has their own opinions. But I'll say that whatever that is posted is already there. In my opinion when I have something to share I will take to the net. However, I believe that such sensitive issues should be treated with caution. An open-letter is already sent to the principal, I think that she should have waited for response before jumping out and posting it on social media. This saga really showed how such a small issues as to a student's opinion can be blown up to the school being "sexist" and even used as a weapon against the country?!
On another note, social media can also be a very useful tool. As mentioned by a fellow schoolmate, initial discussions are relatively constructive. It is only when things start snowballing out of hand that this became an issue. I think that if everyone could just exercise some self-restraint and not blow up matters, the social media can actually provide a good opportunity for people all over the world to share their opinions. Social media is meant to connect the world, allowing people to share their views and thoughts.
I guess this is something that we can all learn from. That we should not be posting sensitive material online because it is not all that private. And for all of you people out there wondering why am I talking about all this "don't post stuff online" thing and is still doing it on my blog, I think that I have my rights to share my opinion. I'll clarify that I'm not targetting any parties involved in this issue and neither am I blaming anyone related. I am merely sharing my perspective of things and feel free to disagree and leave me a comment below.
Sam
Labels: Issues, Little Thoughts by Sam, Open Letters, Opinion, Schools, Social Media |
