Thursday, November 5, 2015

Are you anonymous?

How easy is it for you to be anonymous? How easy is it for someone to figure out who you are?

This week I wrote an opinion article based off a news article about Yik Yak. She talked with UNLPD who said that it's easy for them to figure out where posts are coming from. I had no idea that it wasn't difficult to figure out who wrote what.



First of all, anonymity is really dangerous because people hide behind the Internet to say mean things to other people or express their racist, sexist, or homophobic opinions. If they have to hide, they probably shouldn't be saying those things in the first place.

Anther problem with anonymity is catfishing. Sometimes people are scared to show who they really are so they pretend to be someone else. This has become an even larger problem because it's really easy to make a fake profile. Just make up a name, find a picture of a random person that you want to pretend to be, add some friends, and bam you have remade yourself.



If you look up on Google "fake profile pictures" thousands of fake pictures come up. Of course they're real people but their pictures are used as generic fake pictures. That also kind of sucks for the person who is actually in the picture because they have to live with the fact that someone is trying to be them.

Being anonymous comes for a price. You can be someone new, or just get out your dumb opinions. But if someone finds out who you really are, you're screwed.

2 comments:

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  2. OK, this is scary. Most of today's generation knows how creepy the internet and people on the internet can be. We all think clicking the "protection" button means we will be "safe" from those creepers... but it's not that easy or realistic. Even though you may be able to protect your tweets, select the private setting on Instagram or Facebook, or personalize your safety settings users on the internet are NEVER anonymous. Although all my social media accounts are on private I'm always cautious before I click the upload or send button. My mom, my grandma, my brother, even my professors have warned me about the consequences of the internet. They all say if there are any pictures of me on Facebook sporting a suspicious red plastic cup, I should remove them immediately. In fact, I should remove any pictures that made me look weird at all. Prospective employers might check, or they might get someone to friend me and unearth my whole dirty history - I don't have one, I swear, I'm just saying. Nothing is safe in this new age of technology even if you think you're anonymous. Interesting post - loved the meme!!

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