Wrapping it Up

In a world where everything is on line it is important to become internet savvy. Internet safety is mostly the responsibility of the individual, along with privacy. Being smart while using the internet is the best way to keep your information safe and not public. Knowing the line between what is ok and not ok to put on the internet is very important these days. Companies, like Facebook, can do their best to keep to keep your information off the public circuit, but in reality it comes down on the individuals shoulder to be smart with their information.

Being aware of predators and others that might want to access your information is important. Predators are out there and it is an individual’s responsibility to learn more about them and how to protect themselves against them. There are others like employers or future employers that also might try to access your personal information. This is another reason to be smart with the information that one puts on the internet.

As the internet is changing, the people using it should adapt to be smarter when using it. Identity, Safety, and Privacy on the internet have become issues mostly due to lack of knowledge or updates. So it is important to stay up to date on the internet changes, and how it might affect an individual’s identity, privacy, and safety. 

Counter argument on Employers and Social Networking

Social Networking sites are causing some issues in the working world. Most of the controversies are coming from Employer hiring and firing of employees because of these social networking sites. I believe that hiring and firing based on these social networking sites is an invasion of privacy, and employers should not be able to access their employee’s social networking sites.

On the other hand, other views are that employers should be allowed to view their employees’ social networks; using the argument that the social networks are open to the public once they are put on the internet. Those employers should have just as much access as anyone else would. There are also the issues with employees using facebook and other social networks at work; especially on their iphone’s and other portable devices.

There is even a program now that can employers can buy that can monitor their employees’ social networking sites.

I believe that this is a complete invasion of privacy. I agree that employees should stay off their social networks during and at work, but I don’t agree that employers should be able to access their employees’ social networking sites. Employers have no right to dig into their employees’ social life because it doesn’t apply to their job, or affect their work. Every person is entitled to their privacy, including privacy from employers. These issues and others are another reason why there is a rise in the concern for more internet privacy. 

Employees and Social Networking Sites

Should Employers be allowed to view employees’ social networking sites? Is it an over intrusion of the employees’ privacy?

I believe that employers should not be allowed to view employees’ social networking sites or even prospective employees’ sites. I believe it is an invasion of a person’s privacy. It has always been stated that someone’s social life should be keep outside of the work place. So this should be maintained even with the new inventions of technologies such as social networks and more.

Someone could have a different perceived identity online than they do in real life, and employers should only judge the identity people have at the work place. For example, people act differently in different situations. Work is usually a more serious atmosphere, while celebrating a birthday is a completely different atmosphere. As long as an employee can maintain seriousness and precision at work there should be no need to try to incorporate other parts of their life into the work area.

There was an example of a teacher that was fired because of one of her pictures on her Facebook page.  The parents of some of her students saw a picture of her on her vacation, with an alcoholic drink, keep in mind she is of drinking age, and the parents turned it into the principal. Needless to say the teacher was fired due to this incident. I don’t believe this was right on either the parents or the principal part. The teacher had it on her private Facebook page and she is not doing anything illegal; in my opinion that is not something to be fired over. This is just an example of how employers should stay out of employees’ social networking sites. 

I’ve done a rhetorical analysis of this picture as it relates to how Social Networking has affected society.

The picture is a cartoon in all aspects. It uses poorly drawn figures to give it the look of cartoons.

The overall picture is in black and white, but the building in the back has some slight color. This is done to draw attention on fact that they are on the side of a building like most homeless people. The buildings in the back ground also indicate that the characters are away from the city, or away from the skyscrapers in the back ground. This indicates that the characters are in the slums or outskirts.

The characters themselves are also defined differently. The character on the left depicts a homeless person; with baggy torn cloths, and shaggy hair and beard. The sign is he’s hold also indicates that the cartoon is in need of money for survival. The character on the right is depicted as a nerd looking for friends. The glasses and alfalfa hair are indicators that the cartoon is supposed to be a nerd; they are also the most defining things about the character. He is holding a sign that is asking for friends for his social network.

This cartoon is an example of how having a thriving social network has become important to people in society. It also insinuates that having a thriving social network is essential for survival; due to the fact that both characters are on the street begging for something. 

Safety when Social Networking

Facebook is now the largest social networking site in the world; this means there are tens of thousands of users. With numbers this large it’s no surprise that privacy and safety, while using the site, has become an issue.

The best way to stay safe while using a social networking site, like Facebook, is keep things private and use common sense.

First things first, set the privacy setting to friends only so not everyone can view your profile. It’s wise not to put all your personal information on your profile. For example, your phone number should defiantly not be posted or your full address. Rule of thumb is if you don’t feel comfortable putting it on the internet then don’t put it on your profile.

Only accept the friends you actually know well. It is unsafe to accept the friends that Facebook just suggests especially if you don’t know who they are. The friends that Facebook suggest for you usually mean you have a mutual friend in common.  The problem there is that you can have a lot of friends and they could all have a few suggested friends for you. It’s like a suggested friends overload.

Be smart when posting pictures on Facebook as well. Don’t put pictures up that you wouldn't want people to see. Especially keep in mind that now employers and other higher officials might be able to gain access to these photos. It is also wise to put pictures up with more than just you in the picture, especially for profile pictures. This would make it harder for someone to distinguish whose profile it actually is.

Lastly use common sense. If you receive strange messages on Facebook, or other social networking sites, don’t respond. Reset your password every once in a while to prevent from hackers. Most importantly check your privacy settings and set them up the way you would prefer to have them. 

Rhetorical Analysis of Identity Theft Blogs

I was searching for some blogs similar to my topic on Identity theft and found some interesting things. The two articles I found the most interesting were Students, Grades and Social Security Numbers and Identity theft. I’m going to compare and a do a rhetorical analysis on both the articles.

The first blog was very factual and used more formal writing. It went into the history of social security numbers and explained what they meant to people in the past. This and the mentioning of statistics from The Department of Education provide ethos to the blog post. The post then discusses the harms that Identity theft brings for example “harm it does to your financial future.” It also uses a lot of adjectives though out the post; which brings out the use of pathos in the post. The word “deadbeat” was mentioned a few times, and I found this term in a few other similar posts throughout this blog.

The second blog was much more emotional and less formal. The writer was describing their personal experience with Identity theft. It too used a great number of vivid adjectives and word choice, like: numb, distraught, violated, afraid, wounded, threatened, and more. This was a big use of pathos and makes the readers feel sympathy for the writer. Since it was a Christian blogging site, the writer threw in some religious analogies as well.

Both blogs went into details about how Identity Theft is more emotional and frustrating than the financial problem itself. They both conveyed the message that Identity Theft is not something anyone wants to go through.

What is Identity Theft?

Identity theft is illegal and is considered any misuse of another person's identifying information, whether personal or financial. Most of people’s personal information is often stolen through lost or stolen mail, wallets and purses, identification, and credit or debit cards. Identity thieves are usually looking for financial information to take hold of someone’s account without them knowing it; since it is not possible to steal an identity, only to use it. Identity theft can be devastating to the victim, and can sometimes take years to overcome the damage done by the thief. Identity theft can ruin a person’s good name and credit record.

 Sometimes people’s personal information is taken by mere chance, but the thieves know what they are looking for. I have had a close family member go through identity theft, and it was a scary and difficult time for them. The police assumed that someone made up a social security number, which happened to be my relatives, while filling out some form of a credit application. Now any time my relative has to use her social security number or is applying for anything having to do with her credit, she is asked additional information about her identity. It’s not as devastating as other examples of identity theft, but it is still an annoyance that she will have to deal with from now on.

Being aware is the most effective tool against many forms identity theft. Knowing how information is stolen and how to protect your information is a good start. Setting up security systems or firewalls for online accounts is another way to protect yourself. The most practical way to protect your identity is to track or monitor you information, and know what to do if it is stolen or missing.