- Risks and dangers of social media
- Privacy risks on social media
- Security risks in social networks
- Emotional risks in social networks
- Risks of socialization in social networks
We explain to you what are the risks and dangers that arise from social networks, in emotional, social and security aspects.
Risks and dangers of social media
The social networks They are digital spaces for exchange and social entertainment. In them, a diverse number of users share messages, Photographs, videos and other types of multimedia material, according to criteria of communication preset, thus forming a virtual community more or less open.
All social networks are based on the principle of the six degrees of separation, which dictates how all Humans we are connected in one way or another from the nexus we have with a friend, relative or acquaintance, this one with some other relative or acquaintance of his, and so on up to the six degrees of deferral.
This same principle, taken to cyberspace, gained prominence since the massification of the Internet and the appearance in 1995 of the classmates.com site, which offered the possibility of connecting with former classmates, university, etc. This is considered the first social network in the history of Internet.
But social media has evolved a lot since then, as has the internet. Smartphones integrated social media into other aspects of our lives. In fact, the use of these telephones exceeds telephone communications: they are tools of reading, of payment, of socialization, etc. The possibilities that this technology entrails are infinite.
Consequently, along with the flourishing of social networks, new risks and dangers, which we will review separately below, classifying them based on the type of danger that each one entails.
Privacy risks on social media
One of the great disadvantages of the Internet and especially of social networks is the ease with which information Private or confidential can be made public or fall into the wrong hands.
From data as simple as the location (registered by the cell phone or any device equipped with a GPS), age, address of our work, school or home, to others much more sensitive such as the number of our credit card (or that of our parents ), our phone number or bank account, all can be intercepted.
The theft of information can be carried out hackers or unscrupulous users posing as friends, or intercepting messages intended for third parties. In other cases, the information is obtained through fraudulent sales campaigns, donations or misleading offers.
Something similar occurs with intimate material (such as nude photographs or erotic messages), which although it is intended for a specific user and not to be freely disclosed, can be made public or sold on pornography pages, without the consent of the person who issued them, believing themselves safe in the privacy of a direct message.
The general advice to avoid these situations is to manage private information with a warning criterion: to know that our information can be used for harmful purposes, and that not everyone who uses social networks does it for the same purpose.
Never accept requests from any kind of strange or mysterious person, or never provide sensitive information in response to offers that seem too good to be true. Erase sensitive private information or encrypt it behind strong passwords, which must be renewed from time to time.
In the case of minors, it is necessary to instruct them in this regard and teach them that, although they seem a safe place, social networks are as dangerous as a lonely street or the square.
Security risks in social networks
Contact through social networks is as insecure as contacts with complete strangers in the street, because the profiles are private and we cannot always have access to the information of who is on the other side of the screen. Making dates with strangers, informal economic transactions are risky behaviors in social networks.
A case of special vulnerability is represented by minors, who can see on social networks an environment free of parental supervision to voluntarily or involuntarily expose themselves to the reach of strangers, or access sensitive or illegal material that later they do not know how to handle on their own. own.
The malware, malicious programs and scammers abound on social media. A simple way to avoid them is to always apply a rational criterion to the interaction.
For example, if out of nowhere a beautiful Thai girl writes to tell you that you have been elected in a contest in which you did not participate, and that you will win a fortune in exchange for revealing your bank details, it is most likely that it is a fraud.
Emotional risks in social networks
The impact of social networks on our emotions is a controversial topic and one that is studied a lot nowadays. It has been studied that the networks forge a kind of addiction, inciting their use through subliminal rewards. It is known as the "hit of dopamine ”to the effect that its notifications produce in the brain, similar to what drugs induce in the mind of the addict.
On the other hand, the use of social networks can negatively affect our self esteem, associated with competence for group approval. Social networks expose a world of popularity, happiness, intensity or success that rarely corresponds to the real life of its users.
The unspoken message is always lacking: everyone has thousands of friends except you, everyone is very successful except you, everyone is happy except you. The paradoxical effect of this is depress the user and incite him to compensate for this feeling with a frenzied online activity, dedicating more life to social networks than to his own real life, and therefore reproducing the cycle of sadness.
On the other hand, algorithms that govern social networks pursue as many interactions as possible, based on a deep analysis of the data entered by the user himself: every time we interact with an entry on social networks, we are telling the algorithm to show us more similar content.
The effect in the long run is of an echo chamber, in which we only consume opinions similar to our own and reinforce the idea that those who are not in our select ring are nothing short of idiots. Thus, social networks have become a place full of radical opinions and a lot of extremism, in terms of politics, religion and other controversial topics.
The consumption of the calls fake news or news False is also an example of this toxic content, which contributes only to misinform, spread rumors or delusions, radicalize the opinion held on a subject and, in the long run, emotionally impoverish the most vulnerable users.
Risks of socialization in social networks
Social alienation is another major risk in using social media. exist persons whose virtual life is much richer than their real life, or who live a kind of alternate experience (an alter-ego) in social networks.
Thus, crucial aspects of their real life are neglected, such as the productivity at work, study, relationships in its family, etc. In many cases, social media must be treated as an addiction, and some professional psychological guidance may be necessary.