Intro
Social networking has become one of the primary source of communication for people in our society today. In our class discussions on MySpace or My____, we learned that on social networking sites you can virtually become anyone that you wanted to be. With the power of Google Images, you do not even need your own picture. Even though the website clearly states what it's purpose is, the realities of society still misconstrue the fine lines of personal identity, privacy, and safety.
After reading the article SOCIAL NETWORKING WEBSITES: ARE MYSPACE AND FACEBOOK THE FINGERPRINT OF THE 21st CENTURY? by Edward M. Marsico, I was very pleased at how for once, social networking was being praised for something good in the community. There are plenty of crimes committed everyday and many of them go unsolved. We continually move into a more technology centered generation everyday, and by "centered", I mean everything is available online. So it only makes sense for law enforcement officials to move toward this information medium also. I learned that police officers routinely use social networking sites to investigate crimes. It is no secret that there are idiots in the world who willingly post their devious actions on the Internet.
Sexual Predators
The most common crime involving the Internet and social networking is child pornography and sexual predators. One show that brought about a great amount of awareness was To Catch a Predator, which helped to catch culprits red- handed and prosecute them. In many court cases such as People vs. Clevenstine, the defendants claimed the evidence provided was not properly authenticated. Which basically means that they were trying to say they were not the ones who sent the messages. But, officers are much smarter because they secure the hard drives of both the victims and the defedants to show that the messages are in fact real and from the specified user. Also besides watching the activites of these people, law enforcement actually engages in it too. Sometimes, they create profiles posing as minors and trap sexual predators. This brings about the question as tois the Fourth Amendment is being tampered with, "whether people have a reasonable expectation of privacy". I say do whatever it takes to keep these sick individuals away from our youth.
Impact on the Young Society
We are young and indeed have new ideas on what is fun and cool. Technology and how easy it is to access is having a bitter sweet impact on our society. As fun as it is to tweet and facebook your friends about your everyday life, it is never okay to bully someone, humiliate someone by posting violent material, or post sexualy explicit items. I think the main problem is we are thinking of what is NOW and not what the future consequences will be. I am 100% sure no one who is prosecuted over internet crimes thought they would be in jail over it. I think if we advocate more on "thinking before we type", we could save the future generations from strict policies and embarassment.
Sexual Predators
The most common crime involving the Internet and social networking is child pornography and sexual predators. One show that brought about a great amount of awareness was To Catch a Predator, which helped to catch culprits red- handed and prosecute them. In many court cases such as People vs. Clevenstine, the defendants claimed the evidence provided was not properly authenticated. Which basically means that they were trying to say they were not the ones who sent the messages. But, officers are much smarter because they secure the hard drives of both the victims and the defedants to show that the messages are in fact real and from the specified user. Also besides watching the activites of these people, law enforcement actually engages in it too. Sometimes, they create profiles posing as minors and trap sexual predators. This brings about the question as tois the Fourth Amendment is being tampered with, "whether people have a reasonable expectation of privacy". I say do whatever it takes to keep these sick individuals away from our youth.
Impact on the Young Society
We are young and indeed have new ideas on what is fun and cool. Technology and how easy it is to access is having a bitter sweet impact on our society. As fun as it is to tweet and facebook your friends about your everyday life, it is never okay to bully someone, humiliate someone by posting violent material, or post sexualy explicit items. I think the main problem is we are thinking of what is NOW and not what the future consequences will be. I am 100% sure no one who is prosecuted over internet crimes thought they would be in jail over it. I think if we advocate more on "thinking before we type", we could save the future generations from strict policies and embarassment.
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