Facebook has become a household name for us. It has become a culture, a way of socializing, connecting and communicating with the world. But, with all this comes the need of using it carefully. Everyday, my Facebook feed shows some scary updates from my friends. With each passing day people are putting up information that no one else is either supposed to know or are not interested in knowing, more and more mediocre groups are being created and surprisingly people have been joining them. And, I really mean when I say it’s scary. I have seen people being a part of 100+ groups and it makes me wonder what they do with all those groups? Well to be honest, I am sure the answer is NOTHING. And, I am quite sure that they join it so that it shows up on their friend’s feed and then wait for some “Likes” and comments. People put up information about where they are, what they are doing, what they want to do, what they will be doing and what they have done. I have no problem with that, but probably you will, sooner or later, if you are one of them.
Recently, I came across a group (again through one of my friend’s updates) called “Facebook will be paid from July! If you don’t want to pay, join the group!” and the shocking news is that it had 537,846 members. Here is the content from the information page:
ALL YOU HAVE TO DO..TO NOT PAY FOR FACEBOOK:
►JOIN THE GROUP
►INVITE ALL YOUR FRIENDS
- COPY THE CODE:
-CLICK ON “Suggest to friend”!
-DELETE ALL FROM YOUR ADDRESS BAR!
-PAST THE CODE IN!!
-PRESS ENTER!!!
-CLIC ON “Send invations”!!
javascript:elms=document.getElementById(‘friends’).
getElementsByTagName(‘li’);for(var fid in elms){if(typeof elms[fid] === ‘object’){fs.click(elms[fid]);}}
►WHEN YOU DO IT FACEBOOK WILL NOT PAY TO YOU!
►WE WILL PROVE FACEBOOK THAT WE ARE GONE IF THAT HAPPNES!!
I don’t know how many people pasted that script in their URL and risked compromising their profile information. And this happens when people don’t really know how to use “Facebook” and what can be its implications. We are unknowingly revealing so much information around that can be used in ways we can never imagine. It is like a sword in our hand. We can use it skillfully and carve out a nice profile or slash our own head.
What you put on Facebook becomes your face value. It shows your attitude towards life. It shows what you are into, and what are you not. It shows what are you made up of. Ever thought of living in a glass house where people can see everything that you do? Facebook is like that glass house. And surprisingly we are the ones who have built it. We divulge so much information around unknowingly. Anyone can check your profile and create your impression in their mind without ever having to meet you.
We then start criticizing social networks for their privacy settings. We accuse them of putting our private information at risk. Well, have we pointed that finger at ourselves ever? Is Facebook really risking out privacy? Or is it just us who never thought of what Facebook is other than just a tool to put some funky, creepy and copied status messages that is aimed to attracts “Likes” and comments? We guard ourselves when we are out on the streets, we guard our houses, we care for our privacy but those sense of insecurities disappear as soon as we log on Facebook. People can read your Facebook and can know what kind of person you are. More and more organizations are now using you social network to know who are you, how you think, how you react, how to deal with situations, what is you attitude towards life and more importantly are you worthy of their attention. I have personally deleted lots of ‘friends’ from my Facebook just because I was tired of seeing their feeds which was quite incompatible with what I thought about them. And, I personally cannot tolerate such people to be in my friends list.
Next time you put that status on your Facebook and join some group, remember that the world is watching you. It is in your hands to give out what you want and keep your personal information to yourself. What you do on Facebook is a living record of your attitude, your life and how fit are you for the world. You are putting out something that will become your face to the world. You never realize but your life becomes an open book. This is why it is called Facebook.
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