Thursday, August 28, 2008

Internet Safety Today

Those internet videos on the syllabus were a little too much. I feel most people today know how to protect themselves and report what is being done. But I do agree that sometimes the site masters don't do anything to the accused. I think people need to be able to protect themselves online. However, if someone has common sense they have to know to use caution when contacting someone or giving out their information. Today technology,especially the internet is second nature to most people. I admit that every morning before I wash my face or brush my teeth I check my email first. Many people live on the internet, whether it be staying in touch or even shopping. But many people are still afraid to give their information out, even if it is for shopping. I hear stories of people giving their credit card numbers out for what they thought was a good buy and it turns out they get nothing in return and that the site they had ordered it from had been deleted. I am afraid of things like that but I still buy online. I have a friend who went to buy a dog online and sent a check out. He NEVER got a dog or got anything back. I think people should just use caution and when common sense tells them it's too good to be true, it probably is.

Things can be done so easily online that it really is scary. When MySpace first came out I was a freshman in high school. My friend signed me up and I started using it. A year later as I was browsing on my myspace, I found somebody who claimed they were me! They took all my pictures and my information, but just changed their hometown and my friends names. Weird right?
I guess the internet will never be 100% safe. But what really is?