Social Media Menace Essay Example

Social networking has been one of the most significant trends on the internet in recent years. Platforms for communicating with friends, sharing messages, and posting status updates are referred to as social media. Tik Tok, Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook, and other famous sites are among them. While social media can be entertaining, it can also be dark and menacing. Several offenses are committed using social media platforms to establish a convenient target for contact. By this, I mean that some websites provide direct messaging, which allows users to communicate with anyone they want. Child predators, discussions of committing and promoting crimes, and threats and or bullying can all be found on these popular apps. Although it depicts the ideal lifestyle, the truth is concealed behind the screen. We will put an end to people abusing social media by using censorware to provide extra protection.

Child predation is especially popular within social media sites. Predation is a form of harassment that consists of repeated acts of exploitation. Most of these social media platforms enable everyone to communicate, making private messaging possible. Within these chat rooms, people can send photos, videos, and texts which makes this a child predator’s playground full of opportunities. “Predators build trust with children through devious tactics such as grooming, mirroring, and fishing, and convince them to keep it a secret.” (Birdsong 2020) Given this evidence, it's not surprising that predators try to form meaningless relationships with young children to entice them into their trap. In this case, censor software will aid in the protection of this type of predation by preventing it from starting in the first place. Censor software would prevent older adults from communicating with younger children in a vulgar way by automatically disclosing the conversation to the app creators and even the authorities. In an interview done with detective Jones, he states, “that means whatever stranger the child is talking to can see where the child is—where they go to school, where they hang out with their friends, where they go to sleep at night.” (Baldwin 2019) Many of these social media applications take your location to help people locate friends in their area. The location settings are often accurate, assisting these predators in determining the exact location of their next victim. Location settings can be omitted and blocked using censor technology, leaving the predator with little to go on. Children's ability to have fun and chat with friends should not be accompanied by the fear of being stalked or groomed on the internet. With censorware, young kids will once again feel protected online.

Another issue that stands out is the discussion of criminal activity or the encouragement of such conduct. Criminal activity is not unheard of on social media platforms. People sometimes make jokes or go too far with actions that are perceived as a threat. Many viewers are unsure if they should report incidents like this to the police or leave it up to another audience to determine. According to the article Crime and its Fear in Social Media, “from the analysis of collected data, it is established that around 15 out of every 1000 tweets have text related to a crime or fear of crime. The frequency of tweets related to crime is then compared against the number of murders, the murder rate, or the level of fear of crime as recorded in surveys are high.” (Curiel, Cresci, Muntean, & Bishop 2020) This evidence suggests that a significant percentage of tweets sent out contain references to violent acts, posing a threat to the safety of others. Since the figures are so high, we can assume that there is a connection between these tweets and an increase in the number of crimes committed as a result of them. When censorware is used, it will defend against these crimes by reporting suspicious behavior when something unusual is released. It is hoped that by doing so, the number of crimes committed would be reduced, and as a result, the promotion of these acts will be discontinued.

Cyberbullying and its effect on the mental health of young children is another crucial development of social media. Instead of the usual face-to-face conversation, it is easy to say whatever you want because you are hidden behind a screen. Many people take advantage of this feature to create fraudulent accounts to harass others without ever having to expose their identity. In an article about cyberbullying, the author states, “It is necessary to ensure that platforms take responsibility for this matter and that their responses and tools provided are effective.” (Milosevic 2019) Platforms designed to combat bullying on the internet in previous years have failed because it is difficult to keep up with and filter words that may be the start of something bad. With the new technology of censorware, it can read and understand the conversation at hand and report behavior that could cause problems. With the bullying trend spreading to social media, there are more bystanders than ever. This indicates that people are observing rather than intervening in the conversations. “Some of these features allow bystanders to anonymously “flag” or report aggressive behavior. These sites have also created a more transparent, easy-to-understand policies for online abuse and aggression.” (Cornell Media Lab 2016) The internet can be secure and enjoyable with these features in place. Cyberbullying can be reduced and replaced with more constructive content with the use of censor technology.

The freedom of social media, as well as the success of its contents, has progressed faster than many expected. Unfortunately, there are issues are hidden deep inside the popularity. Given the freedom to be hidden behind a screen, social media has no boundaries. There have been many issues as a result of it, and there have been no active attempts to limit them. However, by making better use of censor technologies, these problems can be minimized, and the internet can be enhanced. We would see improved mental health, a reduction in criminal activity, and a decrease in child predation rates if it is effective.

Baldwin, Michael. “How Sexual Predators Are Using Everyday Social Media Apps to Target Children.” Https://Www.live5news.Com, 28 Nov. 2019, www.live5news.com/2019/11/29/how-sexual-predators-are-using-everyday-social-media-apps-target-children/.

Birdsong, Toni. “Reports of Online Predators on the Rise. How to Keep Your Kids Safe. .” McAfee Blogs, 15 June 2020, www.mcafee.com/blogs/consumer/family-safety/reports-of-online-predator-on-the-rise-how-to-keep-your-kids-safe/#:~:text=Predators%20reach%20out%20to%20minors,to%20lure%20minors%20to%20chat.&text=Often%20the%20predator%20may%20ask,be%20brief%20or%20go%20on.

Curiel, Rafael Prieto, et al. “Crime and Its Fear in Social Media.” Nature News, Nature Publishing Group, 2 Apr. 2020, www.nature.com/articles/s41599-020-0430-7.

Lab, Cornell Social Media. “Designing to Stop Cyberbullying: Current Solutions.” Medium, Social Media Stories, 31 May 2017, medium.com/social-media-stories/designing-to-stop-cyberbullying-current-solutions-f78d2fada84f.

Milosevic, Tijana. “Can Social Media Tools Be Used to Stop Cyberbullying?” RTE.ie, RTÉ, 3 Oct. 2019, www.rte.ie/brainstorm/2019/1001/1079472-can-social-media-tools-be-used-to-stop-cyberbullying/.