BLOG PROJECT: Top 10 Things Concerning New Media

If for instance The Notorious B.I.G. "Biggie Smalls" were to come back from the dead and was told about the new media of today, I would definitely make sure he knew what the top 10 things were to be concerned about regarding new media in today's society. Like all the things we have here in this crazy world everything has some negatives and some positives, it just makes the world go round. These top 10 things however, some good some bad, are things not only Biggie Smalls should be aware of but anyone new to new media or anything pertaining the Internet.

Here are my top 10 things that people should be aware of:

1. Identity/cyber theft. This one pops out to me first really when I think about not just media but the Internet in general. It seems to be a growing problem today with everyone putting personal information online which makes it easy for people to steal and use. Especially today with technology that seems to do just about anything, people can get into your records and get things like your credit card number or even your social security number which is basically as good as your own self. All of your information could be found so you take the risk. Big businesses like Target sometimes get their computers hacked which have peoples credit card information on them and could potentially put them all at risk. In an article on the Washington Post, Jia Lynn Yang and Amrita Jayakumar, report that “the thieves who stole massive amounts of credit and debit card information during the holiday season also swept up names, addresses and phone numbers of 70 million customers, information that could put victims at greater risk for identity theft.”
2. Shopping online. With the Internet boom many stores have made websites that allow you to actually shop from the comfort of your own home and have it delivered in a week. This is used by many today for convenience and makes it much easier to buy just about anything from all over the world.
3. Not all information on the Internet today is true. You need to make sure that when you are searching for specific information that your source is legit or verified. When your find something that you aren’t sure on you should compare with other websites and sources to make sure your information is valid.
4. Employers and schools check social media. Today because school and employers are investing their money and time into you they feel the need to do a search and basically see what your “really like” when you are just being you. They will look at your media sites such as Facebook and look through pictures for example to see what kind of person they are hiring or not hiring.
5. Information is stuck on Internet. The second you type something into the computer to put it on the Internet, it is now stored in the “cyber galaxy” forever even if you try and delete it. All information stays online even if you cant see, it is still stored somewhere.
6. Don’t rely too much. I firmly believe that relying too much on media and Internet can have some negative effects. Getting too caught up in the online world will cause you to miss out on things and take away from certain activities that you wont have time for. People sometimes spend way too much time on the Internet doing useless things that have no meaning to them.
7. Search Engines. Search engines used through the Internet have made it so that if you need or want to know something, you can find it on the Internet with ease. If the information is out there then you can be sure that it is somewhere online.
8. Smartphones. Today the use of cellphones with Internet capability have allowed us to use the Internet anywhere with connection in order to get our media and news faster. The smartphone has really helped in the spreading of information through things like media applications. Some of these applications include; Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
9. GPS location. One negative to have the Internet on your cellphone is that most of these apps used know your location because you are bouncing off of satellites which acts like a GPS. It’s can be creepy to know that if someone really wanted to they could track pretty much every move you make by updates you put out on your phone. Writing a tweet on Twitter, if location services are on, allows your friends to see where you sent that tweet from via city and state.
10. Viruses, malware, and spy-ware. As stated in “Computer Are Your Future” by Catherine LaBerta, in Chapter 9, “threats to social networking sites such as Facebook will increase...popular applications will continue to be the primary targets for cybercriminals”

Hopefully these ten concerns will be helpful to people out there in order to have a better grasp of the media and Internet today from someone who has seen things and used the Internet for some time now. These items should definitely be concerned with because they are valid and do happen every single day. Just like anything in life the more you know the better off you will be.

Yang, Jia Lynn, and Amrita Jayakumar. "Target Says up to 70 Million More Customers Were Hit by December Data Breach." Washington Post. The Washington Post, 11 Jan. 2014. Web. 31 Mar. 2014. <http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/target-says-70-million-customers-were-hit-by-dec-data-breach-more-than-first-reported/2014/01/10/0ada1026-79fe-11e3-8963-b4b654bcc9b2_story.html>.

LaBerta, Catherine. Computers Are Your Future. Boston, MA: Prentice Hall, 2012. Print.