Friday 17 April 2015

Critical Reflection

Before taking ES1102, I would consider the proficiency of my English language to be average or below average. This is because I feel that there is a peak to which I ‘stopped’ learning and just using English blinding in my everyday use of the language. I have realized that I have been speaking and writing with broken English and so do many people around me. The reason of doing so is as long as there is a mutual understanding between the people I am communicating with then there is no need for speaking and writing in good English. Soon it became a habit and it’s been five to six years since I last attended an English class.

In my opinion, I feel that English is important in the aspect of reading, writing and communicating as it is a commonly used language in many things in our lives. English is the first language of most countries, schools and also websites we browse and surf every day. Through the current semester in school I have been attending classes of ES1102. Through this module, I have initially aimed to improve and refresh the use of English. I hoped to enhance the way I write for my assignments and communication with my peers and mentors in school.

In ES1102, I realised that I have many weaknesses in English, such as having limited vocabulary, unable to properly form sentence structures, having bad grammar errors and not able to properly format an essay. I doubt I have any strength in English except for knowing English is widely used in the world and I need to improve my English language skills. The skills which are covered in ES1102 did address the weaknesses I have in English. Examples like having exercises in class to improve vocabulary and learning common grammar mistakes, and also having consultation sessions for essay drafts to help me identify my problems in my writing skills, like sentence structure formatting.

The exercises done in this module are useful in improving my English. The test analysis tasks done in this semester are useful practical lessons in my opinion. It showed me real essays and texts where analysis in terms of grammar, vocabulary and knowledge of metalanguage are being applied. Also, the multiple drafts of writing tasks with peer review and tutor consultations helped me in improving my writing skills in English.


From this module of ES1102, I have learned the importance of English as a language and the skills in it. I feel that the skills learned in ES1102 will be useful in other modules and courses where I will need to communicate and write in English. Besides school work, English as a skill will definitely be useful in most things that I encounter in my daily life. 

Thursday 16 April 2015

Problem-Solution Essay - Social Media Addiction (Final Draft)

Social media have been a convenient and practical way to make new acquaintances and obtain updates from friends we do not usually meet as it facilitates communication between peers on the internet. Almost everyone these days owns a social networking page and it can be time-consuming to maintain it. Keeping an online status, frequently updating the profiles as well as games on social media sites require much attention. While spending time online can be useful in gaining updates of everyday life, excessive and compulsive use of social media can cause addiction. Social media addiction can interfere with one’s daily life and cause health problems. This essay will describe social media addiction and the health problems associated with it in America and suggest alternative ways to deal with the addiction and health problems.

Studies gave evidence which suggests that addiction to social media and networking may be a potential mental and physical health problem. Statistics show that 55% of youths uses social media networks and the time spent on Facebook by people increased by 566% from 2007 to 2008 (Kuss & Griffiths, 2011). People who have higher usage of social networking sites (SNSs) were perceived to be less involved with their real life communities. The typical profiles of addiction can be introvert or extrovert. People who are introverts or have a negative social identity tend to use more of social media in order to compensate for their loss in real life interactions. As giving and receiving negative feedback may be more common on the internet than in real life, people who are introverts or have a negative social identity who look into SNSs for compensation in real life network may experience a negative feedback with the use of SNSs (Kuss & Griffiths, 2011). This may potentially result in increasing addiction to the use of SNSs and lower self-esteem. In the same way, people who are extraverts in real life may increase their usage of SNSs for self-enhancement, related to high narcissism. The increasing usage of SNSs may lead to social media addiction. Past investigations showed that mental health problems like jealousy, social tension, isolation and depression are associated with the use of Facebook (The Economist, 2013), which may be due to people who turn to SNSs usually being more prone to negative emotions and thoughts in the first place (Kuss & Griffiths, 2011). Apart from mental health problems, physical health problems may appear with association to excessive use of social media. Sitting for long hours in front of the computer or phone may lead to back and neck aches, headaches and increased risk of heart disease and diabetes (Alison, 2013). Using the mouse or mobile device for surfing SNSs can cause Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, which is pain and numbness in hands and wrists, dry eyes and/or strained vision. With more time spent on using SNSs, sleep disturbances may be experienced by users (Helpguide.org, n.d.). An article found that using social media can lead to loss impulsive unhealthy snacking, which may result in pronounced weight gain or weight loss in addicted users of SNSs (Alison, 2013).

Existing methods of dealing with social media addiction include self-recognizing and identifying if one is having symptoms of addiction to using SNSs, listing our one’s underlying problems which supports the addiction. It also involved strengthening one’s support network and coping skills in real life. Finally, addicts must modify the use of internet in gradual amounts (Helpguide.org, n.d.; Braun, n.d.; nperov.com, n.d.). The strength of these methods is that people will know what their problem are and start working from there.

However, the limitation of these methods is that the first step for people to start to realise or recognize they have a problem themselves is extremely difficult. The main problem is that addicts might not be aware of their problem. As most methods to deal with social media addiction require an individual to recognize or identify themselves if they have an addiction, it would not be effective in allowing an actual social media addict to admit and take an effort to realise his or her addiction in social media.

A more effective solution would be for social media sites like Facebook to produce “pop-up” messages on their sites to users who are online for over 2 hours and beyond. Messages could include inform users how long they have been online, self-help tips and advices on dealing with social media addiction. This could be aiding social media addicts in self-identifying their addiction which is the first milestone of dealing with social media addiction as it is the social media sites themselves which are giving actual advice to generate awareness in themselves for the users’ symptoms of addiction.

Apart from introducing messages from SNSs to users, campaigns can be used to create awareness about social media addiction to everyone. Advertisements on television and SNSs are examples of platforms in which these campaigns can be raised. The target audience should be everyone, as they could hit an addict and the people around the addict. With more awareness to the problem of social media addiction, there would be more help in a current addict recognizing his own problem as the people around him or her will be able to help as they are aware of the problem too.

Addiction to social media may be associated to many health problems relating to mental health and physical health. Excessive use of social media may result in more negative consequences than positive ones. Current methods of dealing with social media addiction may not be effective and ways to modify the methods should be implemented in order to reach to social media users directly.

References
Alison, 2013. Top 5 health risks of social media. The Proof Fairy website. Retrieved from: http://www.theprooffairy.com/social-media/top-5-health-risks-of-social-media/

The Economist, 2013. Facebook is bad for you “Get a life!”. The Economist website. Retrieved from: http://www.economist.com/news/science-and-technology/21583593-using-social-network-seems-make-people-more-miserable-get-life

Helpguide.org, (n.d.). Internet and Computer Addiction. Helpguide.org website. Retrieved from: http://www.helpguide.org/articles/addiction/internet-and-computer-addiction.htm

Kirsten Braun, (n.d.). Health risks of social media. Women’s Health website. Retrieved from: http://www.womhealth.org.au/healthy-lifestyle/109-health-risks-of-social-media

Personal Development nperov.com, (n.d.). Why Social Networking Is Bad for Your Mental Health. Nperov.com website. Retrieved from: http://nperov.com/health/social-networking-bad-mental-health/

Daria J. Kuss and Mark D. Griffiths, 2011. Online Social Networking and Addiction—A Review of the Psychological Literature. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2011 Sep; 8(9): 3528–3552. Retrieved from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3194102/

Problem-Solution Essay - Social Media Addiction (Draft 2)

Social media have been a convenient and practical way to make new acquaintances and obtain updates from friends we do not usually meet as it facilitates communication between peers on the internet. Almost everyone these days owns a social networking page and it can be time-consuming to maintain it. Keeping an online status, frequently updating the profiles as well as games on social media sites require much attention. While spending time online can be useful in gaining updates of everyday life, excessive and compulsive use of social media can cause addiction. Social media addiction can interfere with one’s daily life and cause health problems. This essay will describe social media addiction and the health problems associated with it in America and suggests alternative ways to deal with the addiction and health problems from existing methods.

Studies gave evidence which suggests that addiction to social media and networking may be a potential mental and physical health problem. Statistics show that 55% of youths uses social media networks and the time spent on Facebook by people increased by 566% from 2007 to 2008 (Kuss & Griffiths, 2011). People who have higher usage of social networking sites (SNSs) were perceived to be less involved with their real life communities. The typical profiles of addiction can be introvert or extrovert. This can be compared to people who are introverts or have a negative social identity tend to use more of social media in order to compensate for their loss in real life interactions. As giving and receiving negative feedback may be more common on the internet than in real life, people who are introverts or have a negative social identity who look into SNSs for compensation in real life network may experience a negative feedback with the use of SNSs (Kuss & Griffiths, 2011). This may potentially result in increasing addiction to the use of SNSs and developing lower self-esteem. In the same way, people who are extraverts in real life may increase their usage of SNSs for self-enhancement, related to high narcissism. The increasing usage of SNSs may lead to social media addiction. Past investigations showed that mental health problems like jealousy, social tension, isolation and depression are associated with the use of Facebook (The Economist, 2013), which may be due to people who turn to SNSs usually are more prone to negative emotions and thoughts in the first place (Kuss & Griffiths, 2011). Apart from mental health problems, physical health problems may appear with association to excessive use of social media. Sitting for long hours in front of the computer or phone may lead to back and neck aches, headaches and increased risk of heart disease and diabetes (Alison, 2013). Using the mouse or mobile device for surfing SNSs can cause Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, which is pain and numbness in hands and wrists, dry eyes and/or strained vision. With more time spent on using SNSs, sleep disturbances may be experienced by users (Helpguide.org, n.d.). An article found that using social media can lead to loss impulsive unhealthy snacking, which may result in pronounced weight gain or weight loss in addicted users of SNSs (Alison, 2013).

Existing methods of dealing with social media addiction include self-recognizing and identifying if oneself is having symptoms of addiction to using SNSs, listing our one’s underlying problems which supports the addiction. It also involved strengthening one’s support network and coping skills in real life. Finally, addicts must modify the use of internet in gradual amounts (Helpguide.org, n.d.; Braun, n.d.; nperov.com, n.d.). The strength of these methods is that people will know what their problem are and start working from there.

However, the limitation of these methods is that the first step for people to start to realise or recognize they have a problem themselves is extremely difficult. The main problem is that addicts might not be aware of their problem. As most methods to deal with social media addiction require an individual to recognize or identify themselves if they have an addiction, it would not be effective in allowing an actual social media addict to admit and take an effort to realise his or her addiction in social media.

A more effective solution would be for social media sites like Facebook to produce “pop-up” messages on their sites to users who are online for over 2 hours and beyond. Messages could include inform users how long they have been online, self-help tips and advices on dealing with social media addiction. This could be aiding social media addicts in self-identifying their addiction which is the first milestone of dealing with social media addiction as it is the social media sites themselves which are giving actual advices to generate awareness in themselves for the users’ symptoms of addiction.
Apart from introducing messages from SNSs to users, campaigns can be used to create awareness about social media addiction to everyone. Advertisements on television and SNSs are examples of platforms in which these campaigns can be raised. The target audience should be everyone, as they could hit an addict and the people around the addict. With more awareness to the problem of social media addiction, there would be more help in a current addict recognizing his own problem as the people around him or her and will be able to help as they are aware of the problem too.

Addiction to social media may be associated to many health problems relating to mental health and physical health. Excessive use of social media may result in more negative consequences than positive ones. Current methods of dealing with social media addiction may not be effective and ways to modify the methods should be implemented in order to reach to social media users directly.

References
Alison, 2013. Top 5 health risks of social media. The Proof Fairy website. Retrieved from: http://www.theprooffairy.com/social-media/top-5-health-risks-of-social-media/

The Economist, 2013. Facebook is bad for you “Get a life!”. The Economist website. Retrieved from: http://www.economist.com/news/science-and-technology/21583593-using-social-network-seems-make-people-more-miserable-get-life

Helpguide.org, (n.d.). Internet and Computer Addiction. Helpguide.org website. Retrieved from: http://www.helpguide.org/articles/addiction/internet-and-computer-addiction.htm

Kirsten Braun, (n.d.). Health risks of social media. Women’s Health website. Retrieved from: http://www.womhealth.org.au/healthy-lifestyle/109-health-risks-of-social-media

Personal Development nperov.com, (n.d.). Why Social Networking Is Bad for Your Mental Health. Nperov.com website. Retrieved from: http://nperov.com/health/social-networking-bad-mental-health/


Daria J. Kuss and Mark D. Griffiths, 2011. Online Social Networking and Addiction—A Review of the Psychological Literature. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2011 Sep; 8(9): 3528–3552. Retrieved from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3194102/

Problem-Solution Essay - Social Media Addiction (Draft 1)

Social media have been a convenient and practical way to make new acquaintances and obtain updates from friends we don’t usually meet as it facilitates communication between peers on the internet. Almost everyone these days owns a social networking page and it can be time-consuming to maintain it. Keeping an online status, frequently updating the profiles as well as games on social media sites require much attention. While spending time online can be useful in gaining updates of everyday life, excessive and compulsive use of social media can cause addiction. Social media addiction can interfere with one’s daily life and cause health problems. This essay will describe social media addiction and the health problems associated with it and suggests alternative ways to deal with the health problems from existing methods.

Studies gave evidence which suggests that addiction to social media and networking may be a potential mental health problem. People who have higher usage of social networking sites (SNSs) were perceived to be less involved with their real life communities. This can be compared to people who are introverts or have a negative social identity tend to use more of social media in order to compensate for their loss in real life interactions. As giving and receiving negative feedback may be more common on the internet than in real life, people who are introverts or have a negative social identity who look into SNSs for compensation in real life network may experience a negative feedback with the use of SNSs. This may potentially result in increasing addiction to the use of SNSs and developing lower self-esteem. On the contrary, people who are extraverts in real life may increase their usage of SNSs for self-enhancement, related to high narcissism. The increasing usage of SNSs may lead to social media addiction. Past investigations showed that mental health problems like jealousy, social tension, isolation and depression are associated with the use of Facebook, which may be probably due to people who turn to SNSs usually are more prone to negative emotions and thoughts in the first place. Apart from mental health problems, physical health problems may appear with association to excessive use of social media. Sitting for long hours in front of the computer or phone may lead to back and neck aches, headaches and increased risk of heart disease and diabetes. Using the mouse or mobile device for surfing SNSs can cause Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, which is pain and numbness in hands and wrists, dry eyes and/or strained vision. With more time spent on using SNSs, sleep disturbances may be experienced by users. An article found that using social media can lead to loss impulsive unhealthy snacking, which may result in pronounced weight gain or weight loss in addicted users of SNSs.

Existing methods of dealing with social media addiction includes self-recognizing and identifying if oneself is having symptoms of addiction to using SNSs, listing our one’s underlying problems which supports the addiction, strengthen one’s support network and coping skills in real life and lastly to modify the use of internet in gradual amounts. The strength of these methods is that people will know what their problem are and start working from there. However, the limitation of these methods is that the first step for people to start to realise or recognize they have a problem themselves is extremely difficult.

As most methods to deal with social media addiction require an individual to recognize or identify themselves if they have an addiction, it would not be effective in allowing an actual social media addict to admit and take an effort to realise his or her addiction in social media. Instead of encouraging oneself to identify his or her addiction, social media sites like Facebook could produce “pop-up” messages on their sites to users who are online for over 2 hours and beyond. Messages could include inform users how long they have been online, self-help tips and advices on dealing with social media addiction. This could be aiding social media addicts in self-identifying their addiction which is the first milestone of dealing with social media addiction.

Apart from introducing messages from SNSs to users, campaigns can be used to create awareness about social media addiction to everyone. Advertisements on television and SNSs are examples of platforms in which these campaigns can be raised. The target audience should be everyone, as they could hit an addict and the people around the addict. With more awareness to the problem of social media addiction, there would be more help in a current addict recognizing his own problem as the people around him or her and will be able to help as they are aware of the problem too.


Addiction to social media may be associated to many health problems relating to mental health and physical health. Excessive use of social media may result in more negative consequences than positive ones. Current methods of dealing with social media addiction may not be effective and ways to modify the methods should be implemented in order to reach to social media users directly.

Reader Response assignment (Final Draft) of “The perils of over-sharing in social networks” by David Emm

In “The perils of over-sharing in social networks” (2014), David Emm mentions that the internet has become a part of our everyday lives for convenience. With the increasing use of internet through smartphones and tablets, negative consequences have also appeared via sharing information on social media. Information shared could be personal or even company’s information. One example the author mentioned was about if someone shares about going for a holiday, it could potentially attract a burglar to break into the house during the duration of travel. Oversharing of information may reveal too much about oneself, hence attracting cybercriminals to commit crimes or internet users to hurt others based on the information one shared. I agree that oversharing on social media will result in revealing too much information about oneself to a large extent, but I also think there are other dangers of oversharing which are even more serious than what the author mentions, such as online shaming and bullying.

In an article by Emily Crane (2014) “Bare feet on the back of your seat, half-naked passengers and urine in the sink: The social media photo campaign shaming inconsiderate airline passengers”, there are pictures of people doing things which may be considered unsightly and unhygienic by most people. By showing people on the article on a news site read by many internet users every day, the purpose is to shame the people in the photos. Online shaming by sharing pictures of what people did may seem entertaining to us, but it may potentially ruin the shamed person’s life. In an article by Laura Hudson (2013) “Why You Should Think Twice Before Shaming Anyone on Social Media”, the author mentions that shaming has become something the internet can be good at doing. She adds that shaming could destroy lives and livelihoods, and could be a “weapon of mass reputation destruction”, with examples such as amplified bullying and slander. The example Laura shared was that a lady shared on social media the behaviour of two men she saw and felt disgusted by them. This eventually led to one of the men losing his job and was verbally assaulted online by internet users because of a post which that lady shared being seen by internet users. This is an example of a negative consequence due to oversharing on the internet besides committing crimes.

In the same article by Laura, it is shown that internet speech by internet users may include racism and sexism. These are usually seen on social media platforms like tweets from twitter and posts from Facebook. Internet users could be shamers online, or they could be shamed online by other internet users for their offensive posts. Sharing too much personal opinions online may be a form of oversharing. Laura said that “internet speech can be cruder and crueller than our real-life interactions” as people speak bluntly online as compared to face-to-face interactions. Therefore people may express themselves in a cruder and more explicit manner online as compared to how they will express themselves in real-life, thus people may get harsher comments in online bullying than in real-life.

People who are also using the internet may make use of the information we shared online to their advantage against us or others through criminal means. It was also mentioned that what we share on the internet could potentially ruin others’ or one’s life through cyberbullying or online shaming. Also we need to be careful of what we share and comment online to avoid sharing racism and sexism contents which may result in more shaming and bullying. Therefore, we need to be aware of what we share and/or do online so as not to compromise our own security and to harm others.

Sources:
Emm, D. (2014, March 21). The perils of over-sharing in social networks. Huffpost Tech.
Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/david-emm/the-perils-of-over- sharing-in-social-networks_b_5005276.html

Emily Crane (2014, September 17). Bare feet on the back of your seat, half-naked passengers and urine in the sink: The social media photo campaign shaming inconsiderate airline passengers. MailOnline. Retrieved from http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/travel_news/article-2758792/From-feet-seat-stripping-check-latest-social-media-trend-shames-airline-passengers.html


Laura Hudson (2013, July 24). Why You Should Think Twice Before Shaming Anyone on Social Media. WIRED. Retrieved from http://www.wired.com/2013/07/ap_argshaming/

Reader Response assignment (Draft 2) of “The perils of over-sharing in social networks” by David Emm

In “The perils of over-sharing in social networks” (2014), David Emm mentions that the internet has become a part of our everyday lives and in almost everything we do for convenience[M1] . With the increasing use of internet through smartphones and tablets, negative consequences have also appeared via sharing information on social media[M2] . Information shared could be personal or even company’s information. One example the author mentioned was about if someone shares about going for a holiday, it could potentially attract a burglar to break into the house during the duration of travel. Oversharing of information may reveal too much about oneself, hence attracting cybercriminals to commit crimes or internet users to hurt others based on the information one shared. I agree that oversharing on social media will result in revealing too much information about oneself to a large extent, but I also think there are other dangers of oversharing which are even more serious than what the author mentions, such as online shaming and bullying.[M3] 
In an article by Emily Crane (2014) “Bare feet on the back of your seat, half-naked passengers and urine in the sink: The social media photo campaign shaming inconsiderate airline passengers”, it shows pictures [M4] of people doing things which may be considered unsightly and unhygienic by most people. By showing people on the article on a news site read by many internet users every day, the purpose is to shame the people in the photos. Online shaming by sharing pictures of what people did may seem entertaining to us, but it may potentially ruin the shamed person’s life. An article called “Why You Should Think Twice Before Shaming Anyone on Social Media” by Laura Hudson (2013), she [M5] mentions that shaming has become something the internet can be good at doing. She adds that shaming could destroy lives and livelihoods, and could be a “weapon of mass reputation destruction”, with examples such as amplified bullying and slander. The example Laura shared was that a lady shared on social media the behaviour of two men she saw and felt disgusted by them. This eventually led to one of the men losing his job and was verbally assaulted online by internet users because of a post which that lady shared being seen by internet users[M6] .
In the same article by Laura, it is shown that internet speech by internet users may include racism and sexism. These are usually seen on social media platforms like tweets from twitter and posts from Facebook. They could be shamers online[M7] , or they could be shamed online by other internet users for their offensive posts. Sharing too much personal opinions online may be a form of oversharing. Laura said that “internet speech can be cruder and crueller than our real-life interactions” as people speak bluntly online as compared to face-to-face interactions. [M8] 
It is understood [M9] that people who are also using the internet may make use of the information we shared online to their advantage against us or others through criminal means. It was also mentioned that what we do on the internet could potentially ruin others’ or one’s life through cyberbullying or online shaming. Therefore, we need to be aware of what we share and[M10] /or do online so as not to compromise our own security and to harm others.
Sources:
Emm, D. (2014, March 21). The perils of over-sharing in social networks. Huffpost Tech.
Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/david-emm/the-perils-of-over- sharing-in-social-networks_b_5005276.html
Emily Crane (2014, September 17). Bare feet on the back of your seat, half-naked passengers and urine in the sink: The social media photo campaign shaming inconsiderate airline passengers. MailOnline. Retrieved from http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/travel_news/article-2758792/From-feet-seat-stripping-check-latest-social-media-trend-shames-airline-passengers.html
Laura Hudson (2013, July 24). Why You Should Think Twice Before Shaming Anyone on Social Media. WIRED. Retrieved from http://www.wired.com/2013/07/ap_argshaming/


 [M1]unclear
 [M2]good
 [M3]Good
 [M4]Restructure this, you cannot have In an article, it shows (double subject)
 [M5]Citation format, In an article xxx, Laura Hudson mentions…although you could change the verb mention which is not very precise” mention means say once (in passing)
 [M6]OK, but conclude with linking back to your thesis statement
 [M7]Who is this ‘they?
 [M8]I’m not sure I can see the unified main idea in this paragraph. Sexist or racist postings are one of the dangers (according to your thesis statement) but can you explain why better? Is this understood as bullying?
 [M9]How/ Whop understands this?
 [M10]Explain the link between what we share and bullying/
How does racism and sexism come into the discussion?

Thursday 5 February 2015

Reader Response assignment (Draft 1) of “The perils of over-sharing in social networks” by David Emm

In “The perils of over-sharing in social networks” (2014), David Emm mentions that the internet has become a part of our everyday lives and in almost everything we do for convenience. With the increasing use of internet through smartphones and tablets, negative consequences have also appeared via sharing information on social media. Information shared could be personal or even company’s information. One example the author mentioned was about if someone shares about going for a holiday, it could potentially attract a burglar to break into the house during the duration of travel. Because oversharing of information may reveal too much about oneself, hence attracting cybercriminals to commit crimes or internet users to hurt others based on the information one shared. I agree that oversharing on social media will result in revealing too much information about oneself to a large extent, but I also think there are other dangers of oversharing which are even more serious than what the author mentions.

In an article by Emily Crane (2014) “Bare feet on the back of your seat, half-naked passengers and urine in the sink: The social media photo campaign shaming inconsiderate airline passengers”, it shows pictures of people doing things which may be considered unsightly and unhygienic by most people. By showing people on the article on a news site read by many internet users every day, the purpose is to shame the people in the photos. Online shaming by sharing pictures of what people did may seem entertaining to us, but it may potentially ruin the shamed person’s life. An article called “Why You Should Think Twice Before Shaming Anyone on Social Media” by Laura Hudson (2013), she mentions that shaming has become something the internet can be good at doing. She adds that shaming could destroy lives and livelihoods, and could be a “weapon of mass reputation destruction”, with examples such as amplified bullying and slander. The example Laura shared was that a lady shared on social media the behaviour of two men she saw and eventually leading to one of the men losing his job and was verbally assaulted online by internet users.

In the same article by Laura, it is shown that internet speech by internet users may include racism and sexism. These are usually seen on social media platforms like tweets from twitter. They could be shamers online, or they could be shamed by other internet users for their offensive posts. Sharing too much personal opinions online may be a form of oversharing. Laura said that “internet speech can be cruder and crueller than our real-life interactions” as people speak bluntly online as compared to face-to-face interactions.


It is understood that people who are also using the internet may make use of the information we shared online to their advantage against us or others through criminal means. It was also mentioned that what we do on the internet could potentially ruin others’ or one’s life through cyberbullying or online shaming. Therefore, we need to be aware of what we share and/or do online so as not to compromise our own security and to harm others.


Sources:

Emm, D. (2014, March 21). The perils of over-sharing in social networks. Huffpost Tech.

Emily Crane (2014, September 17). Bare feet on the back of your seat, half-naked passengers and urine in the sink: The social media photo campaign shaming inconsiderate airline passengers. MailOnline.

Laura Hudson (2013, July 24). Why You Should Think Twice Before Shaming Anyone on Social Media. WIRED.