Do you still know the term, ‘write-protect’? How about microfloppy or mini-floppy disks? These are the necessary things you need in order to utilize the early computers. Sounds Jurassic? But we used to ‘write-protect’ our disks to guard the files from viruses that could destroy it. Amazing, right?
In a snap of a finger, the era of magnetic tapes and disks has vanished when the internet has dominated the 21st century. I can still remember the first time I surf the net last 1998 when I was in second year highschool. My first email account was from yahoo.com. I also used this website as the default search engine for my projects and assignments. It really amazed me to the point where surfing became part of my daily routine. We didn’t have a computer at home, but we have it in school. That’s why I always went home late after class during that time.
Aside from playing games, I frequently browse for pictures of the solar system and dinosaurs, and even read articles about heaven and hell. These are some of the interesting things that you can do in front of the computer before. Thus, social networking was not even part of its vocabulary.
As years went by, along the vast evolution of technology, internet usage has evolved as well making the users so indifferent. Why did I say so? This is all because of Social Networking.
It’s hip to ‘like’ a status; it’s more exciting to share photos in public to know what others think of it. Hence, we are enthusiasts to check our posts every second to see if someone puts a comment whether good or bad. Of course, we anticipate more of the good side. But we can’t leverage that, even your best friend can inadvertently feedback something that is negative. Although it’s true but thinking that others have already read the posts, your friendship turns to chaos followed by non-stop back and forth messages, making your best friend your worst enemy. And in a matter of click, your friendship is gone. How sad!
Looking at a positive side, it’s a great past time, isn’t it? Indeed, we even share our personal information such as birthday, phone numbers and addresses. In a simple click, we share but we don’t know there are complicated things that we should not bare. If your surfing is unlimited, it doesn’t mean your restrictions are limitless because the more you give information, the more you are unsecured and prone to hackers. This is not just like a microfloppy disk that you can ‘write-protect’ your data and become secured once you inserted it in the driver. You always have to keep in mind that there are million kinds of viruses, malware and adware created everyday tracking down its victims. It’s okay if it’s just your school project or assignment is at stake, but as of these days, sharing personal information can now risk your career, financial or even your life.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder so as with technology since it depends in the hands of the users. We may see the overpowering advantages of it but we oftentimes overlook its drawback. They say too much love can kill you, but I would say too much info can breach you! It’s fun to be in, but it is better to be safe. (AAP)
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