The Dangerous New Paparazzi

You are what you share on the internet. This was not a problem a few years ago, but with the way social media has exploded recently it has become a very serious one. Emma Teitel explores the dangers of social media in her article “The New Paparazzi”. With our generation “obsessed with documenting its social life” it's no surprise that it's starting to become uncontrollable. She addresses her multiple concerns about this increasing problem. Teitel mentions that most of the pictures put up of an individual are put up by other people, and rarely with consent. Another subject she points out is that there are multiple people who “can keep track of someone’s life without them” being aware. Overall Teitel doesn't believe that this new paparazzi is a good influence. 

One of Teitel’s biggest scares of this new paparazzi is the amount of photos people put up of others. Although its untrue that “digital cameras have become house-party staples” most people do have phones with camera in them. So if you go out to any parties which most high school kids do, there is a very high chance of a photo of everyone going online. But it's the individual choice on whether the photo is going to be bad or good, or how bad it's going to be. Sometimes there are situations where the pictures are put up “without the [persons] consent.” This is a lot more dangerous now because of prospective schools and employers looking on these websites to check if these candidates are appropriate for the opportunity they are giving. High school kids are definitely the group of people most affected with this problem. But in this day and age it is very rare to meet someone who hasn't been to a party at least once. We are a social generation. We just have to be careful on what kind of social image is portrayed of us. 

But what happens when those pictures are put up online? There are millions of people who can view them. The scary part is that we don't know who is viewing them and what their intentions are. Some students refer to this as “creeping and stalking.” They may think it’s just done to temporarily admire the person but unfortunately there are definitely people who do it for very wrong reasons. Out of all the people on the internet more than not leave their profiles open for anyone to view. Although these social networks were made to connect people easier, they aren't “used to socialize, but to survey” people instead. The fact that one picture posted years ago can be viewed by a stranger half way across the world isn't right. And because of the easy access news about a person portraying a fake personality to gain the trust of an innocent social network user is heard way too often. Creeping someone on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter has now become the new dangerous trend. 

These issues that Tietel has pointed out are without a doubt problems with the new popularity of social networks. The new paparazzi are everywhere but are ordinary high school kids really this lethal? Some of the arguments in the article were exaggerated. Kids are now more aware of the dangers of social media, and with that information they are a lot more careful with what they put up. For an example if they want to post a picture and someone has a cup of alcohol in their hand they would crop it out. They are aware that absolutely anyone can view what they post. Privacy setting help somewhat but Teitel believes that kids only care about “privacy once its has been violated.” But even with all the privacy settings on if someones really determined to get onto another profile they will find a way. Another growing problem that is without a solution is the predators lurking on the internet for an unsuspecting victim. It’s a scary to think that someone can view our pictures, posts and thoughts without the person ever knowing that they exist. This new paparazzi are just kids being social who rarely have bad intentions. Maybe the picture they posted of the passed out kid was horrible but it was most likely done just to be funny, not to hurt anyone. Everyday more and more people are becoming aware of the dangers of social media, so hopefully soon no one will have to fear this new paparazzi.