Danger!!! Social Media and the internet has its risks!

Your Probably thinking ‘what a joke’ or ‘social media or the internet cant be dangerous’.

Well….. let me highlight a few things that might see everyday on social media that make you rethink the dangers.

Lets go through these one by one and the examples of how they can harm you.

1. Personal information: by having your full name, DOB, hometown info or email address, gives opportunity for viewers to steal your identity which is usually done for fraudulent purposes.
2. location services= By using this you are allowing people to know where you are, this could give them the opportunity to stalk you, mug you, burgle your house or even assault.
3. Grooming=Grooming is when someone builds an emotional connection with a child to gain their trust for the purposes of sexual abuse, sexual exploitation or trafficking. Children and young people can be groomed online or face-to-face, by a stranger or by someone they know – for example a family member, friend or professional.
   (NSPCC, 2017)
4. cyber-bullying= the use of electronic communication to bully a person, typically by sending messages of an intimidating or threatening nature.
   (Google, no date)
5. Trolling= when a person makes a deliberate offensive or provocative online post with the aim of upsetting someone or eliciting an angry response from them.
6. Flaming= is a hostile and insulting interaction between Internet users, often involving the use of profanity AKA swear words.(Google, no date)
7. Sexual exploitation=When sexual exploitation happens online, young people may be persuaded, or forced, to:

• Send or post sexually explicit images of themselves.
• Take part in sexual acts via webcam or smartphones.
• Have sexual conversations by text or online.

1. Abusers may even threaten to send images, video or copies of conversations to your friends and family unless you take part in other sexual activity.

   Images or videos may continue to be shared long after the sexual abuse has stopped.(NSPCC, 2017a)

and many more!!!

Do you think its potentially dangerous yet? 

Leave a comment and let me know what you think or Highlight any other dangers that you can think of that might not be in this post.