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  Geebo 9:00 am on October 10, 2018 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Human trafficking ( 98 ), social media, University of Toledo   

  Univ. study shows links between social media and human trafficking 

  

  The University of Toledo is an institution known for holding international conferences on human trafficking. So it should come as no surprise that they were asked by the Ohio Attorney General’s Human Trafficking Commission to undertake a study on how social media is used in grooming human trafficking victims. Now you might be the type of person who would ask why a study like that would be needed since there have been plenty of instances where traffickers have found victims on social media. Well, the study goes a little deeper than that.

  The University’s Human Trafficking and Social Justice Institute recently released the findings of their study which delves into the nitty-gritty about how traffickers groom their victims in order for parents to be more aware of the possible dangers. For example, the study lists the kind of language used by children that would attract human traffickers like “Nobody gets me”, “I am so ugly”, and “My life sucks”, to name a few. The study also gives tips to parents on what language the traffickers might use to gain the trust of their children such as “I’ll make your life better”, and “I’ll make you successful.”

  Dr. Celia Williamson, the founder of the Human Trafficking and Social Justice Institute, was quoted as saying…

  “Parents who are educated can wage a worthy defense against potential recruitment and recruitment of their youth online,” Williamson said. “Parents who work to build healthy, open and communicative relationships are more likely to have youth that share information about where they go and who they talk to online.”

  Talk to your kids about adults who try to lure them away from home with promises of money and fame. You may think you’re kids are too young to talk with them about dangers like this but the traffickers don’t think they’re too young at all. So you might want to have that talk with them before the traffickers do. You may also want to keep a close watch on their social media activity. You may trust your child with how they behave online but you can’t trust those looking to exploit them. It’s not a violation of trust if you check up on them but a matter of their protection.

   

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  Geebo 9:10 am on August 15, 2018 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Facebook ( 181 ), politics ( 15 ), social media, study ( 2 )   

  Study identifies who is really harming democracy on Facebook 

  

  By now, we should all be familiar with the stories about how Facebook was allegedly used by foreign influencers and bad actors to try to sway the 2016 Presidential Election. This has been an ongoing issue even up to the recent 2018 Primary Elections. Many in positions of power have called upon Facebook to try to clamp down on this problem, but what if I told you that it wasn’t Russia that was the biggest threat to democracy on Facebook, but rather it was us?

  According to a recent study by the University of Wisconsin–Madison, social media users are less informed about politics than those who refrain from social media. The study contributes this to most social users only skimming their social media feeds rather than taking the time to process or even further pursue the veracity of the information.

  It also doesn’t help that social media is where people go to feel safe in their bubbles of convenience where they would rather regurgitate whatever latest meme fits into their political party loyalty or narrow worldview. If you think I’m singling out one side of the political spectrum over the other, I’m not as both sides of the aisle are guilty of this behavior. So while the typical Facebook user may think he or she is the political scholar in their circle of friends, the odds are they really aren’t and as long as people keep acting and thinking like this democracy will remain threatened from within.

   
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  Geebo 9:11 am on August 13, 2018 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: job search ( 9 ), jobs ( 9 ), social media   

  Your social media could hurt your job search 

  

  I’m pretty sure we all have that friend who is totally unfiltered on social media. They act like social media is some kind of virtual bubble where their posts are self-contained inside of the platform not realizing that their posts could be viewed by almost anyone. Part of that anyone could be a prospective employer and those posts could potentially hurt your chances of finding a new job.

  According to a recent survey conducted by a job listing service, more than 70% of employers will check the social media profiles of potential applicants. So, if you’re posting pictures of drugs and alcohol, committing crimes, or anything that could be deemed offensive, you may not want to start dreaming of that corner office. Conversely, you might think that erasing all of your social media might be the way to go, but according to the survey that may as equally as harmful. A total lack of social presence may appear as if you have something to hide.

  While it may seem like common sense, it’s advised to carefully cultivate your social media presence. Highlight positive activities and don’t complain about your current position. If you succeed in getting your dream job that doesn’t mean you can start posting pictures of your weekend escapades as many employers continue to keep tabs on your social media. The basic philosophy should be that if you can’t say it at work, then you shouldn’t be posting it on Facebook.

   
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  Geebo 10:07 am on April 16, 2018 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Human trafficking ( 98 ), social media   

  Are traffickers targeting your kids through social media? 

  

  When an a news article or blog post asks a question in the headline the answer is usually no. However, with this blog post the answer is actually yes, but with more context then these type of articles would normally give. Recently, the tabloid-ish New York Post recently ran an article entitled “Sex traffickers are using social media to target children.” The Post article seems to imply that with Backpage’s closure, pimps and traffickers are turning to social media to recruit new victims. While I’m sure that there has been an increase in traffickers turning to social media, this is nothing new.

  Pimps and traffickers have been targeting children on social media since at least the days of MySpace. More recently, traffickers troll apps like Instagram and Snapchat in order to approach potential new victims. Usually these culprits promise their victims lives of wealth. Sometimes they’ll tell their victims that they could be models or singers, or they’ll approach their victims romantically then proclaim to be their boyfriend when they’ve told other victims the same thing.

  So what can parents do to prevent their kids from falling under the control of a pimp? One of the best thing to do is monitor your child’s social media accounts. Question any comment or message left by someone that you think is inappropriate. If your child can’t identify someone on their friends list as someone they know in real life then that friend probably doesn’t need to be on their friends list. You may also want to consider holding on to your child’s devices at bedtime, this way no one can be messaging your kids at night away from the eyes of parents.

  The most important thing you can do is talk to your children and let them know that there are people online who are looking to take advantage of them and how they can recognize the signs. In most cases, all it takes is a little parental diligence to keep your kids from ending up in the hands of these modern-day slave traders.

   
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  Geebo 8:59 am on March 16, 2018 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: advertising ( 11 ), domestic violence ( 2 ), Rihanna, Snapchat ( 13 ), social media   

  Snapchat in hot water over insensitive ad 

  

  Since its public debut, photo sharing app Snapchat has been trying to drag teen users away from Facebook. Since many teens like to follow their favorite celebrities on social media, Snapchat’s business has relied heavily on the activity of celebrities whether Snapchat wants to admit it or not. Now, Snapchat is facing a public backlash after one of its celebrities was featured in a very insulting ad on its platform.

  Recently, Snapchat users were served an ad for a mobile game that asked if you would rather slap R&B singer Rihanna or punch her former boyfriend Chris Brown. If you’ll recall, Rihanna was a victim of domestic violence at the hands of Brown. The Grammy award-winning songstress took to Instagram to voice her displeasure over the ad.

  “Now SNAPCHAT I know you already know you ain’t my fav app out there!” Rihanna wrote. “But I’m just trying to figure out what the point was with this mess! I’d love to call it ignorance, but I know you ain’t that dumb! You spent money to animate something that would intentionally bring shame to DV victims and made a joke out of it!!! This isn’t about my personal feelings, cause I don’t have much of them … but all the women, children and men that have been victims of DV in the past and especially the ones who haven’t made it out yet … you let us down! Shame on you. Throw the whole app-oligy away.”

  Snapchat apologized for the ad, but it was too little too late as their stock took a tumble after the debacle. According to tech blog Recode, this just one in a long line of questionable ads on Snapchat as they are said to run ads for cryptocurrency miners and the infamous Ashley Madison website which supposedly helps people carry on affairs. While those ads may be tasteless, domestic violence is no laughing matter and should not be joked about in such a flippant manner. If this is the attitude Snapchat takes in supposedly curating their ads then it’s no wonder Instagram is beating them at every turn.

   
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  Geebo 9:56 am on December 13, 2017 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Chamath Palihapitiya, Facebook ( 181 ), social media   

  Facebook denies it’s ‘ripping society apart’ 

  

  Former Facebook executive Chamath Palihapitiya recently addressed a Stanford Graduate School of Business last month that social media is destroying how society works. This got reported by many media outlets as Mr. Palihapitiya said ‘Facebook is ripping society apart’ due to his former connection with Facebook. However, his point was more nuanced than that.

  But that’s not the story here. The story is that Facebook actually took time to descend from their ivory tower to address the masses about this latest round of negative press.

  Chamath has not been at Facebook for over [six] years. When Chamath was at Facebook we were focused on building new social media experiences and growing Facebook around the world. Facebook was a very different company back then, and as we have grown, we have realized how our responsibilities have grown too. We take our role very seriously and we are working hard to improve. We’ve done a lot of work and research with outside experts and academics to understand the effects of our service on well-being, and we’re using it to inform our product development. We are also making significant investments more in people, technology and processes, and — as Mark Zuckerberg said on the last earnings call — we are willing to reduce our profitability to make sure the right investments are made.
  (Source)

  Facebook has definitely grown exponentially since Mr. Palihapitiya was at Facebook, but it’s highly debatable that they’ve realized their responsibilities have grown too. If anything, Facebook has grown out of its own control. From the dissemination of flagrant falsehoods to accusations that their ads can be tailored to focus on or void certain ethnic groups, Facebook appears to have become the faceless corporation of dystopian fiction that only cares about the bottom line. Instead of growing uncontrollably like an amorphous blob that increases in size as it consumes, maybe they should dial things back until the company is in control again instead of being at the whim of bad actors.

   
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  Geebo 10:58 am on December 28, 2016 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Christmas ( 15 ), hatchimals ( 2 ), social media   

  The Christmas of broken Hatchimals 

  

  Prior to the holidays, we talked about the must have toys of the season. One of those toys was called ‘Hatchimals’. They’re these odd-looking creatures that hatch from their own plastic egg to the joy of children everywhere, except for a number of people whose plastic eggs didn’t hatch on Christmas.

  Back in the day, circa pre-internet days, it was almost customary for a child’s toy to break on Christmas day. Sometimes the toy was already broken but in most cases the toy was usually broken by the kids themselves. Back then if a toy was broken the only recourse you had was to try to take it back to the store and either get an exchange, if they even had any in stock, or get a full refund and try to get another one once the stores have been restocked.

  Now in modern times, parents have a new option to deal with broken toys on Christmas, and that’s to take to social media to complain. In this era of instant gratification, parents took to Twitter hammering the toy manufacturer with complaints and tech support requests, on Christmas Day, the day when they’re not working but expecting the toy company to be fully staffed.

  While no one wants to see their kid disappointed on Christmas morning, making these demands on Christmas morning sets a bad example on how to handle a bad situation calmly and instills a sense of entitlement into some children. Just let them know that it’s not their fault but it may take some time to get their toy fixed. That’s not to say that they won’t be bored with the toy within days after they get it.

  Here’s hoping you had fully functional toys on Christmas.

   
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  Geebo 10:57 am on December 14, 2016 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Facebook ( 181 ), parenting ( 5 ), Parents Portal, social media   

  Is Facebook’s Parents Portal any good? 

  

  Having children in today’s digital age of social media can be trying. It’s always great to have access to resources to help you navigate the social media minefield for your children. That’s why I’m sure some parents were relieved to hear that it’s been announced that Facebook now has what they call a Parents Portal. The question remains, is it actually helpful? Well, that depends on who you ask.

  The Getting to Know Facebook section basically tells you how to use Facebook, which kind of everybody already knows. One would imagine that the most important section one would be the Parenting Tips section, however it reads like someone from a previous generation trying to explain to their parents how not to make the VCR continually flash 12:00. The tips they provide are very basic common sense tips to the point where they almost seem condescending. The problem is that some people need these common sense tips though as they’re either too trusting of the internet or their own children.

  The highlight of the Parents Portal is that on its Expert Advice page, it provides links to legitimate resources for parents that require more information on how to work with their kids when it comes to their social media behavior.

   
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  Geebo 10:58 am on November 7, 2016 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: detectives, Fraud ( 4 ), social media   

  The social network detectives 

  

  With the advent and ubiquity of social media most people have to worry about embarrassing photos of themselves from being disseminated into the social stream. It’s not unheard of that a drunken picture posted by a friend on MySpace back in the day to cost someone a job or other opportunities.

  Now imagine that you’re trying to commit workman’s comp or disability fraud. You would think that these fraudsters would keep their activities off of social media. Then again, no one ever said that criminals were smart. CBS/CNET has a great article about how a group of claims investigators use social networking tools to investigate these types of fraud.

  The amazing thing from that article is the lengths people will go to try to disguise their identity so they can commit fraud and continue to post their daily lives on social media. For example, one man claimed he had an injury where he was unable to walk, yet he was posting on social media about how he was running marathons. Gotta get that 26.2 sticker I guess.

  What is it about social media that makes people not only over-share details of their lives that could put them in potential danger, but in some cases they risk jail time? The 1970s were called the ‘me decade’ since so many people were looking to improve their own lives through what was then new and unconventional means. Maybe the 2010s should be called the Me Decade II since so many of our lives are driven by likes and subscribers.

   
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  Geebo 10:56 am on November 4, 2016 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: healthcare ( 42 ), social media   

  Don’t believe all the health stories on social media 

  

  In the years prior to the internet, there was a lot of ignorance when it came to knowledge of medical issues. During the 1980s, there was a lot of misinformation and fear when it came to AIDS. There was so much bad information out there about how AIDS and HIV can be contracted, that many people treated it like leprosy. It was only through years of education and public information have we greatly reduced that stigma.

  Now in the days of the internet with access to the all of world’s knowledge we should be more enlightened when it comes to outbreaks of certain diseases. The problem is that with social media, the fear and misinformation have an audience equal to the truth.

  According to the Huffington Post, at the height of the Zika virus onset, the most stories read and shared on social media about the subject were either conspiracy related or just flat-out wrong. The same thing happened with the Ebola scare a few years back, and the argument over vaccinating your children seems to be eternal.

  When the fear and misinformation become more dominant than facts we could find ourselves returning to the days of leeches, blood-letting and releasing our humors. That may be a hyperbolic example but it can happen slowly over time if we’re not careful enough.