Socia Media and its downside.

As we all know Social media is media designed to be disseminated through social interaction, created using highly accessible and scalable publishing techniques. People use these publishing techniques to share opinions, insights, experiences and perspective with on another. Publishing techniques such as social networking websites like Facebook or Twitter, video sharing websites like Youtube or photo sharing through sites like photobucket or Flickr are used.

Social media uses Internet and web-based technologies to transform broadcast media monologues (one to many) into social media dialogues (many to many). It supports the democratization of knowledge and information, transforming people from content consumers into content producers. It is also define as "a group of Internet-based applications that build on the ideological and technological foundations of Web2.0, and that allowed the creation and exchange of user-generated content.

Social media can be said to have three components;

1. Concept (art, information, or meme).
2. Media (physical, electronic, or verbal).
3. Social interface (intimate direct, community engagement, social viral, electronic broadcast or syndication, or other physical media such as print).

Common forms of social media;

• Concepts, slogans, and statements with a high memory retention quotient, that excite others to repeat.
• Grass-Roots direct action information dissemination such as public speaking, installations, performance, and demonstrations.
• Electronic media with 'sharing', syndication, or search algorithm technologies (includes internet and mobile devices).
• Print media, designed to be re-distributed.

Social media comes with great advantages like for example MSN messenger, blogs, Twitter and Facebook, where it aids you in connecting with people; friends whom you haven't seen high school and constant updates from your close friends. However, everything has its pros and cons.

One of the downside of Social Media is Internet Fraud

The term "Internet fraud" generally refers to any type of fraud scheme that uses one or more online services to present fraudulent solicitations to prospective victims, to conduct fraudulent transactions, or to transmit the proceeds of fraud to financial institutions or to others connected with the scheme. Internet fraud can take place on computer programs such as chat rooms, e-mail, message boards, or Web sites. Take a look at the pictures that has been sent to me.

Do you think they would really give me a free ipod after i follow their instructions? Or do they just want my particulars? I really do not know, but i would rather not take the chance because it really looks too good to be true. Now, with these social networks rising, it makes it more accessible for frauds to gain access to your private information therefore us as users, we have to set a limit to how much we want to let out to the public and be very cautious and alert to information and requests presented to us.