Sherly Montes – Arts and Entertainment Editor
Being on social media these days is a risk in itself and maintaining privacy on one social media platform—let alone various social social media platforms—is not an easy task, said Helen Homa, a senior recreational therapy major.
“Just with all the advancements of technology,” said Homa, “it’s scary in a sense, that everyone, no matter who you are or what job you have, can know so much about a person without actually knowing them at all.”
Freshman geography major Kaylee Fuentes said she is only on two social media platforms, Facebook and SnapChat.
“Privacy is important because I don’t want people to look at my pictures and information,” said Fuentes. “I’m just concerned with strangers looking at my stuff and possibly even future employers.”
According to a Pew Research study conducted in 2016, called “The state of privacy in post-Snowden America,” 86 percent of Americans have taken steps to remove or mask their digital footprints such as clearing cookies, encrypting emails and avoiding using their names.
Fuentes said she does not think privacy on the internet actually exists, but that it’s best to try and keep yourself as private as possible.
Homa shared the same thoughts and said, “I feel like there are lot of loopholes–like, I could have my profile blocked from this one person, but if this one person knows my friend then my friend could let them see it or they could find some other way around it.”
The same Pew Research study also found that 61 percent of Americans said they feel they “would like to do more,” to protect themselves online, while 37 percent said they “already do enough.”
Facebook is the only social media platform that Homa said she is on and that she uses it only to stay in touch with family and a few friends from high school.
“I got rid of my Instagram account because I found a website that showed my Instagram profile and it showed my photos by time and date—even though it was supposedly on private,” said Homa. “The privacy settings didn’t even matter.”
Photo Credit: Sherly Montes
