The modern day communication (Gidex Miller)

(De Looper, 2017)

“Knowledge is power, the power to make other people feel stupid” (Kuttainen, 2017). We now have whole new generations of children who have been brought up and are going to be surrounded by technology for the rest of their lives, whether they like it or not. Social media carries out so much power and manipulation that its main purpose is to keep us all connected through various forms of networks. The amount of technology that humans consume each day, through transportation, medicine, and communication etc. Has influenced people’s lives to a point where most people cannot even comprehend. Though those who come close to gaining power in the virtual world of WhatsApp and other major social media corporations, would have to publicly display themselves online in a sexual or false manner for the world to see, and for those who already have a high status within the social network and have had plenty of ‘experience’ of what needs to shared online so they can continue to feel power social media can obtain.

“Our little devices in our pocket, are so psychologically powerful that they don’t only change what we do, they change who we are” (Turkle, 2012). Users of WhatsApp falsely trust the company and its privacy of their terms and condition to believe that they are safe. Most people know that nothing and no one is ever safe on any social media regardless of what is written in the terms and condition section. All the deleted conversations or messages from WhatsApp is never actually deleted as the Police or WhatsApp itself can still recover ‘deleted’ conversations or messages. “Texting, emailing and posting, all these things let us present the self as we want to be” (Turkle, 2012). The only problem with this, is that, all the messages, videos or pictures that you share can easily be screenshotted or recorded by the receiver and used against you, and in most cases, there isn’t much that you can do but to trust the receiver that he or she will keep the videos, pictures or messages between you two and not be shared online or publicly unless approved otherwise. The power of the elites behind WhatsApp and other miscellaneous social sites have a way to keep us all connected so that we can maximize our time on screens. “You can’t be on social media without being your authentic self” (McNeill, 2012). Most people are vulnerable on the internet especially young children who still haven’t witnessed any ‘trolls’ that can take advantage of them through money scams or sexual encounters. They do not have the online wisdom that an adult has gained in the world in real life and online. The beauty behind WhatsApp is the fact that you are able to voice or video call someone from your phone to basically anywhere in the world without using your phone data. If that’s not empowering then I don’t know what is.

References

De Looper, C. (2017, January 3). HACKERS ARE NOW USING WHATSAPP TO TARGET UNSUSPECTING USERS. Retrieved from Digital Trends: https://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/whatsapp-hackers-word-docs/

Kuttainen, V. (2017, August ). Network, Narratives, and the Making of Place. week 5 Lecture [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from
https://learnjcu.jcu.edu.au

McNeill, L. (2012). There Is No "I" in Network: social Networking Sites and Posthuman Auto/Biography. PROJECT MUSE, 65-82.

Turkle, S. (2012, February). TED Talks. Retrieved from https://www.ted.com/talks/sherry_turkle_alone_together/up-next