Teenagers (teens) are on the internet for almost seven hours a day, searching up things, watching TV, texting, calling, etc. Teens are the worst when it comes to being on the internet; they post themselves on apps such as TikTok, Snapchat, and more. This means they are putting their face on the internet for the whole world to see. Some teens don’t think too much about it, because they assume that once a certain time has passed, no one will see the photos or videos ever again. Even when teens take down their photos, they assume that the public won’t see them ever again, but that’s not the case. Once the photo or video hits the internet,it never gets destroyed permanently; you might think that it is.t What actually happens is that others might download the video, or the app itself will take the videos and put them into a place that only they can access. Some companies even take your information and sell it to other companies that use it to their advantage.
Doesn’t this make you uncomfortable when you think about it? A lot of people like to post their children on social media, even if the kid doesn’t use social media; they are already on the internet and in thousands of people’s hands. Doesn’t that make you feel uneasy? People tend to post their whole life online, which means people you won’t ever meet will know who you are, what you look like, what your kids (if you have kids) look like, what you do on a day-to-day basis, and more. Whenever someone posts me online, I think, “What if someone is taking my photo and doing bad things while having my face cover their intentions?” Someone could take a photo of you and make it their profile picture have my age, my name, and whatever else they need to know so they can convince people it’s me. They can harass people online or do other things that make it look like I’m doing these things. That is only the tip of the iceberg of what people can do.
The things you put on the internet don’t just go away; they are there forever. People have lost jobs, lives, and more just for something they said on Twitter 15 years ago. Isn’t that insane?! You could have said something very stupid when you were a kid, and it affects you when you are an adult. Your footprint never goes away, which is very intimidating; something just needs to be gone forever, but because of the internet, it won’t.
The internet is a gift and a curse; people can use the internet for good and can use it for evil, and unfortunately, almost everybody can access it.
