Tierney Rocky's Blog

This video is similar to the Did You Know video released in 2009. However it has facts for 2012, some of which made me laugh or think.

All of these facts express just how deep-rooted social media is reaching into our lives. It can start our next relationship, teach our kids what we learned on paper, or disrupt our lives by being too transparent.

I recognize that with such a young global population (50% of the world’s population is under the age of 30), social media has extremely strong staying power as newer generations will embrace and not fear it. But a part of me also worries that many of us will not fully comprehend just how dangerous it can be if we are too easy to trust the online world. If put in the wrong hands, our lives can be flipped over and highly disrupted. Now this is not to say that the events from Die Hard 4 are going to occur; Bruce Willis will (hopefully!) not have to save us from cyber-terrorists that can hack into any government database or citizen’s computer, and threaten to take control of everything in the country. However (and even that doesn’t seem too unlikely, unfortunately) the threat of cyber stalking, identity stealing, and blackmail is out there; as the late Amanda Todd, from Port Coquitlam, represents (she committed suicide last month due to extreme long term bullying and physical assaults from classmates, all which spurred from someone who was blackmailing her over the internet and turning her friends against her).

I think the point of this post is just to remind marketers just how integral privacy issues are to this wonderful tool of online media. I love the free reigns we are given in terms of creativity through this medium, and I am excited for it will take us in the future, but it is stories like this that also remind us of the customers and what they need, ensuring that privacy laws are maintained and strengthened in this technological world.

 

Nov. 27, 1996 – Oct. 10, 2012