Victoria Ray

Draft 3

Being Electronically and Digitally Watched

             As Americans we may think that we are getting our privacy when it comes to small things. These things can be as small as placing phone calls to our loved ones, emailing friends, or even getting on Facebook to update our page. Lately we have found that the government is spying on certain phone companies, more specifically, the calls that the customers make and receive. As an American I think the government should not listening to the citizen's phone calls because we are losing our privacy, I feel as I am not trusted, and I strongly feel that I am being treated like a low profile criminal.

PresidentObama defends the government’s secret monitoring of Americans’ phone records. Obama is calling it a necessary tool to fight terrorism but says citizens’ privacy remains. “Nobody is listening to your telephone calls, that’s not what this program’s about.” President Obama said. Reporters have found out that the government has ordered the Verizon phone company to share daily records of their daily phone calls with them. Even though reporters and citizens just found out recently that the government was betraying their privacy, one source has told The Washington Post that this nonsense has been going on since 2006, and that there might be more phone company’s involved than just Verizon. Obama also said “They are not looking at people’s names and they are not looking at content,” “By sifting through this so-called metadata, they may identify potential leads with respect to folks who might be engaged in terrorism.” Even if this is true I truly think there are other ways around this action. Even if someone seems suspicious the government could judge that citizen poorly and potentially destroy his/her life dramatically.

It has been said before that if you are a user of Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Craigslist, or any other crowd- pleasing sites/site that you are possibly being watched by the U.S. Government. Just think about looking at your computer while you’re on one of your favorite sites and not knowing that someone is looking at you dead in your face. Bob Sullivan a Technology correspondent came up with a site called “Are you being watched on line?” It is posted on Security by NBCNews.com. If anyone can watch you in the comfort you’re home just typing away to your friends than it is just easily for the government to do the same thing as these criminals. Yes, we as Americans understand the concerns of the government with 911. So after that day the Patriot act allowed the National Security Administration (NSA) to eavesdrop on essentially all forms of communication and more. Witch entitles our phone calls, our emails, and also to watch the websites we also visit from time to time.

If you take a citizen advice and upgrade your server and everything there is to do with your internet and phones you will only keep the criminals out. The government will still have full accesses to your life and personal information. But not only are we being watched when it comes to calls and the internet also what we do with our money. The government can see where we have eaten during the day, how we party at night and how much money we are just tossing around. U.S. officials keep promising that they are only tapping into information that points at suspected terrorists and that there are plenty of safeguards to make sure the wrong people do not snoop around on the good people. “I want the American people to know that we’re trying to be transparent here, protect civil liberties and privacy but also the security of this country,” Gen. Alexander (head of the National Security Agency)., said. Jay Stanley, a senior policy analyst for the American Civil Liberties Union said “We don’t want to live in a world where anytime you do anything you have to stop and ask yourself, Could this come back to hurt me if somebody found out about it?’ And I as an American agree but the government has put us in a pickle so we do have to ask ourselves this question every once in a while. By the Civil Liberties Union saying what they said we are driving ourselves in a completely different direction.

Ask yourself a few questions.  Are we ever truly alone when we are in the darkness? Will we be blamed as a criminal even though we are not? Will we become a dictator country that we so dread to be in the end? Our government is shutting down slowly by the rates and by the surveillance we are under, we will indeed turn out to be like those other countries we dread of becoming, maybe not in the life time of us young adults but most likely in our children’s life time.

Facebook the Incurable Disease

     

       Technology just keep changing.  It is easier to deal with people through social media rather than hear their voice.  You have texting, and it makes it so easy to communicate. Without guidelines to social media, people can say almost anything and get away with it. 

The three things that are problematic with Facebook are: they are giving out too much personal information, engaging in drama, and spending too much time there can harm relationships and reputations.

People are often posting their personal information on social media websites such as Facebook. They endlessly post various information about their family life, kids, and things they do behind closed doors.  Once these issues are posted, they become public information, which allows other people to view the information and talk about it. The person who posted the information then becomes angry because their information is being discussed, and they begin a feud with someone else because of information that was exchanged.  People find out information about other people, and begin to make comments.  For example, Jim and Taylor were once friends.  Taylor took Jim’s girlfriend away from him. Jim posts his grievances towards the situation. Taylor sees this post, and responds. This creates a negative atmosphere, in which everyone connected to them by this website will be able to view and make responses

  Also, when it comes to drama, Facebook should be considered “the ring”.  There’s, individuals duke it out with one another.  Friends become enemies, and families fall apart.  Someone posts information about another person because of a disagreement they had.  The other person responds, and they literally go back and forth with insults.  In this case, Facbook becomes “the ring” because it serves as the battle ground for confrontation.  People do not confront each other face to face anymore.  They don’t settle disagreements personally either.  Instead, they share their grievances with any and everyone who will read their posts.  This also causes a problem because now anyone can get involved.  Facebook seems to have no limits on what can be posted.  Facebook is generally in the hands of the people. They have the authority to do what feels comfortable to them without thought of who may or may not be viewing the information. There is no separation of the ages. When a person has an issue with another person they usually put all kinds of vulgarity on their page to express their feelings.   For example, Christian and Jazemin get into a fight in McDonald’s Parking lot.  Someone records the fight and post it on Facebook.  Everyone sees it and begin to pick sides between the two.  More people get involved in the fight and cause more drama on Facebook. This is a sinister and strategic deed in which the person’s ego became his/her soul. It is also an attempt to gain popularity and notoriety through the downfalls of someone else’s trouble. 

In addition, Facebook harms relationships and reputations in various ways. People rarely call people any more because calling someone is less convenient.  Facebook brings about a technological change to modern day communication. Communication that they use now cause people not to interact face to face anymore, and they hide behind the computer screen and mobile devices. For example, if Kate is sleeping with John while she is going with Paul, John may post this information. John may not realize the harm this could do to the relationship that Kate has with Paul. John may even post some of the things they did online, which could ruin Kate’s reputation with family, friends, and future employers.  Employers are often checking on their employees through social media such as Facebook.  The employers want their employees to maintain a certain image for the company.  For instance, my friend Susan, who had a job working with the city, went though tribulation.  Susan’s ex boyfriend Travis posted naked photos of her on Facebook.  The photos circulated all over with friends and non friends on Facebook.  In the city that Susan was living in. The employer soon found out  and Susan got fired from her job.  On the other hand, children are pulled into the dynamics between adults.  For example,  Ann and Bill post their current divorce situation and the problems in their marriage.  The children are dragged into the conversation. Minors also have access to what is going on, and they too are able to get involved.

So many people are hurt as a result of incidents on Facebook.  Lives are ruined and reputation are spoiled.  There is so much negativity going on.  People are discussing things that should never be revealed publicly.  Such information really makes one look bad.  The information also reflects back on one’s family and friends.  There is no doubt that someone is checking status to see what or who they can talk about.  So be careful what you put on Facebook website because it could come back to haunt you.

Facebook the Incurable Disease

       

     

       Technology just keep changing.  It is easier to deal with people through social media rather than hear their voice.  You have texting, and it makes it so easy to communicate. Without guidelines to social media, people can say almost anything and get away with it. 

The three things that are problematic with Facebook are: they are giving out too much personal information, engaging in drama, and spending too much time there can harm relationships and reputations.

People are often posting their personal information on social media websites such as Facebook. They endlessly post various information about their family life, kids, and things they do behind closed doors.  Once these issues are posted, they become public information, which allows other people to view the information and talk about it. The person who posted the information then becomes angry because their information is being discussed, and they begin a feud with someone else because of information that was exchanged.  People find out information about other people, and begin to make comments.  For example, Jim and Taylor were once friends.  Taylor took Jim’s girlfriend away from him. Jim posts his grievances towards the situation. Taylor sees this post, and responds. This creates a negative atmosphere, in which everyone connected to them by this website will be able to view and make responses

Also, when it comes to drama, Facebook should be considered “the ring”.  There’s, individuals duke it out with one another.  Friends become enemies, and families fall apart.  Someone posts information about another person because of a disagreement they had.  The other person responds, and they literally go back and forth with insults.  In this case, Facbook becomes “the ring” because it serves as the battle ground for confrontation.  People do not confront each other face to face anymore.  They don’t settle disagreements personally either.  Instead, they share their grievances with any and everyone who will read their posts.  This also causes a problem because now anyone can get involved.  Facebook seems to have no limits on what can be posted.  Facebook is generally in the hands of the people. They have the authority to do what feels comfortable to them without thought of who may or may not be viewing the information. There is no separation of the ages. When a person has an issue with another person they usually put all kinds of vulgarity on their page to express their feelings.   For example, Christian and Jazemin get into a fight in McDonald’s Parking lot.  Someone records the fight and post it on Facebook.  Everyone sees it and begin to pick sides between the two.  More people get involved in the fight and cause more drama on Facebook. This is a sinister and strategic deed in which the person’s ego became his/her soul. It is also an attempt to gain popularity and notoriety through the downfalls of someone else’s trouble. 

In addition, Facebook harms relationships and reputations in various ways. People rarely call people any more because calling someone is less convenient.  Facebook brings about a technological change to modern day communication. Communication that they use now cause people not to interact face to face anymore, and they hide behind the computer screen and mobile devices. For example, if Kate is sleeping with John while she is going with Paul, John may post this information. John may not realize the harm this could do to the relationship that Kate has with Paul. John may even post some of the things they did online, which could ruin Kate’s reputation with family, friends, and future employers.  Employers are often checking on their employees through social media such as Facebook.  The employers want their employees to maintain a certain image for the company.  For instance, my friend Susan, who had a job working with the city, went though tribulation.  Susan’s ex boyfriend Travis posted naked photos of her on Facebook.  The photos circulated all over with friends and non friends on Facebook.  In the city that Susan was living in. The employer soon found out  and Susan got fired from her job.  On the other hand, children are pulled into the dynamics between adults.  For example,  Ann and Bill post their current divorce situation and the problems in their marriage.  The children are dragged into the conversation. Minors also have access to what is going on, and they too are able to get involved.

So many people are hurt as a result of incidents on Facebook.  Lives are ruined and reputation are spoiled.  There is so much negativity going on.  People are discussing things that should never be revealed publicly.  Such information really makes one look bad.  The information also reflects back on one’s family and friends.  There is no doubt that someone is checking status to see what or who they can talk about.  So be careful what you put on Facebook website because it could come back to haunt you.