CNN iReport

For a class that I am in we had to do a project where we had to look at circulation and how quickly things circulate via the web and how through these videos they can become instant celebrities. Examples are the little boy crying "Charlie bit me" as well as the couple who danced down the aisle at their wedding. These are just a few of the many examples.

While doing this project we got into a deeper topic of social networking and security. Many people have a myspace or a facebook and more and more are beginning to add Twitter to their list of social networking sites. While they may know most of their friends, most likely they don't know all of them. And if they do, they aren't best friends with each and every one of them. This got us to thinking how much at risk people put themselves. They include their phone numbers, email addresses, home addresses, etc. But even if they don't include all of this information it's still easy to find out more. Take for example someone only has their email address on their page, but I also see that they go to the University of Texas. I could then get on the UT website, click directory, type in their address and have access to (depending on whether or not they restricted their info) any number of things including their year, major, as well as their phone number, home address, and where they work if they work on campus.

Twitter, or I suppose Uber Twitter the application, has a device where you can show your exact location at any given time to the exact street or intersection. Do we really need people to know where we are so badly that we would broadcast it on the web so that anyone could see?

That was the point of our video (link above). To remind people that you can be just as unsafe on the web as you are in the real world.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=reOHMWQXquE