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The Dangers of Social Media

Everyone is intrigued to download the latest apps, but not many people realize what could happen when they upload personal pictures or information into them.

Social media is slowly taking over people’s lives. And all these accounts are only making it easier to create fake identities. All it takes is a fake profile for someone to think they are talking to one person when they are actually talking to someone completely different. The internet makes it easy for someone to think that they are talking to a 17 year-old boy from Florida, when in fact they might actually be speaking to a 26 year-old woman in Maine. This type of scam is known as “catfish” and helps people realize how silly it is to think it is possible to “know” someone over the internet.

People have heard time and time again to be careful with these social applications and websites. But people hear this so often that in most cases it has become numb to the ear. Ignoring warnings makes this form of communication even more dangerous. Someone you think you “trust” can end up being a complete stranger.

A good thing to keep in mind is the phrase when using these websites is, “I’ll believe it when I see it.” This means don’t believe everything seen on a screen, wait until someone is in actual touching distance to call that person a friend.
Paula Bonhomme, a victim of “catfish”, was devastated when her online love died unexpectedly in 2006. They’d been talking for a year, and “James” sent her many gifts, even a lock of his hair.

When she heard about his death, Bonhomme took a trip to visit James’ favorite places. However, she discovered there was no James. “James” was created by Janna St. James, a friend of Bohomme, who had gone as far as using a voice-altering device to pretend she was “James” on the phone.

According to msn.com, Banhomme said, “When you take it all apart and look at it, oh, you feel like such an idiot. … But when it’s unspooled on you tiny bit by tiny bit and mixed in with reality, how do you even know where the lie begins?”

Sometimes the people one thinks they know the most are no more than strangers. When talking to people online it is extremely important to take caution,  and not become another victim of “imaginary friends”.