We are a generation of peeking Toms. Do you remember the Hitchcock’s classic Rear Window? The main character broke his leg and he spent his days observing his neighbours. He is accompanied by the beautiful Grace Kelly. He had nothing else to do except observe and how to we spent the most of our free days? We are scrolling through our Facebook or Instagram feed. The Rear Window was released in 60s, but not much has changed till this day. We are addicted to social media.

Social media is a phenomenon that has overtaken our everyday lives. It influences our every step. Sometimes we do not even realize that. We are at the constant competition with ourselves and our “friends” on Facebook. We post everything we can, just to show others how much are we enjoying our lives. We post about our vacation, about our academic success and even about our relationship. People look at our posts and buy our stories. We may had an argument with our partner before posting a picture of us on the Facebook, but then we get likes from other people that convince us that our relationship is not as bad as it seems. We get jealous when we see that someone has lose weight or that someone looks great on his profile picture. We do not dare to click someone, because we will that he is out of our league.

Social media gave us a window into other people’s lives. We are not different that the main character form the movie Rear Window. He saw that his neighbour murdered his wife and do you remember what happened few months ago on Facebook? There was a live stream on Facebook that streamed beating a helpless man to death. The people who were posting this, did not even realize tht consequences are awaiting for them. They were posting it, because they found it funny or something. I will not dive in the psychological aspect of the story. I want to emphasize that they did not even realize how strong tool Facebook is. They did not realize that they are being watched by masses of people – leading to their arrest. Facebook has security options, but we may never know who is hiding behind a friendly face on Facebook. This may be extremely dangerous for young teenagers who are not warned about dangers of social media.

Social media has two sides of a coin. It can be a way of communication, a way of keeping in touch with your friends and distant relatives. It can be even a marketing strategy, we discussed this several times in my previous posts. On the other side, it can be very dangerous if in the wrong hands. It can be a platform of bullying and abuse. No matter which social platform, every one of them holds specific dangers. I want to remember you that social media can be a useful platform for marketing and promotion. Yet, you have to be careful. Social media is a nest of cheats and liars. It is a nest of fake profiles and of people who are looking only for advantages. We have to be careful with social media, because it is a powerful, yet dangerous tool.

You probably clicked on this post awaiting for a good characterization of social media and a post full of advice, which social media is the best platform for advertising. I do not want that you will look at world with rose-tinted glasses. But I want to remind you that social media can be very dangerous. As users of social media, we can make a change in this online world. We can report users, whose profiles come across as fake. We have to be careful of every cheat and con we come across. It is important that we step together and that we realize what is social media. This is a field full of opportunities, but it has a dark side too.

I just wanted to remind you that social media is not a tool for business purposes only. There are people hiding behind those accounts. That why I constantly warn you that you have to get to know your audience. You do not want that somebody will sabotage your campaign. All those internet tools have two sides, They have its advantages and disadvantages. You have to be careful when handling with them. Keep your eye on your children, because younger users are prone to all the abuse that is out there.

Use social media with them and warn then about negative sides of the internet. This is not emphasized enough, so it comes to the abuse of the social platforms. As adults and frequents users of social media, we should already know about the dangers out there. You can always report back if something looks iffy to you. Do not hold back, just report it. Do not get carried away with the pleasant sides of social media. I think that this kind of post is welcome once in a while. It shows us that social media has a huge influence on our lives and that it is very powerful tool. It is in your hands to decide whether you will use it into your advantage or disadvantage. Always try your hardest to not be fooled by the tricks of other fake profiles or people that want to use you.