More Social Media

The online world can be a creepy and dangerous place. Comedian Jack Vale proved this with his social media prank/experiment where he searched on different social media sites like Twitter and Instagram for geo-tagged posts (showing the location) near him, got some information on the poster, went up to them out on the street and told them the information he had just learned about them. The result, as seen in the video, was a lot of freaked out people. It was funny because people were putting their information on the internet which is public- there is an option to not include your location- and they still thought that he was invading their privacy.

Even though the reactions of the people in the video can be funny, if you really think about it, It's actually pretty scary to know how easily a random stranger can find out so much about you using only the internet. Social media sites like Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter and Instagram are great tools that allow us to search for and connect with people we know, but the thing that makes it so great unfortunately also make it pretty bad; people who we don't know can access our personal information too. Many people are putting too much in their online profiles unaware of the risks, and even with privacy settings, nothing is truly private on the internet. Social media is especially dangerous for teens; often times they tweet stuff or post photos that are sometimes inappropriate, just to catch people's attention. Putting these things out publicly allow easy access for dangerous people like stalkers and predators. This is why people should learn about the risks that come with social media and think twice when choosing what kind of information they want to share.

Stop and Frisk

This short documentary tells the story of an ordinary teen from Brooklyn named Kasiem. In the video, he shares his encounters with the New York Police Department and how he, his friends, family and neighbors have all been affected by the NYPD's stop and frisk policy. He describes the difficulty people have doing normal things like going out to the supermarket or  even going to a friend's house because of the fear of being harassed by the police.

The colour of a person's skin should not matter, but unfortunately, it still does. Statistics showed that in 2013,  approximately 8/10 New Yorkers stopped by the police were either black or Latino, and 9/10 were completely innocent (NYCLU). These statistics prove that the stop-and-frisk policy  does more bad than good and should therefore be stopped; This practice only leads to fear and lack of trust especially between communities of colour and the authority.

Kasiem's story and these statistics should serve as a wake up call to everyone; racism exists today and will exist for a very long time. It is present in our communities, our schools and even our homes.
But, in relation to the video, the racism and the discrimination that exists on a higher scale within the enforcement of policies and laws is the real problem as it is being disregarded and ignored.

There is no simple solution; but what people are able to do now is educate themselves, raise awareness, and then teach others. "No one is born hating another person because of the colour of his skin...people must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love"- Nelson Mandela

Twerking Youtube Video Hoax

On September 3rd 2013, a video titled "Worst Twerk Fail Ever- Girl Catches Fire!" was uploaded onto YouTube. The video shows a woman twerking and accidentally setting herself on fire. The video quickly gained millions of views on YouTube as well as attention from different media outlets everywhere. Many people found the video funny and some were even concerned, but as many also expected, it was revealed a week later that the video was hoax; it was announced by Jimmy Kimmel that he himself was behind the prank, and that the woman in the video was actually a stuntwoman.

Was the only purpose of Jimmy Kimmel's video to make people laugh? Or did Kimmel have another motive/ reason behind the video? Well, during his show when he revealed that it was indeed a hoax, he said that he didn't send the video to any news stations or websites, and that he only put it on YouTube and "let the magic happen". Aside from the obvious truth that the video showed about many people today (they will believe anything),  the video revealed the large impact and influence that the Internet- YouTube in particular- has on us, and it also revealed how powerful the internet can be, as the video started on YouTube yet made its way onto the news in only a few days. 

The most important thing however that I think should be concerning/ taken seriously -even though it was supposed to be funny- is the fact that this fake story was actually featured on major news stations (Fox, CNN, etc), and they treated it as real news; they didn't know that Kimmel's video was a hoax. It really makes you wonder how credible and reliable the information the news gives us; if they presented this fake story to us, what other fake stories are we getting from the news? And why is a twerking video even on the news in the first place, shouldn't we be learning about more important stuff?