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Cyber-stalking is an illegal and very serious matter. Many people think it is nothing to worry about until it happens to them or someone they are close to. In my opinion this type of stalking is more common than most because it is much easier to get information about a person online. Like we talked about in class many people post their whereabouts through out the day. If they are at the gym, going food shopping, at the mall, or even just hanging out at the house people will post it. This allows for anyone online to know where someone is at all times, making me realize how dangerous cyber-stalking is.

There are many ways someone can go about stalking someone on the internet but it usually starts between people that were in a relationship or have had some sort of contact on the internet. Many of the cyber-stalking stories I have heard start with a relationship ending badly, whether it was an intimate relationship or a friendship. The stalking usually just starts with consent contact to the victim until they are basically harassing them. This includes constant text messages, phone calls, social media messages, etc. Once this starts the victim usually understands that something is not right and all this contact is strange. The victim may and try to change their phone number and make new social media accounts. Most of the time this can make the stalker very mad because now they have to take every measure to track down the victim. At this point the stalker may start taking more serious actions and try to ruin the victims life.

In the story posted below, the stalker was an ex-boyfriend and wanted to ruin the author’s life. Since the author, Alexis, was in an intimate relationship with her stalker he knew a lot about her. One day while she was getting gas she realized that none of her credit card worked. She called the company and they said she had canceled them but she knew she didn’t. She then realized what had happen, her ex canceled them to ruin her life. Unfortunately she had no money, lost her job and had bad credit because of this stalker. Eventually she figured out how to over come all of this and everything worked out in her favor.

Sometimes peoples stories don’t work out like Alexis’s and they turn out way worse. People meet people online all the time and they are never completely sure if they are real or not. They get into relationships with these people and disclose a lot of private and personal details with them. When the relationship ends who knows how the other person will act. They could be extremely upset and the constant messages and phone calls could begin. When the victim starts ignoring the stalker then the stalker may think about their past conversation of the victims daily routines and try to go find him or her. This could lead to the victim getting into some serious trouble or seriously hurt. As much as I would like to say that most of these situation turn out for the best but I have to say they most likely do not. I don’t know from personal experience but I’m sure there is a lasting emotional withdraw for the victim after something like this happens.

Alexis’s Story

A swipe dating app is an app that allows someone to create a profile with basic information on it (name,sex,age,location and picture). After the profile is created the app provides you with a multitude of people that use this app around you (about a 15 miles radius).If you like what you see from the persons profile you swipe the profile one way. But if you don’t like the profile you would swipe the profile the other way. The only way that you could get to talking to this individual is if you both mutually swipe the “like” or “yes” direction. This is called matching and once you’re match a conversation can be had. Some apps work differently where the girl can only start the conversation first or there is no chat feature before meeting but most of them work the way that was explained above, easy and user friendly.

There are many opinions on all these new dating apps these days. Many people believe they are silly and a lasting relationship cannot come out of it. This accusation is not 100% correct in the slightest. Yes, some relationships don’t work out when using these apps but many of them do.

Many of these apps are great for a way to meet new friends because the people on the app are so close to you. They are also great for those people looking for a hook up or a friends with benefits type deal, which a lot of people are into. On the other end of the spectrum they are also good to help someone find a serious partner. I know it’s hard to believe but from personal experience I’ve seen it happen.

It all started over a year about when the swipe app Tinder was becoming popular. My friends and I made profiles just to joke around and see who was on there that we knew. In the beginning it was was fun to see how many of our friends were using the app too. Occasionally we would match with random people and they would message us and it would get a little creepy but then we would just move on from that except for my one friend, Ally. She was taking this app much more serious than everyone else. Ally had matched with someone she thought was very attractive. They began chatting and hit of within hours. The next day they planned to meet up and get coffee at a local Starbucks. Ally was so excited she showed up five minutes early and waited and waited. The guy never showed up and she was left heartbroken. There were text messages were exchanged between the two after the situation and the guy told Ally that he figured she wouldn’t show cause you can’t trust those apps so he didn’t go. Obvious Ally was serious about this so she have him a second chance to meet up. They finally met and are now happily together and loving life.

Based on Ally’s story I believe that yes there are bad things that can come out of these apps but there are just as many good things that can happen. If the apps are taken seriously the results can end up just as serious as you want them. It’s all about the mindset you use when going into using these apps.

Swipe Dating App

In today’s society it is second nature for people to use the internet a main source of communication and expression. We talked in class about when people communicate through the internet they are more willing to open up and express themselves to other people. There are many different ways for people to express themselves through the internet anonymously or not. Personally I believe that using the internet anonymously is very dangerous. Yes, there are some benefits to disguising yourself behind a computer but I think there are more disadvantages.

Many people claim that using the internet anonymously helps them express themselves without being ridiculed and made fun of. I completely understand this concept but there comes a time when enough is enough. I believe the line is drawn when people stop acting like their selves. There is two ways this can happen. One way is the person gets so comfortable with hiding behind the computer that they start to feel more powerful than they do in real life. They can also get so comfortable and start to bullying others online. The other way is when someone starts acting like some they are not, basically identity theft.

Many times when people depend on the internet to express themselves it can take over their lives. Basically what is happening is the individual is living a dual life which is cool and all until they forget about real life. There is also a certain degree of courage that is gain when a person is hiding behind a computer screen. Individuals are more likely to say things they wouldn’t say in person. Most likely these things would be hurtful to other people. This can then lead to cases of cyber bullying that don’t always end well and can end up taking a life of an innocent victim. Unfortunately this happens more often than not.

When someone is hiding behind a computer screen they can also act like anyone they want. They can steal pictures from peoples profiles off of social media sites and use them to make a whole new profile. This is known as “Catfishing” someone. Now a days this more common than it has ever been. Since society is so judgmental now people don’t feel comfortable in their own skin so they use other peoples identities. Sadly this is not the way to go about it and the people that get catfished end up getting extremely hurt in the end. It can also lead to stalker like situations that can put the individual in jail.

All in all when someone hides behind a computer screen for too long things don’t always turn out great. These people need to know when it’s time to express themselves online and when it’s time to act in the real world.

Pros and Cons of Anonymity Online

In society today many people would agree that the advances of technology have benefited the world in so many ways. Yet there are some situations where technology could ruin our way of life. According to Kashmir Hill, dating is one of the major ways of society has not benefitted from the advances of technology. She explains how our society is too absorb with talking to each other through text messaging and other internet sources instead of speaking face-to-face. This has also added to men being less romantic and traditional courtship being taken out of the equation. With all of the advances in communication guys don’t even have to ask a girl on a date to get to know them. A text can simply be sent and all of his questions will be answered. If a girl is lucky enough to be asked on a date it will most likely be ruined by some type of social media. Prior to going on a date both parties are sure to “Facebook Stalk” each other. This leaves all of the first date questions already answered and nothing is left to be talked about during the date. Now they are both awkwardly sitting at a table trying to figure out what to talk about.

I believe this is a great example of how CMC has negatively benefitted our society. In class we mainly spoke about the benefits of CMC and how much society has grown from the advances of technology but never the negatives. Personally I think CMC has its ups and downs when it comes to dating. Using social media is a great way to meet people initially, as long as the person you’re talking to is who they say they are. After the initial meet I believe everything else can negatively hurt a relationship. Yes, text messaging is great to keep in contact with your significant other but if the contact goes on all day there is nothing to look forward to when you see each other in person. All in all CMC is hurting society when it comes to dating.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/kashmirhill/2013/01/14/five-ways-technology-has-allegedly-ruined-dating/#25de400e6ad8