Don’t live your lives on the Internet — Be careful

Maame Abena was my best friend when we were in school. I lost her number when my phone was stolen and, subsequently changed my SIM card. I had been looking for her number for a very long time to no avail until someone advised me to ‘google’ her name. What I saw amazed me!

With just a click of the mouse, I saw Maame Abena’s name and contact details and even options of which social media I could contact her on because she was on almost all of them — Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. I chose Facebook and on it I saw my long lost friend’s photos, where she was, her house address, where she worked, her number and a few family details. All these were displayed right before my very eyes, so to speak. Wow! 

The world, indeed, has become a global village.

Now I can reach her on phone, pay her a surprise visit at home or even go to her workplace — all thanks to the Internet.

The Internet is a good thing and, indeed, it has become something we cannot live without now. Through it, it is now possible to know what is actually happening around the world without travelling to those places.

Just as the Internet is good, it is also very dangerous, as some people use it for all the wrong reasons. 

I am sure you have heard about how some girls have been killed; raped or defiled by people those girls had met online. 

I know you are also aware that some people use the Internet for fraudulent deals — ‘sakawa.’

Youngsters and the Internet

Most young people prefer to access the Internet on their phones. According to youngsters, they find mobile phones handy, private and convenient to use, compared to going to Internet cafes.

With the introduction of smart phones, young people can not only make or receive calls; they are also able to communicate with their families and friends everywhere they are. Through the e-mail, Twitter, Facebook, Whatsapp, Tango, Instagram, etc, one can share his/her thoughts, images and video recordings with millions of people in a matter of seconds. 

When the young go online, they make new friends, let people know what they are doing by uploading pictures of where they are, what they are doing, as well as interact with friends.

Erica Apenteng, an 18-year-old final-year SHS student of Bortiano, Accra, says she uses the Internet for various reasons.

“I prefer to use Facebook because it is easy to get online. When I go there, I look at the pictures my friends have posted on their walls and also accept friend requests from people I know and sometimes others I don’t know. I sometimes post photos of events I have attended there too,” she said. 

Erica also chats with people she has just befriended to get to know them better when she is online.

18-year-old Kevin Howard of the Ghana National College, Cape Coast says he hardly has time to use the Internet, but anytime he goes online, he checks what other people have posted on their walls and also posts ‘selfies’ (pictures of himself).  

Caution

Although it is good to see all your friends from far and near with just a click of the button, care must be taken about what you put out there which can get you into trouble some day.

For instance, it is good to upload photographs online, but:

• Never post photos that show your body. Besides, once your photo is on the web, you no longer have control over it. Many people can use it too.

• You have to ask permission from your family and friends before you upload their photos online because not everybody wants his or her pictures there.

Don’t put too much information of where you live or where you are and what you are doing every time online. If you do that, it will be easy for people to know where you are always. Remember that there are many bad people out there who can harm you once they know where to locate you.

• Choose carefully who to talk to privately on the various social networking sites. Obviously, it is fun to meet new friends, but people with bad intentions also use that to contact children and teenagers to get them to do so many things which are against their will. 

• The safest way to go about this situation is to reject the friend requests of people you do not know in real life.

To be continued