Dangers of Following Strangers

        Users of social media in the U.S. do not realize the risk they're going through by following individuals they don't now, such as celebrities. Following unknown users could be harmful to the Instagram user since the other individual will now have access to his/her whole online profile. Teens especially post personal information like first name, location, and age on their profiles(Lenhart and Madden, 2007). Despite the seemingly very obvious risks, there is still a startlingly high number of posters that actually include their home address, phone numbers, and other information that could aid any stranger on their friend list to locate them.



       A survey was done on certain focus groups conducted by the Pew Internet and American Life Project. It demonstrated instance of teens providing or protecting personal information on their online profile. Teens aged 14-17 are more likely to share personal information on their online profiles: with 76% including their school name, 23% including cell phone number, and 94% including personal photos(Madden et. al, 2013). Comparatively, teens aged 12-13 do not provide as much information, with only 56% providing school name, 11% providing cell phone number and 82% posting personal photos (Madden et. al, 2013). It was also concluded that 63% of teens believe that a motivated person could eventually identify them from the public information they provided on their online profiles (Kong, 2015). This could pose a serious threat to IG users since they might not be aware of a follower actively trying to determine their location.

       The higher the personal value for number of followers on IG, the more likely the person is to request following strangers. A following frenzy can be started by following celebrities, and depending on the intensity of celebrity worship, they may start to look through other followers of that celebrity, adding them to their own following. The degree of celebrity worship can also be a determining factor to the amount of personal information shared. Sometimes users will believe that in order to get recognized by the celebrity, he/she must provide enough information about themselves, so that he/she will grow familiar and eventually the celebrity will initiate contact.

With the research provided, one should always take precautions when posting information on their Instagram profile, or really any type of social media. IG users in particular should minimize the intensity of their celebrity worship to reduce potential risks.

References

Kong, S. (2015). Instagram: The Real Stranger Danger.

Lenhart, A., & Madden, M. (2007). Teens, privacy and online social networks: How teens manage their online identities and personal information in the age of MySpace.

Madden, M., Lenhart, A., Cortesi, S., Gasser, U., Duggan, M., Smith, A., & Beaton, M. (2013). Teens, social media, and privacy. Pew Research Center, 21, 2-86.