AMPLIFY - Issue Three (Summer 2022)

We asked one of our readers, who has recently just got hacked on instagram, how she felt dur - ing this time and what her overall experience was like. She answered that she felt foolish and the whole thing was a ‘nightmare’. She also said she felt tarnished as it was her business account which they had hacked and she didn’t want them to ruin her firm’s name and reputation. She explained that she was changing her details and messing around with some settings but while doing this she received a message from insta - gram. It was a fake account with a link that asked her to put her phone number in to then re-ac - cess the account, which she did, but then she had been locked out.. After this she needed to contact her bank to cancel her cards and get new ones, change her phone number and change her details. This caused her to feel embarrassed and worried and she felt like it was an invasion of her privacy. Following this experience we asked her what advice she has for others. , Her view was that everyone should double check that messages are legitimate and never click on links unless you have asked for them. Throughout all of our research we have found out that social media can be both good and bad. We have seen that it can help us connect with friends and family and also meet new people or become closer to ones we already know. On the other hand it can make us feel fearful that just clicking on a link could cause countless problems or even ruin your business. Whatever your view though, don’t forget to make sure you have fun but always be safe and think before you click!

However, have you ever thought about the safety side of social media… No? Well we’ve got some tips for you on how to stay safe while having fun on social media. The first tip that everyone should know is to make sure that your passwords are strong and it’s not easy for people to guess and also never share your passwords with any - one even if you know them and trust them. Also another way you can keep your accounts and passwords secure is to have your devices with two factor authentication. Make sure you only follow people you know to save your accounts from get - ting hacked. When posting pictures for example on instagram, we all do it so we can share memo - ries and keep them forever, however sometimes you really have to be careful of what you post especially things like exact location of where you are. In our survey we also asked students for tips on what not to do on social media and their personal experiences. They said that the most important thing when it comes to social media is to make sure that you don’t click on any suspicious links and not to talk to anyone you don’t know. Anoth - er tip was before things get worse, block people. Our survey showed that students thought the worst social media app is Facebook because it is confusing and sometimes has very harmful mate - rial. However they think social media is still safe to use as it can help you connect with friends and family that are far away from.

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