Social media can be a beast. It can rear its ugly head in many ways you can think. As such, we need to be wise and responsible when we are using it. So here is the second part of the 10 ten things a Christian should not be doing online (READ THE FIRST PART HERE):
4. Do not be an alarmist. An alarmist is someone who is considered to be exaggerating a danger and so causing needless worry or panic. You’ve met these kinds of people online. They are the ones who quickly share on your newsfeed, “news” can affect your life. For example, there was a hoax on Facebook that the company will delete your account for violating its terms and conditions and asks you to click a link and follow account recovery procedures. Believing that this is true, users then repost or share this message on the newsfeed to warn others…which just perpetuates the scam. This is called a “phishing” scam. The message will attempt to look and sound like an official Facebook message when it intends to “harvest” your user account credentials like usernames, passwords, and email address. Don’t fall for this and do not forward them anymore to others.
Below is an example of a recent Facebook warning being posted by concerned online citizens which is actually a hoax:
Better to be safe than sorry. An attorney advised us to post this good enough for me. The violation of privacy can be punished by law ( UCC 1-308-11-308-103 and the Rome statute). Note : Facebook is now a public entity . All members must post a note like this. If you do not publish a statement at least once, It will be tacitly understood that you are allowing the use of your photos, as well as the information contained in your profile status updates.
I HEREBY STATE THAT I DO NOT GIVE MY PERMISSION.
If you prefer , you can copy and paste.
Here’s the link to a news site that covered the hoax.
5. Do not patronize trolls. The Philippine Daily Inquirer describes a troll as someone who goes online to pick a fight, for whatever reason: to push a political agenda, to dump on someone he or she dislikes, to vent on a topic he or she feels strongly about, or very often just for the “lulz” (laughs). If ever you’ve made any pro or against comment about our president, and someone you don’t know answers you back with very aggressive words, then you have met a troll. They engage you to try to elicit a negative response. This is what they do! Some are professionals who will bait you into making the response they want from you. How do you know them? They are the ones who makes comments in social media that is very irritating and offensive. Someone would inadvertently respond and that’s when they hook you in and engage with you. Some do it for fun. There are also professional trolls. You can read the story of one who confessed HERE.
6. Do not participate in comment debates. Like trolling, you can also end up in a comment debate. An article comes out and it’s something you are sincerely passionate about and you make a comment. Then someone will answer back, also with a passion on the subject, albeit the opposite of what you believe. He will make a comment. You won’t resists answering back. Then they answer again. You answer back. Like trolls, it leads to nowhere. As Christians, we need to be sensitive on when to stop or we know it’s a lost cause. People will see the comments and it may look bad on you…a Christian.
Next I’ll have the third and final part of this series.
