Online Assignment 4/5

First, for my Google profile, they were accurate in that I am a female, between the ages of 18 and 24. It is also aware that I speak English, and that I speak a little French as well. I’m sure it’s aware of this due to my searching of French vocabulary frequently. It also says that Spanish is one of my languages, which I do not speak. I don’t remember searching anything in Spanish, but I might have. I found my interests according to Google the most interesting. My top interest is Action and Adventure films. Although I enjoy watching those movies, they are definitely not my top interest. Other interests included banking, consumer electronics, fitness, hair care, make-up and cosmetics, pet food and supplies, primary and secondary schooling, recording industry, reference, Reggaeton, service providers, social issues and advocacy, and teaching and classroom resources. Some of these I do search a lot, but Google must think that I am a teacher or that I am going into education with some of my interests listed, which is not true. As for the other interests, they are pretty accurate in my searches, and I think they are typical of college-aged females. My interests were pretty broad, some searches I am definitely more proud of than others.

 Secondly, my Facebook download showed a lot of information I knew that Facebook had about me, because I use the site everyday. However, when I looked at my photos on Facebook, I expected to see the ones that I posted. I found it incredibly creepy that Facebook had photos that I had never posted on the site, and some photos that I had actually deleted off my phone. This proved that there actually is an unlimited supply of information on the web, or that major corporations such as Facebook have access to (Wells, 2013). These are things that I no longer have easy access to myself. Facebook also had many conversations and messages that I had with friends all the way back from freshman year of high school. And those conversations are less than flattering. It is scary to think that those could be accessed by Facebook still to this day. I think this was most frightening to me because even if I put something up on Facebook and decide to take it down, someone, somewhere still has access to it.

With our generation constantly using social media, and using it to express our thoughts, opinions, and tell people about our lives without even really knowing them, it is important that we are careful to whatever we put online, because it is fairly easy to access information that isn’t even your own. This is especially concerning for me if a future employer of mine ever looks on my Facebook profile.  I want to be sure that there isn’t anything absurd up. This assignment was the perfect way of showing us what our parents and teachers have always warned: watch what you are doing online, because anyone can have access to it.