Social media now leaves many people feeling negative, as most people feel down or upset when they don’t get as many likes as they expected for a post, says an IT security product firm. Research from Kaspersky Lab also shows that one-in-ten people would bend the truth on social media, to get more people to like their posts, with men more likely than women to post their privacy away.
Kaspersky Lab says that while it is not surprising that 72 per cent of people are annoyed by advertising that has become extremely intrusive and interrupts their online communications, the reasons for frustration go deeper. Despite the desire to feel good from their interactions on social media, when people see their friends’ happy posts about holidays, hobbies, and parties, they are often left with the bitter feeling that other people are enjoying life more than them. For example, 59 per cent have felt unhappy when they have seen friends’ posts from a party they were not invited to, and 45 per cent revealed that their friends’ holiday pictures have had a negative influence on them. Furthermore, 37 per cent also admitted that looking at past happy posts of their own can leave them with the feeling that their own past was better than their present life.
Men are more likely than women to reveal something embarrassing or confidential about their co-workers, friends or employers, it’s suggested; more men are even ready to post a photo of themselves naked than women.
David Mole, Head of Retail Sales at Kaspersky Lab warns that risky behaviour on social media can put people at risk. “Our relationship with social media has developed into a vicious cycle. We want to go onto our favourite social platforms to tell all of our connections about the positive things we are doing. But the reality is when we log onto social media we’re bombarded with images of our friends having fun, and it looks like they’re enjoying life more than us. In their search for social approval, people have stopped seeing the boundary between what it is okay to share, and what is better kept private. But it is important to protect ourselves, as well as the privacy of others. To do this, people need to become more aware about the information they share on social media and install security software on their devices to protect themselves and their loved ones from cyberthreats.”
Most admit that they have considered leaving social networks altogether. The only thing that makes people stay on social media is the fear of losing their digital memories, such as photos, and contacts with their friends.
To help people decide more freely if they want to stay in social media or leave without losing their digital memories, Kaspersky Lab is developing a new app – FFForget will allow people to back up all of their memories from the social networks they use and keep them in a safe, encrypted memory container and will give people the freedom to leave any network whenever they want, without losing what belongs to them – their digital lives. FFForget is planned for 2017. Users can register at ffforget.kaspersky.com.
