Avoiding the pitfalls of social media

Guest post by Devika Arora - The recently concluded 3rd Ambassadors’ gathering on cyber security, organised by Oman’s National Computer Emergency Readiness Team in association with Salalah College of Technology in Salalah had the underlying theme of social media and its negative impact arising out of its misuse. The ITA meet also discussed the various legal means to curb the negative aspects and maintain a harmonious and better cyber environment.

The significance of this meet is much, as with the rising influence of social media on various aspects of life, chances of its misuse are greater than ever before.   However, instead of taking legal actions that are binding and restrictive, informative and constructive steps are a better way of avoiding the menace that social media can become at times.

Being Careful About What You Share

Social networks have become the most popular way of maintaining contact with family and friends, and make new personal as well as professional connections; however it’s this same open nature of the social web that actually goes against it sometimes. Anything that gets shared on the social web can hardly be deleted.

Therefore, the first step towards ensuring better usage of social media is not let anything even remotely inflammatory, racist, abusive or derogatory get shared from your account. Governments around the world are working together with the major social networking sites to spot such spurious content and remove it, & this ITA meet was a step towards the same. If you end up coming across such content, the best thing to do will be to flag it and report it as inappropriate. (Most sites have this option).

Promoting the Good Uses of Social Media

There are literally infinite ways in which social web can help the world become a better place to live. Social media can help you earn a better living by growing your business, as we saw earlier, or secure a new job.  Most companies around the globe now actively recruit candidates through social media, for social media and Oman should be no exception. In fact, there are many jobs in Oman right now that are only meant for social media experts. If the information about these uses of social web is promoted and ample precautions are taken, social media can become the harbinger of next generation growth in this country as well.

Devika Arora is a professional writer who has been writing articles and blogs with a special focus on career building and job search. She is currently working with Naukrigulf.com, a job search portal addressing employment needs in the Middle East.