Shady characters lurking in dark corners. Predatory psychopaths waiting to pounce. Strange, sweaty creatures emerging from the alleyways. People who’ve never been to New York sometimes have this idea that the city is only what they’ve seen in Martin Scorsese’s Taxi Driver.
What you probably don’t know is that Taxi Driver is actually an allegorical film about the internet. Shady characters, predators, sweaty teenage boys. You may try to claim that Scorsese made his film in 1976, back before there was an internet, but I’m telling you: he knew, man. He knew.
And social media has thrown users another wicked curveball. What about privacy? We’re just supposed to put all of our information right out there? And Tweets—Tweets!—are now being indexed by both Google and the Library of Congress. Then the New York Times runs an article like this one, or your best friend tells you about PleaseRobMe.com, and all your fears of stolen identities and home theft are confirmed.
Still, don’t let your privacy fears keep you from exploring the social media. Despite the strangers, curious acronyms, and strange technical mysteries, the internet can be a real community. Every community has its bad apples, of course, but in our travels, we’ve found social media participants to be quite generous.
