Social media is a huge part of our daily lives. We use it for entertainment, to chat with each other, share our creations and much more. It’s hard to imagine our lives without social networks being a part of it. We might not be aware of it, but social media does play a major role in our lives.
Every action, interaction and movement we’ve made on social media are all reduced to a single rating. The higher the rating means the better the opportunities while the lower the rating means being isolated from a socially conscious society. This is in a nutshell how the social rating system works.
This concept of social rating is being rapidly deployed by businesses and governments around the world. Governments and businesses now have the liberty of assessing people’s eligibility and the access they have to services. Interestingly, the percentage of people that have heard of the system is highest in the Asian countries, with 71% in China, while the lowest – 13% – was found in Austria and Germany.
There can be different consequences from social rating scores like how activity on one social media platform can get the individual taken off another social media platform. This might seem like an extreme measure but it goes to show that online activities can have potential consequences.
As data is slowly becoming the new currency, a majority of people will overlook their privacy and will willingly trade their personal information in exchange for shopping discounts. People are also comfortable using their social media profiles to log into online accounts. This goes to show that for most people their social media presence is not one that needs to be safely guarded but rather an extension of their online presence.
It is vital to think twice before posting ambiguous pictures of yourself or others on social networks. Some posts are best kept private instead of posting them to social platforms. Potential employers can take a look at your social media networks and finding something compromising could jeopardize your potential job opportunities.
Looking ahead at the future, it is best to prepare ahead for a world of social ratings. Sure, social ratings are not fair and unbiased as we would like them to be but since they are already deployed in certain fields it can be introduced over time.
While the current digital transformation makes it difficult to not share personal information online. It is important to keep in mind that protecting your online presence is critical.
