Does Privacy Exist Online?

There was a time in my life where I would literally post anything on social media without really thinking about it. I was the type of person that would senselessly tweet Drake lyrics on Twitter or post a silly selfie that probably would have been better off if it stayed in my camera roll. But as I've gotten older I've learned to properly manage my engagements and interactions on social media for many good reasons.

 Social media has become apart of my daily life for some years now. An obvious pro is that it allows us to connect with different people all over the world no matter the time of the day. My parents use Facebook to reconnect with old friends from high school and I've used Google Hangouts to stay in contact with family members that literally live across the world. Not only is social media convenient. It's also extremely fast. Instead of having to use a landline or a handwritten letter to quickly get in contact with someone we can easily send a quick direct message on Instagram or use one of the thousands of instant messenger apps we have available to us.

Like all things, social media also has its cons. Because it is so easy for us to share things on different social media platforms people tend to overshare. To overshare means to reveal an inappropriate amount of detail about one's personal life. In the past, I was notorious for doing this on social sites, but I've learned how important it is to be mindful of the things you put on there because some things can't be undone. It isn't uncommon for social sites to store your information and sell it/ give it away without your knowledge or permission. Facebook is one of many sites that have been caught up in a scandal where users have been finding out that their information was being given away. This freaked many people out, but the scariest is that even after users took the initiative to delete their Facebook accounts they learned that their information was still somewhere on the internet.

CNN BUSINESS reported on the issue and stated that "even when you delete your account, it can take up to 90 days for Facebook to remove the content like photos and updates stored in backup systems. But some information, such as messaging history, can still be seen by the Facebook user you wrote to even after your account was deleted." They also went on to say that it wouldn't be unusual if some third-party apps that you've never even used before had access to your personal information.