The dangers of digital identity

Technology allows Americans to live a new American dream. One that doesn't demand hard labour. Be it from investing in technological buisness' or becoming a youtube sensation, the digital age produces profit. This financial freedom has created a new opportunity and a new level of wealth in America. Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg are two of the wealthiest men in the world and they have created this wealth through technology and people's dependence upon it.

More than any other, digital identity is all about choice. To set up a profile on a social network all a person needs is an email address. They can essentially become whoever they want to be. Most people use social networks to connect with friends and organise events however, there are other uses for the sites. One aspect of facebook that is fast becoming a problem is trolling. Trolling is
when a person, normally using a fake name, posts antagonising slander on facebook pages. The most commonly talked about are the postings on memorial pages for children. In a recent trolling documentary a troll said that the reason he did it was for the kick he got when someone replied to the posts. This is one way that people use technology to express their identities without consequences. Another is cyber bullying. The Internet allows anonymity for criminals and those who wish to hurt people. The ever growing need to police the Internet is a worry in America. Issues of illegal file sharing and downloading are especially prominent in the news but they are far from the most harmful Internet crimes. The ability to create a digital identity is abused by many in the ways I have already described. However, surely the most sinister crime committed through the Internet is the ability to create a new identity in order to trap a child. This is a new fear that did not exist before the Internet. It is the only place that a parent can not watch out for their child. I think this growing abuse of the Internet is virtually impossible to police and will only become a greater concern to America and much of the world in the future.