The double edged sword of social media, insight from the Netflix series “You”

Though social media can be a wonderful tool in the general lifestyle of the average college student, it can be used as a weapon for means of destruction.

A great example of this form of destruction can come from one of the newest hit shows on Netflix called “You”. The story of the critically acclaimed show is about a young and brilliant New Yorker named Joe Goldberg (played by Penn Badgley) as he exploits today’s technologically connected world in order to win the heart of Beck (played by Elizabeth Lail), an up and coming author.

“Insight into the truth…” Photo Courtesy of Netflix “You”.

Social media is a great tool for staying connected with friends, keeping tabs on the latest trends and even expressing oneself freely on the internet. However, what “You” tells its audience is that the internet and online privacy mean virtually nothing to anyone that wishes to cause harm.

Ariana Romero, a writer for refinery29 had an opportunity to interview the creators of the show: Sera Gamble and Greg Berlanti. They both acknowledged the message that the show is sending to its audience: the world we live in is so heavily dependent on social media that everyone is a potential target. The terrifying aspect is that Joe Goldberg seems to be an average, ordinary guy who simply has access to the internet like most.

“Anything he does on the computer, you could do on the computer,” said Gamble during the interview. “A lot of it is stuff I do actually do.”

Ariana Romero shared her thoughts on the influence of social media.

Students were asked about their opinion of the show in general and how it may have affected their viewpoint on today’s social media centered world. When asked about their opinion on the show itself, student McCabe Gallagher had this to answer:

“It’s really good and it really educates [you] about what’s safe to put on the web and how every small detail of you is on the web,” said McCabe Gallagher.

“I’ve always been skeptical about social media, been paranoid about who looks at my stuff and careful about what I post because you never know who could be watching you,” continued Gallagher. “My viewpoint of social media after the show got deeper and it had me go and change/delete my passwords every so often.”

“You’re being watched from miles away…” Photo Courtesy of Netflix “You”.

Another student by the name of Amanda Lopez was asked what her initial opinion of social media was before watching the show and she had this to say:

“It can easily be hacked, I’ve had my info hacked on facebook so I feel things aren’t truly 100%, I feel like there’s a possibility that we’re being watched and sometimes you gotta cover the lens of laptops just to stop some hacker from watching you.”

Amanda Lopez was then asked after having watched the show if her opinion of social media had been altered or if it had been enhanced due to the show’s message and her response is as follows:

“I feel like maybe it’s changed a little bit and made me worry more, it’s scary that anyone can manipulate your social life, the show is a reminder that there are weird people out there and you got to protect yourself by not leaving passwords around”

“I thought it was private enough where you had an option to keep your information to yourself,” said Jariel C. Solis, student at Kean. “Whatever you put online, everyone can see it, you’re screwed, have fun with that.”