When we talk about Online Safety, we think of our social media accounts, financial applications and shopping sites. We give a thought over the secure payments and authenticating them through apps which may intrude through the financial details. But being noteworthy of its safety and security will help in keeping a check on our accounts and for this Social Media Matters along with YOLO has been conducting workshops with youth to spread awareness about the safety protocols of the digital platforms.
Commencing the workshop with a round of introduction helped in setting the platform to elevate the discussion on the issue of ‘Online Safety’ with support of a video which laid the staggering stats on consumption of internet. The workshop primarily focused on ‘Social Media Communication,’ ‘Social Identity’ and ‘Social Media for Social Change.’ The main motive of these cyber awareness sessions among students is to make them aware of the dos and don’ts at social media platforms. The way you interact with friends, family or any stranger at the online space, sharing of personal or confidential details on the internet or using social networking to bring social change. These are few aspects that millennials must know while using social media platforms. To prevent cyberbullying and online frauds one needs to be well informed about cyber etiquettes and laws.
To make the session more engaging the trainers showed the students videos on social communication which has been created by ‘Swiggy.’ The issues comprising privacy and safety of social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and WhatsApp were addressed by Arnika and Pratishtha. Social Media Matters has previously conducted many workshops across various colleges and other institutions about online safety relating to social media. In the age of ‘Digital India,’ wave by the central government, safety and privacy at cyberspace has become a pivotal issue. With launch of startups, e – platform and e – learning in the present scenario, it is crucial to learn about safety and privacy settings while using social networking sites or OTT platforms. The workshop was followed by Q & A.
One of the students sharing online hacking experience said, “Even my Facebook got hacked one day. It was logged in some other device. Facebook gave me notification and I changed my password.” Other students had queries on how to change email account password, incognito mode, etc. With students raising queries and sharing experiences relating to online privacy handling cybercrimes would be more easier in the near future with youth’s online participation and inquisitiveness. On her concluding remarks Arnika said, “It is always a pleasure to connect with the young users. The opportunity to speak to them about online safety and their experiences around social media helps me as a trainer to revise my module, my content and reach out to them with newer updates and safety mechanisms.”