As we were introduced to this new project of Big Data, I wasn’t really sure how or what to think of it. It is something that I knew existed , but don’t think about in depth on a day-to-day basis. The more I was taught, the more intrigued I became. One of the most interesting things that caught my attention was how in Kenneth Cukier’s TED Talk, “Big data is better data”, he explained how much technology has evolved and advanced through the years. Computers can do so much now that, in the end, could be very harmful to the jobs of professionals. He gave the example of the computer finding 3 more different cancer cells that humans didn’t even know existed. This was something that was very eye-opening to me and led me to have mixed feelings about this topic. I feel as though it is very important that we keep advancing with the society we live in today, but I also feel that there needs to be a line drawn so these advancements don’t ‘take over’. He said many ideas that I agree with and will incorporate into my paper.

Alessandro Acquisti is another source that I feel will be used as one of my main sources. His TED Talk, “What will a future without secrets look like?”, brought about the idea of privacy and how easy it is to find information about anyone online. He mentioned a study done about social security numbers on Facebook and the results of 27% of the subjects’ first 5 digits could be identified after 4 attempts shocked me. This really got me thinking about privacy and how many things in someones life is ACTUALLY private. It is so easy for someone to post something online about what they are doing or something they have planned, but little do they know, this information can be accessed by anyone around the world. Social Media is always targeting your specific wants and interests in hopes that they will grab your attention and boost their ratings. Social Media will tell you what they need certain information for, and after you agree to their terms, are always nudging for more. They could be doing this with or without you knowing, therefore making you disclose more and more information about yourself that, eventually, the whole world could be able to access.

Lastly, the last source that I am going to respond about that I feel may benefit my paper is Glenn Greenwald’s TED Talk, ” Why privacy matters”. His idea of privacy really made me think. He mentioned how if people feel they have nothing to hide, why do we all have these passwords and accounts that we don’t want other people going into. This was an idea that I wanted to keep hearing about. I was very intrigued. Personally, I feel that there are things that people should keep to themselves and there are things that I think are ok to share with others. I believe that posting a picture of a sunset on Instagram is something nice that one could share with their friends/ followers and is not something that needs to be kept secret or private. Things like your social security number and credit card information, on the other hand, is information that should be kept to that individual. These kind of examples are only a few of things that I feel the line should be drawn. Privacy, to me, doesn’t mean there are these huge deep dark secrets that one is trying to keep away from the world. It means that there are certain parts of oneself that should be kept that way and not shared. So much can be stored on such a little device and it scares me to think how easy it is for someone to access all of this personal information.

Overall, I am interested to see what else I can find out about Big Data and Social Media. I want to know more to not only get a better understanding of what it all means, but also to further my curiosity into the subject. As of right now, my stance is undecided. I do feel that some of these advancements are positive, but I also feel that they can be harmful along with the privacy aspect of it all. I will continue researching and trying to find where I stand with my opinion on Big Data.