The online environment has become a field of rapid circulation of information, communication, and self-expression and promotion, especially on social media. Social media are web-based software and platforms in which individuals use to interact with friends, family, and people coming from different parts of the world, sharing details about their lives - families, professions, hobbies, etc. In other words, they are powerful tools that enable the building of real or false identity in the virtual world. Presenting oneself online using a personal web page, blog or social networking site requires a purposeful selection of text, pictures, graphics, and audio to create an impression. The online world requires people to write themselves into existence…show more content… However, there are those who seek out friendships and other forms of social contact instead. The emergence of such complicated social schemes online was brought to light in the year 2012, when filmmakers Yaniv “Nev” Schulman and Max Joseph were inspired by the critically acclaimed 2010 documentary film "Catfish" and began a TV version on a satellite television channel MTV. The two artists follow the journey of couples who have formed an online relationship but have never met in person. There they help others solve the mysteries of their online…show more content… Norton’s Online Family Report from 2010 states that 41% of children have had an anonymous person trying to add them as a friend on a social networking site, 63% of kids have responded to online scams and 77% of kids have downloaded a virus.
However, not only are the living targeted, but also people who have passed away. In fact, Time Magazine reported that 2.5 million dead people get their identities stolen every year. This can be devastating for family members of the deceased who have been left to manage his estate. More than 2,000 identities of corpses per day are assumed by these fraudsters. A study conducted by Javelin Strategy & Research showed that users may be putting themselves at a higher risk of identity theft as a result of their increasingly intimate social media behaviors. More than half of the people with social media profiles on platforms such as Facebook or Twitter shared personal information such as the date of their birth, where they are studying and their contact number. Not only are all of these details usually asked when verifying an identity, but people also use them as passwords. The statistics make it clear — people are giving away far too much personal information on social networking sites, allowing imposters to easily steal their