Many will wonder how we managed to live before someone thought up that marvellous invention - the " App ". Today there seems to be an App for just about everything - and in most cases they can be downloaded onto our Smartphone - for free.
That Smartphone is also something we could not imagine life without . Not only does it open up a world of communication, it delivers us to the "information age " and has become the way we listen to music, access social media and play games. It has become one of life's necessities.
Running in tandem with the Smartphone is the world of social media. This brings an element of competition to many lives. We compete with others to see how many "friends "we can accumulate and how many people will hit the "like "button for our offerings on Facebook.
It was probably inevitable that this Internet would develop a "dating " App. When Tinder appeared it was very logical. People interested in hooking up with someone of the other sex would supply their details, photograph and likes and dislikes to be put on the dating merry-go-round - and it would quickly become something of a dating smorgasbord. It was a way of putting those mutually attracted into contact with one another.
Of course, the wise will treat that with caution. There is no check on the details supplied and obviously many will enhance their good points and fail to mention matters less flattering. It is quite possible for a prankster to create a fictional person - not even of the claimed sex - for their titillation in drawing out intimate details from those they attract. That is relatively harmless while this liaison remains restricted to online contact, but should it develop further obvious danger arises.
Alarm bells are ringing because Tinder now has an 13 - 17 age section and restricts contact to those in that age group. There are fears that this will attract sexual predators using the service to "groom " victims towards later physical contact. Once again, the fact that there is no check on the age or sex of those entering their supposed details opens this App to danger.
Putting a Smartphone into the hands of juveniles has become a necessity and now that we have this world of Apps control has moved beyond parents. Most teenagers resent parental overview and become secretive about their social activities. The storms and scenes are legendary when parents have told their offspring that they are "too young " for some sort of risky activity - and usually all that is achieved is that activity continues out of sight.
We live in a sexual world. Many parents were horrified to discover that "texting " had become a custom where teenagers with a crush on one another were exchanging nude photographs. The age of the digital camera and the simplicity of email transmission had made this possible. The pressures of the teenage world forced compliance. Someone who resisted was labelled a "prude " and immediately lost "street cred " - in a world where it is important to be "cool "!
Fortunately, the police are also playing this cat and mouse game on Apps like Tinder and catching sexual predators. Parents need to be ever watchful and fully explain the dangers to their children.
What the future holds is unclear - except that the ever expanding world of new Apps will continue to deliver danger.
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