Sharing personal info, photos just to get more likes, followers - MCMC

Getting more likes and followers are among the driving factors for social networking site users to share and upload personal information and daily activities on such sites.

Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) Development and Outreach Planning Department deputy director Nurhalili Nadia Mustapha Kamal said they thought that the social sites were their personal properties and were free to upload whatever they wanted.

She said such presumption was not accurate at all because social sites were not personal diaries, as every 'post' uploaded could be seen by their social networking friends.

"Many have made the internet as a medium for socialising and communicating and unconsciously shared something inappropriate.

"There are some who are regularly updating their Facebook status (and) every inch of their child's development on Instagram," she told Bernama when met recently.

Elaborating on social media freedom, Nurhalili Nadia said most internet users did not read and understand the terms and conditions when opening a social networking account.

She said the terms and conditions stipulated that every account owner must be at least 13 years old and above.

Nurhalili Nadia said the social site users had to comply with the terms and conditions so as not to become the victim of cyber crime.

"If there is a manipulation case, they will contact MCMC and hope that we will delete everything on the internet. That's not true at all because we can't delete everything that have been uploaded," she said.

In addition, she also advised internet users not to use public wifi for any banking transactions.

"It is safer to use one's own internet because you have the password and only you are using it. Public wifi is not recommended because hackers can easily hack into your bank account," she said.

Meanwhile, a Facebook user who wanted to be known as Moeira Sokunbi, 33, said before this she liked to share her locations when updating her status or uploading images on social sites.

Eventually she realised that such information would lead to serious consequences such as criminal behaviour and she stopped sharing it.

For Nordila Yasir, 32, who is an inactive Facebook and Instagram user, she preferred meeting and mingling with her friends over updating status on social sites.