McDonald's: The Latest Victim of Hacking

Regardless of its global presence and vast amount of resources, even the largest fast food chain in the world cannot escape the threat of hacking. Several days ago, the corporate Twitter account of McDonald's was compromised, with the responsible party posting the following tweet that attacked Donald Trump.

McDonald's quickly moved to delete the tweet and post a response explaining the situation. Despite these actions, the company received (and in some cases is still receiving) backlash from Trump supporters, many of whom want to #BoycottMcDonalds. Most people seem to understand that the tweet was the result of hacking, but it appears that some people still are not getting the message.

This situation perfectly illustrates the danger that hacking presents and how it can quickly lead to a public relations nightmare for any business with social media presence. Even though McDonald's took immediate action to counter the hack by informing its followers as to what happened, some people failed to see beyond the hacked tweet to fully understand the situation. No matter how much work is put in to fix an incident like this, there is no way to completely put down the backlash that follows, regardless of if it is justified or not. It is interesting to note that the hacked account was specifically McDonald's corporate account, which has far less reach than the company's primary account, meaning that the damage could have been much worse had it happened to that account instead. A situation like this should serve as a cautionary tale to all businesses, showing just how important it is to maintain constant vigilance with regards to their social media pages.  

Millennials Fear Repercussions of Constant Social Media Use

A new report from the American Psychological Association was recently released, finding that about nine out of ten people that fall into the “millennial” age group (18-29) use social media. This may seem fairly logical, but the more concerning issue is that the report also found that nearly 50 percent of millennials fear that their frequent social media use is negatively affecting their health, but physically and mentally. The worst of this crowd, according to the report, are referred to as ‘constant checkers’, who are constantly looking at their texts, emails, or other social media platforms. People falling under this category, on average, reportedly have higher stress levels. Almost two-thirds of Americans believe that occasionally “unplugging” is important. About a fourth of that amount actually performs a technological detox.

As a millennial, this issue of social media overuse has been a topic that I have found myself thinking about more and more often. I would not even remotely consider myself a ‘constant checker’, though I would say that I do look at my social media accounts a fair amount. I have thought several times within that past couple of years about a technological detox of some sort, but I do not think it is a realistic proposition. I do use social media for recreational purposes, but it has also become important for academics. Schoolwork and social media are now inherently connected in many regards, so completely separating oneself from all social media accounts could also have negative consequences. I am not yet at the point where I believe that it is hurting my health, but I do have the concern that it could potentially in the future.