Managing social media – time-based rules

When people talk about internet security, we immediately think about the obvious dangers posed by malware, ransomware and hackers gaining access to our private data. Hardly a week passes where some major corporation or government department does not experience a security breach, where personal information is stolen. This is a public relations nightmare and organisations often face huge losses as a result.

There is, however, a great deal of irony here as almost everyone uses some form of social media, whether it be Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, YouTube et al. Moreover, even if you don’t have a social media account, by simply using Google, Gmail, Google Maps, etc, you are, in fact, voluntarily giving away your personal information. Whether you like it or not, big tech companies hold more information about you than any government department, banking institution or other organisation. Big tech doesn’t “steal” your information, you willingly give it to them and they use it to monetise their solutions.

The old adage that there is no such thing as a free lunch holds much truth here. In the past, billboards, television and radio were all mediums that targeted you. The major difference in 2023 is that “free” social media like Facebook and Twitter, and applications such as Gmail, Google, YouTube, etc, are interactive – you are not simply receiving information, you are actively providing them with your data. Their algorithms are designed to maximise profits, so they are designed to provide you with designer advertising and persuasive technology. Persuasive technology is so subtle, yet so effective, as it is designed to keep the user perpetually engaged. Very few people would, therefore, argue today that social media is not addictive as we have studies, real world and anecdotal evidence of it.

The concerns about the “social media addiction” vary, depending on the setting. At work, employers do not necessarily wish to absolutely abolish the freedom of employees to access social media, yet don’t wish them to be on social media all of the time. At home or in schools, parents or educators may wish to protect children from (over) exposure to social media.

Using the LucidView Enforcer solution, any organisation or ISP can limit what content can and can't be accessed. In addition, ISPs can provide their customers with the ability to limit content themselves.

The LucidView Enforcer also offers time-based rules. Time-based rules allow an organisation, ISP or the customer of the ISP to decide when and for how long staff or children can access social media. For example: in a company setting, the company may want to only allow access to social media during lunch time; in a home environment, parents may only wish their children to access social media for two hours during the evening.

The LucidView Enforcer solution is designed to run on MikroTik RouterOS and is 100% free for small to medium organisations and ISPs.

Please visit our website for more information. https://www.lucidview.net.