Instructions: For response 1-2, respond thoughtfully. Just saying “I agree” or “I disagree” does not constitute a thoughtful response. They need to be substantive to promote further discussion, new ideas, or questions and are at least 150-350 words and meaningful sentences that are also professionally written. State your opinion. Do you agree with them? If so why or why not?

RESPONSE 1

1.Think about social media today (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. ) What do you think is the future of social media?

What I think about for the future of social media is that it will be a social platform that helps spread information and get the news around. Social media will always be a platform where people voice their opinions about certain topics or let their followers know how they are feeling and update their audiences on their lives. I believe that everyone will have some form of social media in the future as a means to talk to others and socialize. Social media will always be a platform where people express themselves and update friends and family on how their lives are going. Social media will always have a future because there are many people out there who want to stay in contact with their family and friends and this is the medium that they use.

2. Do you think we will stop using cash in the future? Explain why or why not?

No, I do not believe that we will stop using cash in the future because cash is sort of a universal currency that every country uses. There are exchange rates on cash that help transfer the currency of one country to another. Many businesses also like to do under the table pay in which they pay their employees in cash instead of checks and such to avoid taxation and it benefits both parties sometimes. Cash is also essential because some companies are cash only where you may only pay them with cash and are not allowed to use credit cards or such. Most people like using their credit card though because of the reward benefits that your bank provides such as cashback rewards while purchasing certain items. Which is why people like using the credit card more often than they do with cash.

3. Define Identity Theft. How can you prevent identity theft?

Identity theft is the deliberate use of someone else’s identity, usually as a method to gain a financial advantage or obtain credit and other benefits in the other person’s name, and perhaps to the other person’s disadvantage or loss. You can prevent identity theft by using secure payments and getting rid of unnecessary documents that may compromise your identity. Most people use a VPN to help with a secure transaction to know that their information is not getting leaked anywhere and that their identity is not being stolen either. Some anti-viruses software offer secure transaction as part of the package for buying their anti-virus software so they protect you as much as possible while you are purchasing anything online. You can also report issues to the bank if you look at your billing statement and notice that something has been purchased without your approval and the bank will then deal with that ordeal and help you out.

4. Look online and find the income statement for Facebook. How much did the company make in 2019? Here is one site, you can look at others online if you like.
https://investor.fb.com/financials/default.aspx (Links to an external site.)

In the year of 2019 for Facebook, they made approximately 70.7 billion dollars compared to their last fiscal year of 55.8 billion. In the first quarter of the 2019 year, Facebook made a total revenue of 15,077 million dollars and accused 3 billion dollars in legal expenses. They made a total net profit of 2,429 million dollars in the first quarter. The second quarter began to look better for Facebook as they made more money this quarter for total revenue of 16,886 million dollars. Facebook mainly makes its revenue off of digital advertising. Throughout the year Facebook continues to make a profit as for the third quarter Facebook was able to make a total of 17,652 million dollars. For the final quarter of the year, Facebook was able to make another 21,082 million dollars for its final quarter.

5. Look online and list 2 big companies that did accounting fraud. What fraud did they do and what happened to them?

The first company I chose was the Lehman Brothers scandal in 2008. Lehman Brothers was a global financial services firm based out of New York City, New York. It was one of the largest investment banks in the United States and during the 2008 financial crisis, it was discovered that the company had hidden over $50 billion in loans. These loans had been disguised as sales using accounting loopholes. According to an SEC investigation, the company had sold toxic assets to banks in the Cayman Islands on a short-term basis. It was understood that Lehman Brothers would buy back these assets. This gave the impression that the company had $50 billion more in cash and $50 billion less in toxic assets. In the aftermath of the scandal, Lehman Brothers went bankrupt. The second company I chose was the Bernie Madoff Scandal in 2008 as well. Bernie Madoff is a former American stockbroker who orchestrated the biggest Ponzi scheme in history, and also one of the largest accounting scandals. Madoff ran Bernard L. It was discovered that Madoff had tricked investors out of over $64.8 billion. Madoff, his accountant, David Friehling, and second in command, Frank DiPascalli, were all convicted of the charges filed against them. The former stockbroker received a prison sentence of 150 years and was also ordered to pay $170 billion in restitution.

6. Regarding your personal accounting, what can you do to avoid being in debt owing a lot of money?

For myself in order to avoid being in debt and owing a lot of money is to not spend it in the first place. Personally I am really good with my personal financing and I am usually not too worried about how much money I have because I do not really spend it on anything besides food. Also if I was financially irresponsible I would avoid using a credit card because it is not physical money so I would keep spending it. You can also ask someone to monitor your spending and help you become more financially stable so that you do not spend all your money in one go. You can also set a limit on your credit card to avoid overspending, in the case that you wanted to help build your credit by using a credit card.

RESPONSE 2

Based on Ch 14 Feel (Free to look online for ideas)

1. Think about social media today (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.)
   What do you think is the future of social media?

Technology is one of the fastest growing industries around today. Social media had been increasing rapidly, and have been also shaping new methods to communicate with people around the world. Social media like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tik Tok, etc is a platform where people can interact and offer certain services or businesses. Social media is a need for every person which can lead to negative impacts if it cannot be used properly especially because we are allowing those applications to invade in a certain way our privacy when we agree to all the terms and conditions to have access to the app, for instance, any posts, pics, messages, and videos are not owned by anyone but the app. However, this is something all users agree but on the other hand, decades ago it was difficult to contact your significant owns and share your thought nowadays it is easier when people update what they are doing or simply chatting via social media. Some people also use to sell products creating private groups or a page, others raise their voice against certain issues such as crimes or any problems in the society building awareness programs within a community. But as I mentioned before, privacy and safety are not something a user from any of those platforms has. Cyberbullying, hackers, and threatening problems is a concern for the community that needs to be improved. I think in the future, social media will exist if they fix these issues, besides I think Social Media has reached its peak and has become a big influence in terms of marketing and also created new jobs we never thought it could be that necessary back then. I think social media has a long way to evolve in the future. However, one of the first changes I am seeing are restrictions of certain contents regarding bullying or trafficking which is something positive. On the positive side, media marketing is changing. Digital marketing must stay current on the latest developments increasing popularity while doing video and live streaming at a less expensive price and also have interaction with the users.

1. Do you think we will stop using cash in the future? Explain why or why not?

From personal experience, I never carry a lot of cash or paper checks in my purse. It is easier to use a debit card or credit card (we can easily clean up cards with a disinfectant) especially in these times. I never accept cash from cashiers or cash back because it could spread that virus through it, besides you never know how many bacteria or viruses can reside on money. Also, we can make some payments or transfer our money via a bank app (Zelle), or PayPal so people avoid make-in person payments. However, I know there are certain issues as identity theft being an easy target due to the lack of security measures aggravating our privacy using it to get cash or buy items damaging our credit. But I think, cash will slowly disappear if the government and banks apply a safest measure related to identity theft.

1. Define Identity Theft. How can you prevent identify theft?

Identity theft is the action of stealing another person’s personal identity to have access to their financial resources or benefits like cash, credit, etc. with the clear purpose of fraud. If you are a person who does not like the use of online email regarding banking statements then it is good to have a shredder at home, never leave your wallet inside your car, and never answer to calls that do not have a legitimate number. I have received a lot of calls for an unverified number threatening me that if I do not call back, they will block permanently my social security number because they saw “certain issues”. I searched on internet for that number or the same voicemail I received and users said it is a scam to obtain personal information. On the contrary, if you are those people who feels more comfortable with technology, sending personal data or enter to an unverified e-mail. Using complicated and strong passwords for their credit cards, bank and other personal accounts is safer instead of using your last four numbers of your cellphone or birthday. Also, when you are in an ATM make sure to check your surroundings and if there is any weird device.

Based on Ch 15

1. Look online and find the income statement for Facebook. How much did the company make in 2019? Here is one site, you can look at others online if you like.
   https://investor.fb.com/financials/default.aspx
   (Links to an external site.)

Based on investor.fb.com/financials/ the net income on December 31, 2019 was $7,349M. While the Revenue was $21,082M and expenses $12,224M. This means Facebook is a profitable company because there is a net income not a net loss which generates more profit.
5. Look online and list 2 big companies that did accounting fraud. What fraud did they do and what happened to them?

Enron was one of the seventh largest companies in the United States during the recession in 2000, Based on Lessons learned from Enron’s Collapse; Auditing the accounting industry’s book, “Enron resorted to mark-to market accounting, which helped the company to write off unprofitable activities hiding the company’s losses making the company look profitable in the market” (Committee on Energy and Commerce). They made their employees and shareholders believed their company was profitable when in fact this company was struggling for its existence. At the end, all shareholders and employees lost their job and money because they purchased stocks believing on the CEO and the company. The CEO went to prison for 24 years and $45M fine.

WorldCom was a telecommunication company that committed accounting fraud. Based on WorldCom Inflated Assets’ article, it mentions that WorldCom “filed financial statements with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that reported inflated total assets by up to $11B. During this same time, WorldCom went on an acquisition spree by purchasing some of its competitors” (Voizacin). These acquisitions increased the size of the company and its total stock market capitalization. The CEO basically capitalized certain expenses and inflate revenues with fake accounting journal entries. When this fraud was discoveredmany investors suffered financial losses. While the CEO was sentenced up to 20 years in prison for fraud and for filing false financial statements with the SEC.
6. Regarding your personal accounting, what can you do to avoid being in debt owing a lot of money?

What I always do is to pay everything in advance and pay more than the minimum payment if possible, everything before interest’s rates for every purchase I make. Overall, I always avoid being in debt unless I know I am able to pay anything on time. Otherwise, I should find another source of income like renting another room in my department or get a part-time job. I also make a budget plan for me while I keep recording all my expenses and my income. It was awful at first until I notice I spent more money on unnecessary things than essential things. One of those unnecessary things was Netflix because it was a miscellaneous expense that I did not use it that often and I always watch the same series or movies all over again so I just canceled my subscription. For college, I never asked for a student loan because I probably be able to get a scholarship for a university but if I’m not able to get one, then I will need to use my savings and find other sources for help. I do not want to risk my credit at all. I know there are things that need to be risked but if I do not have a realistic plan before making such decision then I just wait and try to do another thing instead. I do not ask for government help either. I am always focusing on how to save my money for future problems or investments, for this reason when I turned 15, I asked my parents instead of throwing a big party I rather have that money in a bank account for my first car or something else that I really want. I also have two saving accounts one for my expenses/debt and another for my savings.