Thursday, January 14, 2010

The Long Term Consequences of Over-Exposing Ourselves on Facebook

I took all my information off of Facebook back in 2008, even before The Wife started her 1950s year.  I didn't like the time-sink aspect of it.  And when I'm going to share something of myself online, I want it to be something I've thought over, composed, and presented to my own standards.  For some reason changing my status update several times a day to indicate how my digestion was working just wasn't what I was looking for in a communicative experience.

And here's why I'm glad I withdrew: an interview with an anonymous employee discussing how they store and profit from our data.

Meanwhile millionaire douche-bag and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg is off at the Crunchie awards telling his audience why privacy isn't a social norm any more.  See, that's why it's okay for him to make millions off our friend requests and profile pictures.  And that's why it's okay for us to flash all our most intimate details to the world over a medium that copies, duplicates, and never forgets.

I guess Zuckerberg doesn't have a problem with the British government monitoring every call and email passing through their country.  Nor is he concerned with the fate of the thousands of political prisoners around the world who might like some control over their personal privacy and dignity.

Not that those political prisoners were arrested for broadcasting their views on Facebook or Myspace.  But with friends like Zuckerberg eroding the social norms around our Reasonable Expectations of Privacy, it won't be much longer until governments and courts feel they have a legitimate right to know every little thing about us, and prosecute when they disagree.  After all, why shouldn't the goons get to violate our dignity and search our homes without a warrant?  We've already put all of that stuff up on Facebook years ago!

3 comments:

  1. I'm on Facebook but hardly ever do anything on it. And I definitely don't have any photos on it, my profile photo is a cartoon cat. ;) It's kind of cool to get in touch with family and old high school friends, but beyond the occasional message it doesn't interest me much. I don't understand what the attraction is with all the games and apps.

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  2. We have filled our world with useless "space" that only causes us to lose our way in comunicating face to face. I find people do not know how to talk to each other any more.

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  3. So, true, Jeanne. I was talking to a friend the other day, who is very 'modern' and she, while in the middle of my speaking, took out her phone and began texting! I also find it hard to communicate with her, as she will never finish a sentence, or half way through a topic, stop ask someone else somthing and then turn back to me and say, "What?" even though it was she who was speaking. Conversation and communication is gone because families are 'raised' and 'maintained' by the tv and media. We have no reason to talk or communicate. WE can just say, "This is what happened on the Office last night" "yes, haha" the end and return to texting.

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