Steven Levy talks about how he feels uncomfortable sharing certain information with people he has never met, and this reminded me of the discussion we had in class about privacy online...
When someone is sharing their personal information online, they are choosing to do so. It is totally up to you how much you want to share. Social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook allow you to set your profiles to private, so you can verify that you actually know the people that want to see your information. However, if you want to add people that you don't know, in order to broaden your network, then you run into a little dilemma. You then start questioning the content you are posting, and then start questioning if you should be updating as frequently. These are also things that Levy mentioned in his article.
I can see (and have seen) Twitter or Facebook really helping/hurting interpersonal relationships because of this... "Your relationship status still says single..wtf?!" "You tweeted that the game was awesome, at 5pm - when you said you had to take your mom to dinner instead of go out with me!"
Interpersonal relationships really are getting to that point...
But what is one to do, when becoming a user of these social networking sites is the norm for our society? Well, I see a few options...
- Either make an account for the hell of it, just to say you have one.
- Make an account, and just use it to keep in touch with your actual friends that you already have.
- Make an account to meet to new people, and explore this new technology.
- Or just go with the flow...sign up, see what the site is about, and eventually adapt to it. Because lets face it, you are going to have to eventually...
You have the freedom to do what you want. People are only going to see what you want them to see, and hear what you want them to hear. Building and maintaining interpersonal relationships (existing and future) all depend on how you choose to do so. You aren't obligated to expose everything to your entire network of friends, but at the same time, they would probably like to know what is going on in your life - because you are friends.
I really liked this paragraph of the article, because I think it sums up how I feel about social networking sites:
We hear a lot about privacy violations by Big Brother and Little Brother. But what if the fault lies not in our siblings but in ourselves? For a reality check, I called Marc Rotenberg, head of the Electronic Privacy Information Center and an utter hawk when it comes to protecting personal data. He told me to relax. "One aspect of privacy is the ability to project yourself as you choose," he says. Services like Facebook and Twitter are strictly opt-in, so as long as the information isn't divvied out to marketers, Rotenberg is OK with it: "That is freedom."
So, if you are going to update your status, or Tweet constantly, just be aware of who you are letting see.
I really liked the article you linked to your blog. I'm glad I'm not the only one who feels this way! I agree with Levy when he talks about feeling guilty for not using your blog, facebook, twitter to is potential, but at the same time when I do use it feeling like "why am I giving all these people so much information about myself?". It's a hard situation.
ReplyDeleteI also agree that eventually everyone will need to adapt and find a happy medium with these sites because that is becoming an essential part of our social lives. It's crazy that these sites are having such an effect on interpersonal relationships. It's very true when you talked about people saying one thing and then their twitter or facebook saying something else--it gets people in trouble. This is one of the situations where I start questioning social networking sites and if there are more benefits or more problems. I realize that they help people communicate with old friends and stay in touch with people as well as just chatting with your regular friends, but is it worth it to have that when there are also so many down sides to the sites? I think it's probably more of a personal decision...As for me, I haven't figured it out yet, but the more I think about it, the less beneficial the sites sound to me.
I didn't know Twitter was even around until I got introduced to it by someone online. I like how in your blog you mention that sites like Twitter and Facebook are opt-in. If someone doesn't want others to know their personal information then they shouldn't make it available for everyone to see. That's just plain common sense. I agree with pretty much everything that Lauren said in her comment about how social networking over the Web can be helpful and harmful to someone's relationships with others depending on how they use the service.
ReplyDeleteGood points. This has always been an interesting topic for me because I am not one to really post all my information on my facebook page. My "about me" section is usually pretty blank and I think that is due to the fact that I only accept people I know to my "friend list", so they already pretty much know me. Is that bad? Social networking was supposedly created to meet new people and connect but here I am just sticking with the same friends. There are many dangers to accepting people you don't know though, especially with posting your personal information, like you have said. I think alot of the times people aren't realizing what they are exposing when they fill out their "about me" or who is really seeing it. People tend to get caught up in the number of friends they are acquiring and not particularly WHO it is they are accepting to see their page. Kind of scary. Good post!
ReplyDeleteGood post Jake, I really enjoyed the article, and I have been hearing about Twitter constantly lately, whether it was in the last issue of US weekly, because they follow a celebrity, or this weekend for example i attended a province meeting for my sorority, where 5 other chapters attended, and the headwuarters for out sorority announed that they had stated a twitter, so we could follow Kappa Kappa Gamma while it "tweets"... haha. I think that it is crazy how social networking has expanded into not only many individuals, but businesses and organizations as well!
ReplyDeleteI think this post has lots of good ideas and points. I definitely agree that you are in an opt-in site and its all depending on what YOU decide to post, and who YOU let see your page. I just recently made a facebook page and I only have a few friends even though some of my friends from high school want to be my friend too. I have not added them because I don’t think they need to know that personal information that I decide to post. I feel like they want to see what is going on in your life, but don’t really want to talk to you, so they just think you will add them and not worry about it. But, if someone wants to know how I am or what is going on in my life, I think it is my decision to let them, and not a right that they have.
ReplyDeleteMaybe I am just paranoid about people I don’t want to see my information getting access to it, but I think we all need to be careful on who we add to our pages and what information we are posting for everyone to see.
Twitter conflicts my mind.
ReplyDeleteOn one hand, its seen as a total marketing scheme (a brilliant one, at that) and on the other hand, it just scream erroneous to me.
Aside from celebrities, is anyone really interested in what random people are doing? It seems like a dumbed-down version of Facebook--just a new fad that everyone is jumping onto.
But I am in the very minute minority because it seems like Twitter is a fad that will not fade anytime soon. As many have seen, people like Ellen DeGeneres and Shaquille O'Neal have hopped onto the craze and are using it as both a personal societal update tool and as a useful way of marketing themselves for free.
I really think it's a simple and easy concept to latch onto, I just don't see another vital social network that will continue to consume us as a society--but, then again, I continue to be prodded to tweet up a storm.
One social network is enough for me, but once again, I am shoved into the minority.
Good post.