Social Networking and Privacy

Social Networking and Privacy

My name is Bradford Thomas and I am a “Facebook-ing,” “texting,” “Gmail-ing,” “Yohoo-ing,” twenty year-old male from Marin County California. But you could have figured that out by typing my name in on the search box of Facebook. O yeah! I forgot to mention, I’m also a former “MySpace-er” (actually I think my Myspace account still exists…sketch?). Anyway, I consider myself a victim of the social network revolution. I use the word victim because it is defined in short as someone who has been “cheated” or “deceived.” One thing should be clear before I continue: I feel cheated and I feel deceived. Surely it is not the intention of social networking sites to create such a feeling in one of their users and they are not necessarily the ones to blame. I feel cheated and deceived by the idea that technology and networking are only supposed to be good things. Through recent occurrences in the advancement and popularization of social networking sites, it has become clear to me that there are negative consequences to use of such sites.

One of the most prevalent negative consequences of social networking sites I have identified is addiction. I go on my Facebook almost every day and I’m pretty damn sure that a high amount people reading this do more or less the same thing. Sometimes I click the “F” on my Safari web browser favorites bar (which stands for Facebook, but could just as easily stand for F-u brad for clicking it!) for no reason. Within a few seconds, Facebook pops up and instead of closing it I am swayed to look at it. Did anyone send me a message?? Was I tagged in a great action shot playing beer pong?? Did anyone post a funny video from YouTube on my wall?? Most of the time the answer to these questions is none of the above, but interestingly enough I still click on that “F” just to check anyways. It’s possible that I am wrong, but I have a feeling that once in awhile (or maybe more frequently), my peers do exactly the same thing. If you ask me that sounds like some kind of creepy addiction to one’s social networking account. Recently, I have spent time receiving therapy from an “old school,” less technologically advanced institute called “real life face-to-face interaction” Let me tell you… it’s quite refreshing (I encourage you to try!)

Despite some of the negative consequences of social networks, there are also some positive ones. I have had the great fortune of traveling to many countries around the world and in the past few years, sites like MySpace and Facebook have allowed me to keep in contact with many of the wonderful people I have met while abroad. These days, I use Facebook to keep in touch with friends who are attending universities all over the country. By looking at their profiles (a polite form of lurking in my opinion), I am able to keep up with some of the things that are going on in their lives even when they are not able to “chat.” I find out about cool events to attend and become aware of a variety of companies and causes that I had no idea about previously. So yes I will admit it, in many ways Facebook and similar social networking sites do have some very positive aspects.

In regards to privacy, I personally do not put anything on my Facebook that I do not want to be judged by (or mind being judged by). Unfortunately, this does not stop some of my friends from tagging me in those beer pong action shots as I mentioned above. Privacy in most cases is the user’s discretion. If you want true privacy then I recommend either not having a Faceook (or similar) or having one with very limited content. Past that, I believe the more things people post, the more privacy they are giving up. It is important that I mention that when one sets their Facebook profile to “private,” it is clear that it will not be private to everyone. Computer hackers are able to get into anything these day’s, so if your compelling enough for them to want to hack your profile, they will successful in doing so. I am not worried about my privacy because I do not post or allow others to post things that are too incriminating or revealing on my Facebook. Although, I worry for my peers: I see many Facebooks with way too much information on them. Be smart! Be careful!

I believe using Facebook and social networking sites follows a formula for living I have adopted in recent years: most things (but not everything) are OK in moderation (but make sure it’s moderation!). Facebook and similar social networks have their plusses and minuses and it is our job as users and consumers to get educated on these pros and cons and moderate our own usage and consumption. In conclusion, I urge you to imagine your life before the invention of Facebook, social networks, and the Internet. It was not much different than it is now and it is crucial to not lose site of this concept.