Ok, so time for another rant and this time, Facebook is the topic of choice.
Several weeks/months ago, Facebook launched a new service whereby anyone could add a “Like” button to their website and subsequently, you could now “Like” any kind of article out on the net. This information would then show up on your FB profile and share it with others. The idea being that since so many people have FB accounts, maybe you might want to share some of the sites and other interesting things that you see on the net via FB and this made it simple. It however has backfired and caused a somewhat backlash, again, about privacy and the FB site.
The biggest thing is that people are upset because things they deemed as private are now available to the public. It’s the same thing that happened when Facebook allowed search engines like Google to crawl their site and catalog the various members. This allowed anyone to do a search on say Google for “Matthew Klem” and my FB page would come up (which incidently I just tried as I typed it and someone other than me comes up). People got all pissed off because now “private” information about them was publicly available via Google and so they were not told that this was going to happen. The same thing has now happened again because of the type of privacy settings that exist within FB.
The end result, there’s a lot of buzz on the web about people wanting to quit and delete their FB accounts because of privacy concerns. I’ve read posts about people removing every photo they had, and stripping their accounts to the minimalist version so that they can still interact with their friends, but continue to be “private”. May 31st is actually been deemed Quit Facebook Day. Ironically, there’s a page on Facebook for it. See anything wrong with that picture?
Ever since I got a FB account, I have made sure that my privacy settings are set to my friends only. I have some stuff turned off entirely, notifications are turned off, and I always make sure that every photo I upload is for friends only. I’ve even pretended to be someone other than myself to find out what is visible and I have been content at what I have seen or not seen. It’s never been an issue for me, and quite frankly, it won’t be. Why? Because the moment you put ANYTHING on the internet, you are subject to a loss of privacy with that information. Plain and simple. Privacy policy or not, it is irrelevant. The internet is a PUBLIC place and therefore if you think that anything you do on there is private, you’re as dumb as these people who think millions are going to quit FB on May 31st.
2005. I got hauled into my bosses office and “asked” to remove content from my own website because it offended people that I worked with. This was my first REAL experience with the whole lack of privacy thing on the internet. I had never even considered that folks I worked with would be reading this very website you are reading now. When I called the folks who worked on the shop floor a bunch of dumbasses, I never thought any of them would have the intelligence enough to find my blog, let alone be able to read it. But they did and I got in trouble for it. Who’s fault is it? My own.
2006. The same thing happened again at Compucollege with much more severe consequences. Who was at fault? Well, that’s debatable but at the end of the day, I put something out here not expecting others to see it, and _I_ got burned. What did I learn from it? Only put things on the internet that you are comfortable with everyone seeing or knowing about. If you think it’s private, it really isn’t.
So for me, I had to change the way I blogged and I am much better for it actually. I’m more particular about what I post about, what I talk about, and what I put on sites like Facebook. I am who I am and I am not afraid to talk about such things, but I also know that there are sometimes when I would love to say something but I keep it to myself because I know that it could be construed the wrong way and come back to seriously bite me in the ass. It’s happened before and I’ve worked very hard to make sure it doesn’t happen again. Sorry Debra, it’s a mistake I won’t make again.
So to anyone who is mad about the FB privacy stuff, it’s your own fault. If you’re pissed because now information about you is available to others that you didn’t think could get it, well, if you put it online, you run that risk. If FB’s privacy controls are not enough for you, then don’t participate. If they are enough, but you don’t trust FB anyway, then don’t put stuff on there that you don’t want others seeing. I read an article today where someone compared it to people bitching about the fact that their name, address, and phone number are published in the phone book, but they never requested an unpublished listing. It is VERY much the same thing with Facebook. If you want privacy, then keep the things you want private OFF the internet. I’m very much someone who is very open about myself (look at this site as an example of that) but even I know to keep certain things off here because it’s no one’s damn business. Don’t bitch at Facebook about sharing info. That’s what Facebook is FOR. Sharing info with people.
That right there folks is why Facebook does what it does. People put stuff on Facebook because they want to share it. Facebook is embracing that. Ya, they are trying to make more money via advertising so they need more info about you, but you ALWAYS had the option to keep the information about you to a minimum. I believe all you need is an email address for an FB account. You don’t NEED to post photos, or play games, or do any of that stuff. I don’t have my phone number or address in FB, and the email listed is a dummy account I don’t use. If I don’t want to share something with people, I keep it off the web. Period.
Some would argue that it’s Facebook’s responsibility to maintain privacy of the data on their network. Private from who exactly? When you signed up, you agreed to a privacy policy that FB has and in doing so, you agreed that they could do whatever was in the agreement. If the agreement changes, it is YOUR responsibility to read the changes, and act accordingly. If you don’t like what they have changed, then change the way you use FB, or leave. Did you read the privacy policy? Probably not. I never did. But then again I knew what to keep off there and what I was comfortable sharing.
There are now an estimated 400 million FB users. FB has changed the way people interact online and really has launched the whole social media thing into a new realm. It’s not going away. I love FB for staying in touch with people I would otherwise never hear anything from. I love the fact that I can share my ideas, links, photos, and other stuff, when I want to and how I want to. If I don’t want to share them, I keep them to myself. I think that in 10 years, Facebook will either look/act completely different than it does now, or it will have faded and something else will have taken it’s place. In the meantime, don’t get your tits in a frenzy over privacy. If you’re concerned about it, be more selective in what you share online. Otherwise, enjoy the ride 🙂
