Do people still care about their privacy on the internet at all? It is possible to find so much information about someone if he or she uses social media. Moreover, if someone uses multiple types of social media (e.g. Facebook, Twitter & LinkedIn) it is possible to get a quite accurate understanding of that person’s life, so, where is the privacy and are we aware of it?
I noted that there are quite a lot of Twitter accounts unprotected. Reasons according to Cameron (http://l4x9.com/2009/05/why-you-shoulnd-not-have-protected.html) are for example: communities & communication. How can you be part of the Twitter public communities when your account is protected? Your tweets cannot be read unless you selectively allow people to do so. Some insight shows that it isn’t easy to communicate with protected Twitter accounts especially because it’s very basic communication. A simple linear communication model can be applied to this; however, I believe communication does not work that way and neither does Twitter. As a result, people use unprotected Twitter accounts and share their (private) life and opinions with everyone who is interested in it or just wants a sneak peek into someone’s (private) life.
The opposite, however, may apply for Facebook. Facebook profiles are more protected; my reasoning on this point of view is the way that people use Facebook. I reckon Facebook, in contrast to Twitter, is being used for more intimate conversations or posts with/to their “friends” and has the ability to create relationships. People give personal information such as: where they work, where they study (or have studied), their relationship status and even where they live on their Facebook profile. Furthermore, people post pictures of their life on Facebook from a party or event last night and even their holiday trips.
The question that arises: do people care about their privacy and are they aware of the effect that social media can have on their privacy? My opinion is that people are not very attached to their privacy and that they might be aware of the fact that social media can affect their privacy, but that they aren’t aware to which degree social media can affect their privacy.
Kind regards,
Rik Terpelle
I agree, I don't think people are aware of the impact that social media can have on their privacy untill they actually experience it themselves or in their surroundings. I also wrote an article about this on my blog:
ReplyDeletehttp://elsajonkersbit.blogspot.com/2011/02/safety-of-social-networks-yesterday-i.html