First of all, let me just say that I was amazed at how far Karen McCullagh went to define privacy. I did a ‘wiki’ for Dr. Coopman’s 181 class last semester on a similar topic I entitled “Privacy and Social Networking: Managing Your Personal Information” (if interested, found at http://comm181.pbworks.com/w/page/38889344/Jay-B ) and of course defined privacy management…once. This woman went above and beyond, and there were two or three definitions of just ‘privacy’ that I wish I’d used. The simplest was Warren and Brandeis definition as “the right to be left alone”. I got a kick out that one. Also, I liked what Westin offered, “the claim of individuals, groups, or institutions to determine for themselves when, how and to what extent information about them is communicated to others.”
As did I in my more Facebook oriented paper, McCullagh raised the point that the expectations of individual bloggers is the key. You are posting potentially dangerous information that is archived and stored for potential predators to sift through and possibly hurt you with. It is important to realize and plan for this each and every time you post anything to the web, be it Facebook, Blogspot, Twitter, Yelp or whatever.
Lastly, I really enjoyed how this article discussed why we take the privacy risks in the first place…the rewards of social interaction! I omitted this type of thing from my paper, delving more into an educational type of warning for individuals to watch their online behavior for their own sake. But as a newfound blogger myself, I wish I had a least touched on the positive aspects of SNS and blogging, cause they are real and immeasurably wonderful! : D
Ciao for now, Sharxjay.
Sharxjay,
ReplyDeleteI can’t agree with you more! The way the authors’ discussed privacy amazed me too. It was so clear, upfront, and descriptive. It’s impressive how they really took time to sit down and think of all the ways that privacy can affect a blog.
Also it’s great seeing how you’ve already had experience in research in this topic. For me personally its hard to see the opposite side of the coin when you’re already focused on a certain topic. That may have happened with your project. (No offense ☺ ). I think the best aspect of social networking is the reward of keeping in touch with friends and family. It is important to know your boundaries of what to share. But then it again I think it all comes down to who you let into your social network and privacy settings.
Great post! Keep up the good work!
-Jossshhuaa
Hi Sharxjay,
ReplyDeleteI think you raise an interesting point. We spend loads of time and energy defining, analyzing and protecting elements of privacy. However, any act of social interaction compels us to overcome privacy risks. To make an outrageous comparison, social media is like an extreme sport. There are risks, but we engage in these behaviors because they help us define ourselves. As the article describes, without privacy we’d never have specific relationships. If my mother knew everything my partner knew they wouldn’t have the unique roles in my life that I depend on. Similarly, if my employer knew everything about me I wouldn’t have control of my identity as an employee. This article helped me understand how we privacy to create identity and spurn conformity. Personally, I don’t share very much information about my self online. But as you say there are many positive outcomes from online social media, so maybe I should just get over my privacy concerns. ;)