These days there are many debates about social networks and their effects on our lives, friendships and also business issues. Many students enrolled in New Media & Society seminar already wrote about this theme on their blogs, so I decided to focus on dilemma about privacy policy of social networks. 350 million people signed up for Facebook under the belief their information could be shared just between friends they confirmed. But is this true?
The rise of social networking online means that people no longer have an expectation of privacy according to Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. “People have really gotten comfortable not only sharing more information and different kinds, but more openly and with more people”, he said. “It is important for companies to reflect the changing social norms in order to remain relevant and competitive.” "This statement may not be a surprise because it helps to justify the company’s recent and highly controversial decision to change the privacy settings of its 350 million users and it also represents a remarkable shift from where Facebook originally started out, as an exclusive network that allowed people to communicate privately within small groups of friends."
Many people disagree with Zuckerberg justification and one of them is also Marshall Kirkpatric. He says that Zuckerberg’s statements are “not a believable explanation”. Kirkpatrick points that Facebook is making a big mistake by moving away from its origins based on privacy because society is not in fact changing the way that Zuckerberg claims it is. Kirkpatrick presents three main arguments. “Evolving preferences do not justify elimination of choices”, although people are becoming more comfortable sharing private information that doesn’t mean that it is ok to take away peoples choices and force them to make public some of their information all the time. "It is hard to believe that the hundreds of millions of Facebok users want to throw their privacy out the window." Secondly, “privacy doesn’t just mean secrecy”, accurate and contemporary understanding of privacy is based more on the integrity of context. When personal information and conversation become public, Facebook is eliminating any integrity of context that these conversations would naturally have. Third argument, “many people need control over personal information”, point out that people need to keep access to some of their personal information online limited just to trusted friends. Removing user control over what's public removes the ability for millions of people to safely participate on Facebook.
“While we are sharing more, we are gaining more too” said Zoe Margoils in her article “Is loss of privacy a price worth paying". Her idea is that just because one medium attract more headlines about its supposed effect on privacy, it does not mean that other areas in life are less responsible for any loss of privacy we might experience today. She stress that while there are serious moral and ethical issues concerning the loss of online privacy, maybe this is a fair price to be paid by the dramatic improvements in communication, connectivity and socializing.
I agree with Margoils statement that we have gained much from advances in technology, both, personally and society as a whole. But although I am a user of social networks, there are definitely things that I still want private. There are some options to select levels of privacy on Facebook, but they are buried under public default options and also much of a user’s activity is not subject of that kind of options. In my opinion best solution is that what we want to stay private we do not share over social networks. I disagree with Zuckerbergs argument that Facebook is only reflecting the changes that society is undergoing, Facebook itself is a major agent of social changes. I think it is all about having a choice and education about privacy is definitely the key. Unlike the current, we need understandable options that are transparent and still we must be careful what personal information we post in public places online and take in consideration that they are there forever.
I agree with you that we have to be careful what personal information we post online, but I think that that depends on how much you trust those kinds of public online places. I am not so sure I would want to post too much personal information with just about anybody, but there are a lot of people who don't mind if everybody sees their information (just look at Facebook and the things that some people post - from half naked pictures to really sick online statuses/thoughts). I think that all the talk about how much privacy can a person have on Facebook is just a way to get people on it and to keep them there. But in fact, no information, shared on the internet, is quite private - we know it, but we just don't care enought not to do it anymore - because if everyone does it, why should I be any different?
OdgovoriIzbrišiAvtor je odstranil ta komentar.
OdgovoriIzbrišiYes Ines, I am really shocked sometimes about things that people put online, but I don’t agree with your statement that talk about privacy on Fabcebook is just a way to get people on it and to keep them there. Debates about privacy are important for people to begin to realize and to get aware about importance of this topic, to hear different options on it, as I said in my post; education about privacy is the key.
OdgovoriIzbrišiI also realize that no information shared online is quite private and that there are a number of abuses, but I really don't agree with Zuckerbergs statement that “The rise of social networking online means that people no longer have an expectation of privacy.” This is strongly generalized statement and can't be applied to hundreds of millions of Facebook users. Facebook should not distance from its origins based on privacy or at least they could give their users transparent options about their privacy settings.
I also strongly disagree that people don't care anymore about privacy, as you said: “because everyone does it, why should I be any different?” This is also strongly generalized statement and can’t be applied on all users. I know more and more people leaving Facebook or are thinking to do so, because of its attitude about privacy. In my opinion the solution is not in leaving social networks, because they make dramatic improvements in communication, connectivity and socializing. Good reflection about posts and transparent privacy options is what we need.
I think you've made an excellent point about good reflection about posts and better awareness on the users side and more transparent privacy options on the side of the ''creators'' and I do agree with you. But I have to explain that I didn't mean to generalize my statement to all users - I just encountered too many people on Facebook that post their half-naked pictures and don't have their Facebook accounts made private (that is just for their friends to see)and better yet - they post them on the walls of different Facebook ''groups'' so a lot more people can see them. How can I think then that they care about privacy? But these people are ofcourse in minority, I wouldn't think of generalizing this. But I still insist on the statement ''if everyone does it, why should I be any different?'', I just meant it a little bit diffentent than you understood it - I didn't mean those extremes I was writing about earlier, but all of us who posted at least one picture on Facebook. Namely, I recall an article about Facebook from a long time ago, where they talked about privacy on Facebook. It said that even if you post a picture on it and then delete it from your account, you can't completely delete it - it still stays on the network somewhere an also the people responsible for Facebook's privacy can still access them. So if we realize this fact and post the pictures anyway, what does this say about our attitude to privacy? That we just don't think it's a big deal, because everyone (ok, not to generalize...almost everyone) does it. But I am speaking about the ''normal'' content, ofcourse. But I do believe the majority of people are carefull with what they post and what they share with others. As for the others, who don't consider what they post - well, they will just have to take responsibility for their actions, if needed.
OdgovoriIzbriši