In my last blog I talked about privacy on the internet and how social networks and other kinds of web-based applications allow their users to effectively hide who they are. I asked whether the fact that we construct our identities online and so shouldn’t be concerned about privacy issues wasn’t too simplistic a conclusion.
Well, this was all brought on by Facebook’s new privacy settings which essentially seem to be encouraging us all to share far more information than we would ordinarily. I won’t go into the details of the privacy changes, as Electronic Frontier Foundation covers all the changes.
Essentially, the new changes mean that every little piece of content you put on your Facebook page will by default be set to be shown to the entire internet. This means that Facebook will be using your personal information, and your personal online identity – however constructed it may be – to compete with real-time sites like Twitter.
That sounds iffy
Given that very few Facebook users, possibly up until the point that the settings were changed, even bothered to check their privacy settings, this is has huge revenue potential for the social networking site. I doubt whether many Facebook users will try to figure out the new, and complicated settings.
Which brings me back to the conclusion of Privacy Problems Part 1 – the internet is essentially a big money making venture taken on by lots of different developers selling lots of different products. Facebook is simply one of those products and you have now become the key marketer.
It’s a bit like telling strangers your intimate details
The fact is that most people assume that the only people that can see what is on their profiles is the people that they have befriended – very few casual users will even bother to check their privacy settings or to negotiate content based on the new policy.
It’s the hard-core Facebookers who are most at risk – those that share absolutely everything risk losing lot more to many, many faceless users; but even those that protect everything will have Facebook arguing with them.
The result is a downright confusing mess – but I agree with EFF – whatever your stance on privacy, don’t use Facebook’s recommended settings.
Next week, talking about bubbles.
PS: Thanks again to lumaxart for the awesome graphic. Follow lumaxart’s Flickr Photostream at http://www.flickr.com/photos/lumaxart/
I'm afraid I got distracted this week. I had intended to talk about my little metaphor of social media but I get so worked up about this topic that I'll have to talk about bubbles next post.
ReplyDeletePerhaps you might want to add Matt McKeon's excellent Evolution of Facebook Privacy graphic to your post. You will however have to ask for permission first at http://mattmckeon.com/facebook-privacy/usage.html
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