Privacy is a thing of the past

Thanks to this class, I have been increasingly aware of social media's influence everywhere I look. Ashamed as I am to admit this, I am an avid Gossip Girls fan. The characters on that show are constantly using their cell phones or the internet to communicate the latest gossip. None of the characters can get away with anything. When Serena and Dan secretly rekindled their romance after a summer of being broken up, a random girl on the street spotted them kissing and snapped a picture with her camera phone. She then proceeded to send the pic to every other teenager in the city apparently. (This tends to happen at least once an episode.) Privacy doesn't exist in the fast-paced, technical world of Gossip Girl. But Gossip Girl's world is not far from our own.


With everyone owning an instant-connection-to-every-humanbeing device aka a cell phone, anything can be captured and sent out to people within seconds. Social networking sites are superb at capturing every little detail of one's activity and posting it in the open for all to witness. Ben Parr wrote a fantastic blog about the link between social media and privacy at http://mashable.com/2008/09/08/social-media-privacy-news-feed/


Facebook began their news feed application almost exactly two years ago. He explains that at first people were wary about the idea of the instant feeds and had no desire to post their lives online or view anyone elses. Or so they thought. Once the phenomena caught on, it exploded. Parr says the Facebook News Feed began to revolutionize how people viewed their friendships with people online and off. Suddenly, everyone could know when Joe Schmoe broke up with his girlfriend and what she had written on her best friend's wall about it. Parr writes, "Our views on what should be shared, what shouldn’t be shared, and with whom we share our lives are what have changed the most. We are more comfortable sharing our lives and thoughts instantly to thousands of people, close friends and strangers alike". Social media has invaded our privacy, but we are willing to let it. Individually, each person should ask themselves, how much should I put out there? What do I want my parents, boss, teachers, to see? Personal discretion is becoming more and more necessary.