Twitter, Facebook, and the Beginning of Privacy
Sometimes things are not what they seem, and sometimes, the further they are from what they seem, the harder it is to comprehend their true nature. Facebook and privacy might well be a classical example of this: the common wisdom that the “Facebook Generation” is giving up their private lives. For me, personally, it has done the opposite. (aside: I’m using “facebook” as my example, but it’s not just their service, but the entire culture of sharing, be it via Twitter, Buzz, etc.).
Facebook has forced me to explicitly decide: what about me is private, and what is public? Furthermore, it has made me realize what “public” actually means: visible to my sister, my coworkers, to my professors, my ex and future lovers, and everyone in between. Before facebook, the people that knew me could be arranged in a variety of spaces - from my closest loved ones, to that high school friend I’ve talked to twice since we graduated.
Now, a “public persona” emerges that is the intersection of all of them, one that can’t talk about addiction or drugs, and one which is, in all senses of the phrase, safe-for-work.
By removing all that I’ve decided to make public, facebook (and twitter, and this blog) allow me to define precisely what it is that I want to keep private, and why. They change the very meaning of privacy.
