Whether I'm trying to start an assignment, complete one or research for it, my mind always seems to be distracted and I find myself checking Facebook for the latest gossip, photos and upcoming events. It seems to have become a very habitual thing in my life, an addiction if you like. When Facebook first came out I was very hesitant to become a member as I tended to use the Internet as a form of procrastination and this would just exacerbate the situation. However despite my concerns I ended up joining the social networking website - if you can't beat them, join them. Although it has become a form of procrastination to some extent, it also allows me to interact and connect with people I wouldn't normally speak to on a daily or weekly basis.
Along with Facebook’s (and many other communities) ability to connect you with others, one has to question in online communities...do we share too much? Photos and personal details can be accessed by anyone from prospective employers to stalkers and there has been expressed concern about the potential abuses of social networking technology - abuse by participants and the media.
One particular story in the news which deals with the media’s abuse of Facebook is the recent publicity on Australian swimmer 'extraordinaire' Stephanie Rice. Her Facebook page was a hot topic of conversation as the content she had created and posted (pictures of herself in costume) was deemed inappropriate for a representative of Australian Swimming. The Daily Telegraph stated that "HAPPY snaps of Stephanie Rice partying have been deemed too raunchy for Swimming Australia, with all of the swimmers ordered to block public access to their Facebook pages" (Saurine 2008). A few harmless photographs shared with friends, family and the public were turned into a commotion overnight.
Privacy is a major issue online that many users face. The storage and use of the information is also a cause for concern. According to Vallance (2008), once users deactivate their account on Facebook the information still remains accessible on Facebook’s computer. The content is still available until the user goes onto his/her page, logs in and deletes all profile content. This is quite useful if you were to reactivate your account but why would you want to if you were going to delete it in the first place? Not many people are aware of this process of deletion and who can really be bothered? If you think about all the information that is posted hourly/daily/weekly etc there is too much to delete. Information on other people’s profiles still remains there even after you delete your profile and who wants to go through all their ‘friends’ pages and delete it?
The case of the controversial Beacon advertising program also seemed to be a heated discussion in 2007 where the broadcast of users’ online purchases was available to friends in their networks (Greenberg 2007).
There are many privacy issues that are yet to be resolved.
Users of the Facebook networking site (and many other online sites) must ensure they take into consideration what they are allowing others access to. Information is power and can be very dangerous in the wrong hands. I believe that many users assume that posting personal details and content online is a harmless activity. I am of the opinion that many are too nonchalant and that we do post too much personal information online.
References:
Greenberg, A. 2007. Facebook’s Overblown Privacy Problems. http://www.forbes.com/technology/2007/12/05/facebook-beacon-opt-tech-internet-cx_ag_1205techfacebook.html (Accessed April 12, 2008).
Saurine, A. 2008. Stephanie Rice's Facebook pictures censored. http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,23468911-5001021,00.html (Accessed April 12, 2008).
Vallance, C. 2008. Facebook faces privacy questions. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7196803.stm (Accessed April 12, 2008).
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3 comments:
Completely relate with the first sentence. However, whenever I have an urge to check Facebook (both the groups and home page), I will most likely also check: QUT email, 2 of my hotmail accounts and sometimes, 2 different discussion boards.
Yes, I think that we are in a digital society of sharing our stories, status, relationships, work info, photos, art and more. And that this sort of information will go towards the sort of eyes that you normally don't want to be involved. I think that something can be done about this though - for example, making your profiles private and forging a professional online 'personal branding' of yourself that you can include in your CV's or make sure that it's at the top of the Google search rankings.
http://del.icio.us/hansua/personalbranding
I completely agree with Rachel and hansua. I too find my mind straying from the task at hand. Time allocation to the assignment tasks is essential. I find it easy to put off when my friends on msn or yahoo messenger want to have a conversation. Social networking sites such as 'facebook' and 'myspace' are engaging and addictive it is difficult to switch off!
I agree with hansua, all Social networks have an application that can be set to 'public' or 'private', users must use their discretion to determine how much personal information is displayed.
It is a good lesson for anyone aspiring to make it 'big' in various different industries. Knowledge is 'power' and leverage, media can use information and adapt it in order to get headlines, perceptions may be completely misconstrued!
I agree some people need to double check what they publish on pages like facebook. Personally I want to be a teacher and I have a facebook account. But what do I do the day my students adds me as a friend? I thought about this the day I signed up and decided to make sure I would not put anything on my profile that would be inappropriate. Even though my personality may have some crazy wild sides I try my best to show the fun but also serious side of myself. And this is not only because of my former student. Also cause my former employer can easily find me on facebook and might not end up as my future employer. And in the end I don't want everybody to know everything about me. Even though I can choose to set the profile as private I want to stay on the safe side.
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