Social Privacy: Does It Exist?

Privacy (or the lack thereof) is the hottest topic on the web right now thanks to Facebook. Many are outraged and upset, therefore an enormous amount of content has been created for us to read, watch and listen to the rants and criticism of those posting their opinions. I find it really fascinating. I originally went with the status quo on this one. After the “like button” made it out to thousands, and counting, sites on the web everything has seemed to change. But after some realization, I really don’t think it has. I actually think it’s gotten more realistic.

The Like Button has Everyone confused. We are now alarmed and concerned. Where, When and How will the content we choose to share be seen or heard, and by Whom? Even if all our settings are pointed to private, we are told someone could see something to do with us somehow or someway at some point in time. But, is that truly a bad thing? Or is it realistic to think that’s out of line?

The Social Web has grown. In the beginning it was new and fun. A lot of discovery was happening on how this new communication tool was something we could actually create relationships with, reconnect with old friends, conduct ourselves almost as in real life by sharing any text, audio or visual we wanted. Now we come to a point where it’s big, matured quite a bit, grown to about 500 Million people on Facebook alone. We’ve established ourselves on one or more of these sites whether it’s Facebook, Twitter or anywhere else. We communicate with people as we do in real life. It’s no longer something we try to figure out. It’s something we just use, like the telephone.

We also can choose who we want to communicate with Directly.

But, Not Indirectly… Huge Difference.

That’s when it hit me like a ton of Direct Messages. I really had to take a step back and realize I was really missing this major point. The point that Social and Private only co-exist on a direct one to one basis. Indirect Communication is never private in real life and cannot be censored unless severe measures are taken, which last time I checked aren’t happening in the community I live in.

For example, If I am having a 2-way private conversation in person with a friend, it’s private for that moment in time. But, that person has the ability to do and say anything they choose to. Therefore, it’s only private while it’s happening. After that, anything could be shared that I’ve said. I’d like to trust my friend, if I had told them something I would rather not have shared beyond that exchange, but it’s impossible to censor or control what happens from there. I think where I went wrong blaming Facebook for privacy issues is that I did not fully think about social interaction, whether it’s online or in real life. The same rules apply.

Especially if you think about the fact we are putting our own selves out there. The more visible we all are, the more people will overhear or oversee. Such as life. Some want that visibility more than others. We can only control so much of what we share, or in other words, what is relayed onto others. If we want complete and total privacy, the only solution I can see is never communicate with anyone. We all know that’s impossible. We must work, we have hobbies, we want to see our family. Everyone we come in contact with has a voice and can communicate in some way shape or form. It’s no different, to me at least, whether it’s communicating at a coffee shop with a friend sitting across the table or behind a computer screen to everyone in your network on Facebook. We are sharing with people. People are sharing with others. Sometimes our interactions go onto people we will never even know about.

Anyway, these are my thoughts on Social Privacy. I believe the two do not co-exist. I would love to hear your thoughts on what you think is happening right now on the web in regards to Privacy. Whether you agree or have a different take,  I’d just love to hear your perspective so that I can continue to learn and grow.

I really appreciate the time you took to read the post and very much so looking forward to any thoughts and feedback you might have on the topic.
Respectfully,
DG

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