I feel compelled to clarify a couple things I said in class today, for fear of having come across as a paranoid reactionary when discussion turned to privacy on Facebook. I reacted to Paul's assertion that the Facebook community had retained much of its openness and relative lack of privacy as compared to MySpace, in spite of its launch beyond just college-age users, by saying maybe that wasn't such a great value to uphold. What I meant by that was simply that young people, and sadly young women in particular, may be putting themselves at risk by revealing too much information about themselves; that perhaps the sense of assumed protection from the outside world that existed before the site went "post-college" continues to be taken for granted by many young people who use Facebook.
I'm certainly not one of these alarmist critics of the Internet or social networking; far from it in fact. But I do think it's foolish to ignore the potential downside of the open flow of information in this specific context. And no, I'm not interested in "projecting my fears onto my children," as Paul half-jokingly suggested. Rather, I only hope to instill a modicum of common sense in them (my daughter AND my son) so that by the time they start dabbling online and joining their own social networking sites (who knows what they may be in 5-7 years?), they exercise good judgment and a fair degree of restraint.
I also hope, like Lori opined in her previous post, that my kids continue to thrive in their offline lives and grow to appreciate the wonders of the physical world as much as they learn to delight in the riches of the digital one.
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Interesting post, Doug. I don't find anything to disagree with there. And to be honest, there are plenty of times in life when it is a really smart thing to do to "project your fears onto your children," lol. I'm pretty sure that when I reacted with intense fear when my 3-year-old Luna escaped my grasp and ran onto a busy Berkeley street that projecting my fear helped reinforce a very valid risk she needed to learn to avoid. Ditto when I refused to let my young children near the hot stovetop and taught them not to climb into strangers cars if offered. (Having had that offer once in my childhood I realized that even unlikely risks DO occur.) I suspect that more parents should be projecting a few more risks with regards to social interactions, whether in person or online.
I also agree with your post, Doug. Facebook has instilled a sense of complacency in its early adopters — primarily college students. Students must be aware that their information is, under certain circumstances, viewable by employers, co-workers, and family members. This information may affect, appropriately or not, one's employment or face-to-face relationships. With the most recent introduction of Facebook applications, profile information can be easily exposed to third parties. So I do agree that you should maintain a sense of circumspection with regard to privacy and exposing information.
I do agree that folks need to learn to manage privacy and reputation (they are not the same of course). Notice that I say manage not hide nor freely expose without considering the costs in either direction.
How to get at the costs and the benefits involved and what frames them?
To that end, I recommend Steven Nock's "Costs of Privacy Survelliance: Surveillance and Reputation in America" and "The Unwanted Gaze: The Destruction of Privacy in America" by Jeffrey Rosen.
Rosen has also written "The Naked Crowd: Reclaiming Security and Freedom in an Anxious Age" which I have not read but would recommend having a look over.
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