Where do we draw the line when it comes to privacy?After constant hounding by my friends, I was finally cajoled into joining the 'facebook' family. Don't get me wrong - I am just as snoopy as the next guy and I enjoy delving into the photos and private lives of my friends (it kind of allows me to live vicariously through them since my life is a bit hectic right now and there is very little time for fun). Facebook offers an amazing service! It allows you to hunt down anyone from your past - or hopeful future - and find out personal details. This is where my concerns lie. Some people reveal way too much about themselves and don't realize that this information, although one day erased on the site, lives forever in the cyber world. We encourage our students to become part of the 'social networking' family, but many do not realize the implications of their actions (inappropriate photos, private information, etc.) and are oblivious to the ramifications of their postings. How do we make kids aware of the consequences that may ensue? How do we get them to understand that the information they post is not really 'private'?
The same concerns come in with my personal experiences with facebook or twittering - once again, I am asked why I don't keep my profile or whereabouts up to date. My response is simple . . . why do I want people to know what I am doing every second of the day? Is this an issue I should be worried about?
3 comments:
I've read in several places now that a large number of teens didn't realize their Facebook accounts were not private among themselves and their friends, so certainly not understanding the technology plays a role.
We control what we post in social networking environments, so the best default is to consider everything we post as public. Since I do not share my private life online, my Facebook and Twitter posts are personal in that they share my thoughts and understandings, or professional concerns, but not information about those things I don't want on the web. To me, Facebook and Twitter are for microblogging (things I'd put on my blog if they were longer or more developed) and communicating about these things. When I find a long-lost friend, I switch to email (which I realize is not private, since they can forward things or people can hack my account, but I'm not that concerned about it nor willing to give up email for private communication).
We each have several personas, in real life the same as online. Some we 'show' to teachers, some to family. People behave differently around authority figures than their friends. We need to consider this aspect when we show ourselves online too.
Lisa has it right, as so often. The point is to be aware of our online identity or identities and manage them in awareness. Our job as educators, then, is to help our students understand how the technologies work and use them sensibly. There is not much to be gained from tweeting every aspect of your life in any case. Who do you want to follow on twitter - the person who uses it to share ideas, links, questions, discussions; of the person who tells you what they had for breakfast? Some sharing of personal details deepens connections - but you can hit saturation very quickly.
I consider myself extremely open, with the exception of my finances and medical/legal records.
Location awareness via Brightkite.com is public except when I check in at home.
If I take a photo that I'm not willing to share with the world, I don't put it online.
If you want to see me drink a beer, buy me a beer in person.
I tell students, 1."You can't erase something once it's online." and 2."If you can't share it online, decide whether or not you should be doing it in the first place."
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