A New Definition of Privacy
Facebookers, MySpacers, YouTubers, and bloggers of all kinds, hear this!
If you put something on the internet, people will read it. And I mean everyone; not just your friends and online contacts, but your employer, your pastor, your ex-boyfriend and maybe even your mom. Mine certainly does 
.
I don’t mean to instill fear, or dissuade anyone from sharing information online. I am obviously a major proponent of all things online networking-related, and there is little about me that you can’t read about online. And then there are the photos. But it’s important to remember that if you put it out there, it will be seen.
This topic comes up at just about every blogging-related conference I’ve been to (yes, several thank you very much) and those in the know tend to agree; there is “no security by obscurity,” to paraphrase Roland Tanglao (I think it was). Meaning, you can’t assume that the internet is such a massive space that the photos from your drunken exploits on that Thursday that you called in sick won’t be found by the boss you lied to, eventually.
My generation is the last that will have to experience a paradigm shift here; us “grown folks” have had to decide whether we’re comfortable with “putting ourselves out there.” The young ‘uns seem to have a reckless “devil may care” attitude with a lot of what they publish online, and my message to them is simply this: tread carefully.
Recently, over lunch with Six Apart’s Anil Dash, this very topic came up, and he said that they screen the MySpace pages, YouTube channels and blogs of every job applicant they get at the company, and anytime he talks to school groups, etc. he’ll bring up this fact, just to watch their reactions. “Shock and awe” pretty much sums up his description of the ensuing discussion and question period.
Of course, sometimes maintaining a public profile puts you at risk as well, as evidenced by certain goings-on in the blogoshpere of late (no link until the dust has truly settled). Just as in the “real world,” there are always a few bad eggs out there who seem intent to ruin the fun for the rest of us. But we shall overcome, and all that. It’s a lot of fun here on the ‘internets,’ and I want nothing more than to see everyone join the party, and be themselves, without fear.
Just remember that you are in public, and you should act accordingly.
(image credit: “New Issues of Privacy” from the New Yorker by NYCMotherPie)
April 3rd, 2007 at 3:38 pm
[…] Original post by jordan[at]telltenfriends.com (Jordan Behan of Tell Ten Friends Marketing) […]
April 3rd, 2007 at 6:34 pm
yup it was me but i didn’t invent the phrase! hopefully with digital identity we’ll be able to share what we want with whom we want Real soon now! I figure that will be about 10 years or so …!
April 3rd, 2007 at 6:44 pm
The idea of digital identity is an interesting one…there are times when I would prefer to be securely identified as myself (online purchases, various site logins), but there are also times when I prefer some level of anonymity as well.
Obviously we all have the option of privacy setting on various sites, etc. But my concern is more about what is being shared, and the assumption that only one’s close friends will see what they’ve posted, when that is very obviously not the case.
April 5th, 2007 at 2:40 pm
It’s something I try to think about often. I’ve been a blogger for years and with a new company start up, I had to think about what I’d blogged about and what could potentially be a problem. Every time I post, I always have to think about what could be the repercussions of this. And I know that when I’ve hired in the past (heck even guys I’ve dated, lol), I’ve googled the person, searched for a blog, etc. So yes I think the new reality is that privacy is completely different today. The interesting thing to watch though, will we start to see a watering down or censoring of self more, or will the new generation as you said continue to be oblivious to what they write.
April 5th, 2007 at 3:49 pm
I certainly experience the same thing, Lisa. Actually after writing this I realized that I really should start a personal blog, separate from my company site, because I’ve got a lot more to share! But even then, I’ll certainly make a conscious effort to discuss only what I’m completely comfortable with.
April 8th, 2007 at 2:08 pm
Wow, I just stumbled on the incident I think you were referring to Jordan. That’s unreal and it boggles my mind that something like that even happened.
April 8th, 2007 at 8:38 pm
Yes Lisa, and for those of you who are a little confused, I am referring to the Kathy Sierra debacle.
I don’t have access to all of the facts, but it seems as if lines have most certainly been crossed, and the unforgivable actions of a few have caused the rest of us to reflect on our own level of privacy. All it takes is one childish, unprovoked moron to ruin all of the fun.
Lisa, you share a great deal of yourself and your experiences with your kids, and I would hate to see some twit upset your comfort level in that regard.
Blog on, and let’s just all have faith that we will be protected by our friends in the blogosphere. The rally around Kathy has certainly been encouraging, it’s just too bad that it took such a senseless attack to bring it to light.
April 10th, 2007 at 8:56 am
[…] Sometimes I miss being able to blog about whatever I wanted. Or at least the naivety of not thinking about who might read my blog and the impact or perception it could create. Recently on Jordan’s blog, he brought up a good point in relation to something awful that happened in the blogosphere recently. When I blog now, I have to think about the company and any mispeceptions that could occurr. I have a disclaimer, but still, some people have lost their jobs over blogs. In some ways my blog has become watered down. Partially because I’ve been so busy, but partially because maybe talking about sex now wouldn’t be such a great idea, although my stats and comments were pretty high when I used to, lol - and for those of you who go searching through the archives looking for those posts, they’ve been deleted (and for those of you still curious, no it was never writing about my sexual escapades, lol. It was rather generic, educational type stuff;)). And yes I know we’re not supposed to edit our blog posts, but it is still essentially my blog and my choice. Heck even strong political views I have to be cautious of (although we all know what I really think;)). Yet the reality is that if someone was truly sick they could take anything we write about, our kids, our lives, whatever and twist it or write things that could potentially scare us. […]