Social networking is becoming increasingly popular however what impact is it having on our privacy?
Leong (2011) explored the many criticisms in her lecture ‘Performing Me: Maintaining Visibility on the Social Stage’. Leong (2011) attributed manipulation, herd-like mentality, trivialising friendships and the addictive and time-wasting nature as some of the many criticisms of social networking websites.
These criticisms are further explored through the glass bedroom metaphor in which a person using social networking sites lets “private conversations and intimate exchanges occur, each with varying awareness of distant friends and strangers” (Pearson 2009). Further explanation of the glass bedroom metaphor can be viewed here.
One social networking website that emulates this metaphor is Facebook. Facebook inhibits many tools that allow people to view personal information, conversations, photos, videos and friendships among other things.
Not only can this affect one’s reputation but it creates the risk of online identity theft. For example, Facebook has a tool where someone can ‘check in’ to a location. Many people use this tool when they are at home, therefore allowing people to see where they live.
(Facebook Places Screenshot, www.facebook.com)
With photos, full names, birth dates, addresses and other personal information readily available on Facebook it is no surprise that "Identity thieves who use emerging technology to perpetrate fraud are responsible for a crime wave that is costing Australians approximately $1 billion a year” (Hildebrand 2009).
______________________________________________________________________________________
Reference List
Hildebrand, Joe. 2009. “Facebook identity theft enough for jail.” News.com.au, July 11. Accessed March 13th, 2011. http://www.news.com.au/facebook-identity-theft-enough-for-jail/story-0-1225748436706
Leong, Susan. “KCB206 performing me: Week 2 lecture slides.” Accessed March 12, 2011. http://blackboard.qut.edu.au/.
Pearson, Erika. 2009. “All the World Wide Web’s a stage: The performance of identity in online social networks” First Monday (14). Accessed March 12, 2011. http://firstmonday.org/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/viewArticle/2162/2127
No comments:
Post a Comment