Facebook Wants to Be Your Best Friend
At first there were applications on Facebook with games, surveys and much more to click on, or a friend invited you to participate and play. In the beginning, very few people knew that answering the questions to finding out“Where in the world you should live,” or your “Top favorite soft drinks,” companies were gathering information about you and your friends. Then there was Facebook Beacon that was criticized right away by the media and turned off audiences bringing up issues around personal privacy. People were automatically opt-in by “the face” to share your face with others in the advertising community. Through the introduction of FriendFeed, Facebook Connect and now called the Facebook Registration Login, a tool that allows one to access websites with a universal password and username, as well as shares the places where you go with your friends online.
It also gives Facebook and its advertisers access to information everywhere you go on the web with your friends. As society adopts new social media environments, does it impact your decisions and participation across the web, as more personal information could be shared with advertisers or other sources?
Social Media Peer Pressure
As more websites decide to make it a requirement to sign-in using Facebook’s Registration Login, or one’s Twitter account to use certain services online, it’s as if this is social media peer pressure. Initially, many people created profiles on Facebook, Twitter and other social sites to learn the tools and connect with others. For some it was the trend, if my friends are doing it, so should I. More companies need to explain better the value and purpose as to why one should sign-in with their Facebook, or Twitter accounts. It’s important to give one an option to choose not to use their personal accounts in order to reap the same benefits. In the long-term, is it really just an effort to provide you better service, or could these new conveniences put you at risk to another form of spam, taking the real social aspect away in the future. The blurring of the lines between one’s personal, professional, virtual vs. real persona, maybe coming together in one place. Our daily roles as a worker, daughter, son, brother, sister, mother, father, companion, or something else are different in the ways we interact with others. One may not want to share certain data with everyone we come into contact, as well as with one large data warehouse. For many signing into these new web and mobile services, one wonders if he/she actually understands the reality of sharing my pictures, my comments, where I’m located, or other things that I like, or mention on my pages. Is it just my friends, or with someone else? Does that bother you? People believe it may just be to their protected environment of “friends,” but other places are gaining access to their information.
Berkman Center For Internet & Society
As new technological advancements occur, there are conversations being discussed to protect the rights of others and keep people informed. Harvard’s Berkman Center For Internet & Society addresses some of these issues and has raised awareness through its events, fellowship program, and research to bring clarity to consumers in this new digital age. The Berkman Center’s mission is to explore and understand cyberspace; to study its development, dynamics, norms, and standards; and to assess the need or lack thereof for laws and sanctions. Also, we should all start to think about more personally the ways in which we communicate on the web and how we use our smartphones.
The Power of People in Numbers
We have the power to say something and stand up for our rights. Yet, in this new digital age people don’t even understand the implications of joining certain sites or sharing information with others until it maybe too late. Some people’s frustrations, or lack of understanding the need, value, or benefits of the service can lead to closing of one’s Friendster, MySpace, or Facebook accounts. It’s interesting to see the digital revolution change the way in which society becomes reliable on new forms of technology that impacts our lives, and we give more permission to others that seek profits that could impact our rights. Many governments complained of the threat of WikiLeaks and shut-down the site, while founder Julian Assange is facing jail time.
How do you feel about leaking out more personal information about yourself, your friends, or family to the rest of the world without you knowing and potentially having no control over it? Is it just a matter of convenience, or is Big Brother actually watching YOU!
