Preservation, Promotion, Privacy Invasion
On a recent trip to a cruel and shallow money trench, known to some as Las Vegas, I was photographing the classic Flamingo Hotel when my friend asked, “Why are you taking pictures — you’re not even on Facebook?” I was shocked that she didn’t think my noteworthy life was worth documenting if strangers couldn’t see it. I recently took myself off the web to avoid being available to strangers and now I’ve become a “social-media pariah” among my friends.
It seems as if candid photos have gone from a form of preservation to personal promotion. An individual’s online profile has become a free peep show for anyone to gawk at from the other side of the glass. Keep in mind that your pictures are available to everyone and that privacy features aren’t always dependable and should never be seen as a surefire way to protect your anonymity. Look at Facebook’s recent security system incident that involved a computer technician hacking into Paris Hilton’s private photo album.
The more one reveals about their personal actions on the web, the more they strip away the mystery of their private lives. However, that can be to our advantage as well. We have the ability to shape how people perceive us through the photos we upload and share with everyone. The only problem is how do we control the use of our personal information and photos when in the hands of other people?
Ashley Alexandra Dupré, the prostitute associated with Gov. Eliot Spitzer, is a perfect example of how openness on the web can backfire. In a just a few hours after the scandal broke, journalists were able to discover an array of information about her — from a photo of her in a bathing suit to private details of her difficult childhood. She may have never expected immediate infamy, but she made the journalists’ jobs a lot easier. Millions of people have made all kinds of personal details available online via social networking sites, perhaps without thinking it could be used against them. My advice: Imagine that everything you type online is being read by a potential employer. Or, better yet, by your parents.
April 14th, 2008 at 9:55 pm
Facebook executives introduced new security features to great fanfare, a glitch on the popular social networking site has exposed private pictures of Paris Hilton to anyone with an internet connection. It must be awesome topic!
June 23rd, 2008 at 8:05 am
I not only worry about what a future employer could find on the web, but also what gets stored on my own personal computer. If it were ever to get in the wrong hands, everyone would have access to deleted password files, internet search logs, emails etc. Who knows how the scammers could use that against me. I found a cool program that deletes one’s sensitive information from the actual hard drive. It’s worth checking out if worried about privacy. http://yourcomputerprotection.blogspot.com