Social
media is an opportunity for us as individuals to be part of a global community,
giving us a chance to have our own voice and feel as though we are more than
just one in a billion. Through
social media, such as Facebook and MySpace, we are able to document our lives
or as Ander Albrechtslund describes “[cyberspace] offers the opportunity to
construct an identity beyond bodily presence.” As we move into a technological age where social media is
common for all individuals and organizations, we struggle with our online
versus our offline identities, and how they connect with our public and private
personae. In Albrechtslund’s
article, Online Social Networking as
Participatory Surveillance, he discusses the prominent use of social media
and how its presence in society affects individuals’ right to privacy.
Albrechtslund states that persistence, and ‘the invisible audience’ can characterize social media. The idea behind social media being persistent is simply that what you post will never be erased; it will instead stay with you to be later judged by ‘the invisible audience’. The ‘invisible audience’ not only includes your friends and family but potentially everyone who has access to the Internet. When reading a post in Hana’s Blog titled, Social Media and the Fine Line between Public, Private and Personal, she explored the same concept, that once you post something online you are never able to retract it. She also described her own experiences with social media, stating that she is very conscious of what she is posting and how it will be perceived in the future. Unfortunately, not all of the population is so careful in their posting, as adolescents post their lives and experiences online with little thought to their privacy or the implications their comments and photos can have. Organizations and employers now have access to their employee’s past, and with the organization’s image on the line, people’s online past can negatively impact their offline future.
As a recent example in the news today about the effects of privacy on one’s public and private persona, we can look to the tragic death of Amanda Todd. Amanda was a girl who, like many of her age of 15, was starting to explore her womanhood and unfortunately leaked a topless picture of herself to a male online. The photo was then circulated online and as a result, she endured cyber bullying, which ended with her taking her own life. Her tragic situation is one of many examples of adolescents whose actions at the time were seemingly harmless, but later came back to haunt them in a way that could not be escaped. Her online public persona became what everyone knew of her and as much as she tried, it followed her offline self.
We are often uneasy about the amount of surveillance the government places on social media and individuals’ social relations, political views and religious beliefs that are easily accessible Facebook or Twitter. The government uses surveillance to control the online users but also to protect. In the case of Amanda Todd, surveillance of social media was helpful in locating and identifying those who contributed to her cyber bulling. As social media rapidly becomes a part of Western culture, the government needs to use their control to educate adolescents about the implications of social media and the importance of privacy settings. While we may not enjoy the idea of our privacy being compromised, with social media the only privacy you have is what you do not share online.
Albrechtslund states that persistence, and ‘the invisible audience’ can characterize social media. The idea behind social media being persistent is simply that what you post will never be erased; it will instead stay with you to be later judged by ‘the invisible audience’. The ‘invisible audience’ not only includes your friends and family but potentially everyone who has access to the Internet. When reading a post in Hana’s Blog titled, Social Media and the Fine Line between Public, Private and Personal, she explored the same concept, that once you post something online you are never able to retract it. She also described her own experiences with social media, stating that she is very conscious of what she is posting and how it will be perceived in the future. Unfortunately, not all of the population is so careful in their posting, as adolescents post their lives and experiences online with little thought to their privacy or the implications their comments and photos can have. Organizations and employers now have access to their employee’s past, and with the organization’s image on the line, people’s online past can negatively impact their offline future.
As a recent example in the news today about the effects of privacy on one’s public and private persona, we can look to the tragic death of Amanda Todd. Amanda was a girl who, like many of her age of 15, was starting to explore her womanhood and unfortunately leaked a topless picture of herself to a male online. The photo was then circulated online and as a result, she endured cyber bullying, which ended with her taking her own life. Her tragic situation is one of many examples of adolescents whose actions at the time were seemingly harmless, but later came back to haunt them in a way that could not be escaped. Her online public persona became what everyone knew of her and as much as she tried, it followed her offline self.
We are often uneasy about the amount of surveillance the government places on social media and individuals’ social relations, political views and religious beliefs that are easily accessible Facebook or Twitter. The government uses surveillance to control the online users but also to protect. In the case of Amanda Todd, surveillance of social media was helpful in locating and identifying those who contributed to her cyber bulling. As social media rapidly becomes a part of Western culture, the government needs to use their control to educate adolescents about the implications of social media and the importance of privacy settings. While we may not enjoy the idea of our privacy being compromised, with social media the only privacy you have is what you do not share online.
http://www.vancouverobserver.com/life/technology/facebook-culpable-amanda- todds-death
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