Just a year ago, a friend of mine met whom she thought to be the ‘perfect guy’. With similarities jumping out at you, you start to wonder if he was God sent. Interestingly, the phrase that “we are meant to be” was his favorite lingo.
Unfortunately (THANK GOD!), she soon discovered what a freaking liar he was. He was never that perfect guy he portrayed himself to be. Never were they similar in any way. A major striking difference was that he was mentally unstable (A PURE PSYCHO!).
Well let’s not dwell too much into her personal life, but what is interesting and crucial to note is that the ‘psycho’ discovered her through friendster!
Privacy
In my opinion, privacy is the need to create a space for yourself. A world built where only your thoughts, emotions, interests and activities exist.
No doubt, social networks like Friendster, MySpace, etc do allow an individual to create a space for themselves; a profile which belongs to them. However, it is not personal enough to be private. Profiles have become a common mechanism for presenting one’s identity online. With the popularity of online social networking services, profiles have been extended to include explicitly social information such as articulated "Friend" relationships and Testimonials.
Being affiliated with Friendster, information revelation for me was a means of getting to know others. Before, I knew about my friend’s incident, I never believed that being part of an online social network could result in drastic consequences (my friend was extremely hurt). For example, before my friend spoke to this guy in person (getting to know each other stage), the only information he knew about her was what he read on her friendster profile and that was sufficient to lure her. Yikes!
That was when I decided to check my profile to gage how much information I have divulged about myself. To my surprise, I realized there were sufficient details to make me a potential victim! Pictures and videos posted and interests mentioned meant to create a reputation for me. I believe it is the desire to appear presentable and attractive that has led many to reveal much information about oneself.
Knowing people through a social network is as similar as getting to know someone face-to-face. Facilities which create a face-to-face (FtF) environment provides an easier way for users to reveal more about themselves that they may not consciously want to. I maybe wrong, but am wondering if this is a form of reciprocation to the opportunities given on these social websites to make yourself known?
Well for me, I have tapped into the privacy settings to ensure that I know who is viewing my profile. Furthermore, it is a good thing that Friendster allows you to view a person’s profile before accepting their request to be friends. However, there are some out there who have private profiles. When faced with such, I do not accept their request. This has always been a practice of mine (even before knowing about that psycho). I also block or delete people I feel suspicious about. However, I have not changed much information n my profile. It is not a means to create intimacy, but a way to let those reading your profile know some details about you. I am a strong believer of the idea that intimacy is only possible with people you are well aware of (Rosen, 2004). As you can see, I mentioned “some details”. I would not go to the extent of revealing my address or mobile number to a possible whacko out there.
The Wall Street Journal on October 30, 2003 published an article today entitled "Having Lots of Online Friends Could Mean Privacy Trouble." The article articulates some of the institutional privacy concerns that some users do have and suggests that more users should have. The article reported on a specific incident:
“When Meredith Rosenblum first joined social networking site Friendster inJuly, she tried to find as many of her friends as she could. Now with 48 immediate friends and more than half a million in her "network," the 27-year-old advertising writer from San Francisco thinks she may have too many pals.
Two months ago, an online suitor she wasn't interested in, and had told so, entered her e-mail address in Friendster, found her and sent her a note: "Ha, ha. I found you." Turns out they were connected by one friend and though the mutual friend vouches for the guy, Ms. Rosenblum foundthe whole experience creepy.” - (Uslaner, 2004)
Unfortunately (THANK GOD!), she soon discovered what a freaking liar he was. He was never that perfect guy he portrayed himself to be. Never were they similar in any way. A major striking difference was that he was mentally unstable (A PURE PSYCHO!).
Well let’s not dwell too much into her personal life, but what is interesting and crucial to note is that the ‘psycho’ discovered her through friendster!
Privacy
In my opinion, privacy is the need to create a space for yourself. A world built where only your thoughts, emotions, interests and activities exist.
No doubt, social networks like Friendster, MySpace, etc do allow an individual to create a space for themselves; a profile which belongs to them. However, it is not personal enough to be private. Profiles have become a common mechanism for presenting one’s identity online. With the popularity of online social networking services, profiles have been extended to include explicitly social information such as articulated "Friend" relationships and Testimonials.
Being affiliated with Friendster, information revelation for me was a means of getting to know others. Before, I knew about my friend’s incident, I never believed that being part of an online social network could result in drastic consequences (my friend was extremely hurt). For example, before my friend spoke to this guy in person (getting to know each other stage), the only information he knew about her was what he read on her friendster profile and that was sufficient to lure her. Yikes!
That was when I decided to check my profile to gage how much information I have divulged about myself. To my surprise, I realized there were sufficient details to make me a potential victim! Pictures and videos posted and interests mentioned meant to create a reputation for me. I believe it is the desire to appear presentable and attractive that has led many to reveal much information about oneself.
Knowing people through a social network is as similar as getting to know someone face-to-face. Facilities which create a face-to-face (FtF) environment provides an easier way for users to reveal more about themselves that they may not consciously want to. I maybe wrong, but am wondering if this is a form of reciprocation to the opportunities given on these social websites to make yourself known?
Well for me, I have tapped into the privacy settings to ensure that I know who is viewing my profile. Furthermore, it is a good thing that Friendster allows you to view a person’s profile before accepting their request to be friends. However, there are some out there who have private profiles. When faced with such, I do not accept their request. This has always been a practice of mine (even before knowing about that psycho). I also block or delete people I feel suspicious about. However, I have not changed much information n my profile. It is not a means to create intimacy, but a way to let those reading your profile know some details about you. I am a strong believer of the idea that intimacy is only possible with people you are well aware of (Rosen, 2004). As you can see, I mentioned “some details”. I would not go to the extent of revealing my address or mobile number to a possible whacko out there.
The Wall Street Journal on October 30, 2003 published an article today entitled "Having Lots of Online Friends Could Mean Privacy Trouble." The article articulates some of the institutional privacy concerns that some users do have and suggests that more users should have. The article reported on a specific incident:
“When Meredith Rosenblum first joined social networking site Friendster inJuly, she tried to find as many of her friends as she could. Now with 48 immediate friends and more than half a million in her "network," the 27-year-old advertising writer from San Francisco thinks she may have too many pals.
Two months ago, an online suitor she wasn't interested in, and had told so, entered her e-mail address in Friendster, found her and sent her a note: "Ha, ha. I found you." Turns out they were connected by one friend and though the mutual friend vouches for the guy, Ms. Rosenblum foundthe whole experience creepy.” - (Uslaner, 2004)
Conclusion
From the example I realize that when you first sign up, you are so sucked into finding your friends, you do not realize how much access people have to finding you. This is something you should realize. A spokesman for Friendster Inc., of Sunnyvale, Calif., said there were no privacy issues on Friendster, and that the company could not comment on future features. Currently, users can only view profiles that are connected to them by within four degrees of friends. Users are not required to post photographs to sign up, and are only required to have a valid e-mail address. Users can also choose how much or little information to include in their profile (Uslaner, 2004).
Though every online network has its privacy procedures, unfortunate incidents still do take place. In the first place, protection would not be provided if the social networks are foolproof. Therefore, this is an issue that is mainly part of the responsibility of every individual. You could even be watched at this very moment!
From the example I realize that when you first sign up, you are so sucked into finding your friends, you do not realize how much access people have to finding you. This is something you should realize. A spokesman for Friendster Inc., of Sunnyvale, Calif., said there were no privacy issues on Friendster, and that the company could not comment on future features. Currently, users can only view profiles that are connected to them by within four degrees of friends. Users are not required to post photographs to sign up, and are only required to have a valid e-mail address. Users can also choose how much or little information to include in their profile (Uslaner, 2004).
Though every online network has its privacy procedures, unfortunate incidents still do take place. In the first place, protection would not be provided if the social networks are foolproof. Therefore, this is an issue that is mainly part of the responsibility of every individual. You could even be watched at this very moment!
References
Rosen, J. (19th July, 2004). "The Naked Crowd". Retrieved on 8th March, 2007 from http://www.spiked-online.com/Printable/0000000CA5FF.htm
Uslaner, E. M. (April 2004) Trust online, trust offline. Communications of the ACM, 47(4), 28-29. Retrieved on March 7, 2007, from http://portal.acm.org/citation.cfm?doid=975817.975838
Joinson, A., Uhler, B. (2002) Explanations for the Perception of and Reactions to Deception in a Virtual Community. Social Science Computer Review, 20(3), 275-289. Retrieved on March 7, 2007, from http://ssc.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/20/3/275
Rosen, J. (19th July, 2004). "The Naked Crowd". Retrieved on 8th March, 2007 from http://www.spiked-online.com/Printable/0000000CA5FF.htm
Uslaner, E. M. (April 2004) Trust online, trust offline. Communications of the ACM, 47(4), 28-29. Retrieved on March 7, 2007, from http://portal.acm.org/citation.cfm?doid=975817.975838
Joinson, A., Uhler, B. (2002) Explanations for the Perception of and Reactions to Deception in a Virtual Community. Social Science Computer Review, 20(3), 275-289. Retrieved on March 7, 2007, from http://ssc.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/20/3/275
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