Back in 2005 when I started my own blog, I wanted to remain anonymous not fully understanding (much like the rest of the world) that there is no such thing as anonymity on the internet. I know it's something Pierce Mattie has been on the fence w/ since their blogs launched in 2002. It's amazing to me how much privacy has evolved over these last 5 years due in part to social media. It seems we have been desensitized and actually expect all of our digital information to be much like our fingers... leaving prints all around the world wide web. We've become tagged, categorized, indexed, searched and googled leaving no clear line in the sand between public and private information; we've become an open book society with no page unturned.
On the individual side of things, the lack of privacy we now face today has meant taking something as simple as dating, to the next level. Now finding out more information about a potential date than you ever have before is entirely possible. Apps like DateCheck, which is said to be like "a private investigator in your purse" allows you to run a background check right from your phone simply with a person's name, phone number or email address. So has the meaning of "Can I have your number?" thus been changed forever?
Of course, this new lack of privacy has also allowed the consumer to become better educated when it comes to scams, a brand's customer service record and quality of product, as well as researching a product before making a purchase. For brands who used to be able to slide under the radar with ify claims, social media has made it virtually impossible to remain invisible. Chances are someone has blogged about it, tweeted about it, You Tubed it or shared links about it with all of their Facebook friends.
For brands, evolvement of privacy has meant being held to an increased level of transparency and it has meant the inability to ignore past indisgressions or find yourself with a PR crisis on your hands. Nothing is ever "off the record" anymore, as even President Obama has learned.
So do we throw up our hands and give into the world's insatiable desire to know every single thing about its inhabitants? Will there come a time when TMI is just a thing of the past? Or is it now impossible to retain privacy as we once knew it?
Posted by Shannon Nelson on January 13, 2010 3:43 PM
| Permalink
Comments (2)
What a great post--very thought provoking and really does flash a ray of light into the privacy thing. I grew up as the internet was introduced, so for me--I almost forgot not having my info plastered all over cyberspace--and "thrust" me, I mean, TRUST me--there is some stuff out there!
Posted by![]()
nandoism |
January 13, 2010 5:51 PM
Posted on January 13, 2010 17:51
Great post, I understand the dilemma completely. It is hard to keep things private and still be heard. If you want to voice to the masses and not a small group then you almost have no choice but to be transparent. Which is good and bad.
But, devils advocate here, is it really that much different in what it used to be if you were talking to a group of friends in an all night diner, a small group of people who mostly shared your ideals vs if you wrote an op-ed piece for the local paper that could be read by anyone. I think the real difference is the number of people that are putting themselves out there to be heard by many people and the transparency and privacy they realize they have to give up to do so. A transparency that has always been there for journalists and politicians and writers of all kinds and they knew the price.
I do like your point about how the consumer benefits - that is an amazing transformation for those of us that remember that all we had to go on was a friend of a friend that bought it and thought that new pocket radio was great or a piece of crap.
Posted by![]()
Mike (@tazz602) |
January 14, 2010 10:04 AM
Posted on January 14, 2010 10:04