Category:Online Privacy

Online Privacy


With technology ever present in the lives of many, Americans venture on to the Information Super-Highway in increasing numbers. With its gratuitous subscriptions, quickened results, and flexibility, teens and adults assemble into the many facets of social networking sites for social relations, communicative exchanges, photo and video sharing, and real-life connections for communal interests, issues, activities, and experiences (i.e. Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Tumblr, Instagram, and Flickr). But as technology increases and our world becomes an “informational society,” so too does the concern for privacy (Buchanan, Paine, Joinson, & Reips, 2007, pg. 1).The use of technology is present in almost every area of our lives. Whether you opt to use personal blogs or social media websites or perhaps even your employer or your school uses them, they’re almost unavoidable. Even for people who choose not to use them, your employer or school may still publish your information or email address on their website. If you ever Google or search your own name, you will most likely find something about yourself, whether you consented to that information or not. According to White and Walker (2011), our society has made media and popular culture a cornerstone of cultural identity.

According to Buchanan, Paine, Joinson, and Reips, (2007), “Information about us is accessed, stored, manipulated, data mined, shared, bought and sold, analyzed, and potentially lost, stolen or misused by countless government, corporate, public and private agencies, often without our knowledge or consent.” Therefore, the question that rises is “Can we have online privacy in the age of oversharing?” While common sense ensures the obvious, measures encircling online privacy and internet protection is quite contradictory.

While there have been several attempts to define privacy, “a simple and unified definition has yet to emerge (Erramilli, 2012, Abril, 2010, and Buchanan, Paine, Joinson, & Reips, 2007).” For some, online privacy is central and restricted, and for others, it remains a topic of neutrality (Brandtzaeg, Luders, & Skjetne, 2010). So why the ambiguity?

Although an honorable definition of online privacy would suffice among the masses, the sways of online privacy merely lie within the individual effects of content sharing (i.e. the accessibility of information), sociability (i.e. social contact among adolescent and mature individuals, family, friends, and coworkers), and the conformities (i.e. the practices and strategies to respond in private) of online interactions (Brandtzaeg, Luders, & Sketne, 2010). But who occupies the responsibility of online privacy—the social networking sites, the government, and/or the private individual?

I think that there is a unspoken social pressure for users to consistently post on social media websites. I know social media users who make up to 10 posts or more on a daily basis. They feel the pressure to share a great deal of their daily life through pictures, posts, or tweets. I think that people need to be more cautious in things that they say or share. This oversharing could encourage illegal actions, such as burglaries or theft.

<span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">While many conclude that the responsibility of online privacy should be held accountable by the corporation involved (Sundquist, 2012), the encumbrance of online privacy must also be held by the online practitioner (Brandzaeg, Luders, & Sketne, 2010). Self-awareness and self-control as a way to maintain social privacy is necessary and indispensable (Sheehan, 2002). Managing online behavior, reflecting, and contemplating the issues of influence, values, effects, and morals of social media, and self-edification of privacy settings/issues are certain approaches in which individuals can regard and promote online self-privacy (Sheehan, 2000, Brandzaeg, Luders, & Sketne, 2010).

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family:'TimesNewRoman',serif;font-size:12pt;text-indent:0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">I believe that you can still maintain online privacy even in a world of oversharing. There are some pieces of shared information that are unavoidable, but for the most part, online users can uphold a personal preferred level of online privacy. Online users need to sustain a comfortable level of online sharing to protect their own confidentiality.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family:'TimesNewRoman',serif;font-size:12pt;text-indent:0.5in;">Nevertheless, as we delve into the 21 <sup style="font-family:'TimesNewRoman',serif;text-indent:0.5in;">st <span style="font-family:'TimesNewRoman',serif;font-size:12pt;text-indent:0.5in;"> century there still lays a gap that needs to be bridge. Even though most have succumbed to the world of social media; the way we Americans act, think, and perceive the 21 <sup style="font-family:'TimesNewRoman',serif;text-indent:0.5in;">st <span style="font-family:'TimesNewRoman',serif;font-size:12pt;text-indent:0.5in;"> century means of communication requires much more than a stroke of a key. It requires that all become enlightened with the issues, concerns, and the responsibilities of social media. With great insight, perseverance, and a leap of faith, we can become safer participators in this great and wonderful world of virtual media.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family:'TimesNewRoman',serif;font-size:12pt;text-indent:0.5in;">For more information on Online Privacy, please see the internal links:

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family:'TimesNewRoman',serif;font-size:12pt;text-indent:0.5in;">Privacy in the Age of Technology is Impossible:  http://edci-5306-popular-media-and-culture.wikia.com/wiki/Category:Privacy_in_the_Age_of_Technology_is_impossible

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:0px;margin-bottom:0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family:'TimesNewRoman',serif;font-size:12pt;text-indent:0.5in;">Generational Media Divide <span style="font-family:'TimesNewRoman',serif;font-size:12pt;text-indent:0.5in;">:  http://edci-5306-popular-media-and-culture.wikia.com/wiki/Generational_Media_Divide

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