Social Networking Cost Benefit Relationship
My generation is really in an interesting position to comment on the rise of the internet and the technologies available to date. Since the internet really started to become commercial and wide open in the early 1990’s we have seen some dramatic changes. We went from static to dynamic content and now to interactive and real-time data. It was the cool thing to have a website in the late 90’s and it was even cooler to have a blog in the early 00’s. Now, it is all about social networking and an ever increasing way to lose our personal privacy and increase our personal identity.
I have been playing with websites since the mid 90’s and really have seen the dramatic changes. I have seen first hand how statements and comments made on the internet are around forever. I have seen how simple things that can be misunderstood can cause pain and anguish for many people. I have seen most of the mistakes and made many myself. It really has been a steep learning curve.
The move from static to interactive content has given way to the “social networking” era of the internet and the costs and benefits are now at their highest level. The biggest surge for the mainstream has really been Facebook and even people that I know are computer beginners are now online and updating their personal thoughts and photos in an ever increasing pace. The really interesting thing to me is that most of these people haven’t learned the risks yet and may pay a great price. The world still can be a scary place.
You might be thinking that this is the “pot calling the kettle black” as I am one of the worse offenders. I am an early adapter for most technology and really have ground roots in many of the social networking sites. It ranges from Twitter to Facebook to FriendFeed to many ever increasing blogging activities. I am also big into support and helping people online. I am not saying that we should avoid these activities, but we all should be made of the costs that are also associated with the benefits.
It is a common conversation with myself and my friends and family about my online activities. I have paid dearly for some of my mistakes and still offer my apologies to anyone that I offended. At one point I kept all my blogs and galleries online for the world to see. That was in my foolish days and now I am extremely guarded with personal data. While I keep photos and videos on Flickr, most are private to friends and family and not for public consumption. Who cares about me anyways? That is what I used to think and now I realize it might not be who cares about me now, but in the future. It isn’t worth it.
In terms of my social networking experiences, I am still learning lessons. I keep most of it public and that might come back to bite me in the ass one day. I watch what I say and that is the best that I can do since the amazing people that I get to communicate with and relationships that I have opened up from my past have been substantial. The benefits of keeping in touch with others and in the “know” are great. My problem going forward is finding the balance between personal and public life. There are checks and balances that need to be in place to help protect our identities.
David Boles once wrote an article about our online identities and no matter how hard we try, we can never be safe. Short of turning off our internet and our computers. I have never hid behind an online persona and always use my real name. That is my way. If I used a persona, it would take the smart people about an hour or less to find me anyways. It isn’t about hiding our identities and thoughts, it is about the responsibility to ourselves and our families to protect ourselves. No one else is going to do it.
Don’t get me wrong, this post is not bashing social networking and exposure on the internet. It is more of a cautionary tale to those that haven’t taken the time to think about their own ideas on their privacy. When you click the “public” button on these sites, you are open to the billions of people in the world. Find out what you can live with and secure your data accordingly. I have friends who quit facebook now for these reason as deleting their account was their out. Others are limited to just close friends and family. Others are still plowing ahead publically. It is a personal decision.
Summing up, the internet is no different than anything else. You have to take care of yourself and blog and social network responsively!
Trent Adams
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