Is your personal privacy even important to you any more. It’s becoming an almost archaic notion because of our constantly expanding digital culture that we live in. How many people, complete strangers, are now able to access your secure or intimate details about your life, such as your birthday, your income, where you vacation, your frustrations and rants about work, or your love life.
This not because of social interaction, actual phone conversations or meeting with someone face to face, but because of our constant status updates on the various social media sites, or being tagged in photos, getting tweeted, or being located from your “check-in” of your exact location.
Online Exposure
Almost anyone is now able to access bits and pieces of our digital lives. If we or anyone else happens to reveal little tidbits about your life that you didn’t want or intend to reveal, it may already be too late.
What kind of effect could the latest profile picture which you posted yesterday have, or that status update you have on a say a prospective employer change things.
For instance, most of us don’t even think of the potential consequences as we comment away on a friend’s “wall” regarding a particular raucous evening which you shared together. Did you know that the majority of employment recruiters will now collect online information by searching on the Internet on prospective candidates.
So if that doesn’t strike a bit of caution, then a statistic that close to 65% percent of these recruiters have actually rejected prospective applicants because of revealing information which they dug up online, may alert you. The most common are photos or a videos of these potential employees which got them in trouble and rejected.
The Internet has now clouded our thinking that we need to be as social as possible while placing less emphasis on our personal privacy or security, and our digital lives are being exposed, and this at an age that’s much too young.
For instance, a recent survey found that close to 59% percent of children who were under 2 years old, already had some type of a digital footprint or profile on the Internet, usually by the proud parents showing off the photos.
If your on Facebook, all it takes is just one “friend” who posts just too much information. Is that friend really more transparent and revealing than anyone else, when it comes to the type of personal information which is being collected.
Search Your Own Name In Google
That thin virtual line between “sharing” and invasion of privacy is now almost nonexistent. Is there any point anymore in the awkwardness of the “getting to know you” phase of a potential first date. All you now need to do is Google the persons name, or Facebook stalk them before that first initial meeting over coffee. There has been a many canceled dates and empty restaurant seats as a result.
So when you begin to get all those “Happy Birthday” wall posts on Facebook from complete strangers you don’t know who lives half way across the world, or even from your actual friends or family instead of they giving you a personal phone call, birthday card or a in-person meeting.
So as a society, it’s becoming increasingly important to realize what purpose that all this instant readily available access does, or even serves in our daily lives.
You go on a business trip or a vacation and what do you immediately do upon your arrival? You become so adamant to what you’re doing and immediately begin to share by whipping out your iPhone, then taking a few pictures and immediately posting it on Facebook.
We have all heard: If a tree falls in a forest, and if no one’s around, does anybody hear it fall. Does the tree still make a sound? So a similar question based on our current digital age would be: If you happen to experience something, but you didn’t document or tag the accompanying photo, did that experience really occur?
So you can be accused that you can’t no longer be able to enjoy yourself and your trip without posting that perfect photo and keeping everyone updated. But then, you happened to capture a few great moments and then got a lot of comments in response.
What you need to decide is, does Facebook, YouTube or Twitter, along with the other variety of digital mediums now replace your actual real life socialization and the feel to the touch of the offline world?
What has been the most outrageous online display of exposure whether intended or not, that you’ve seen on one of these social media sites. One thing to always keep in mind, always be cautious and think before you post…