Privacy

Facebook has become something many people use on a regular basis for many years. We use it to keep up with people who we don’t see as often, to share moments and to socialize. Privacy is something that we have slowly begun to give up as we post things about our lives publically. In a recent talk from NPR, two google executives claimed that they think talking with children about privacy and what they post online should occur even younger than talking to kids about sex. I wonder, have we gone too far?

We can’t put the toothpaste back into the tube. I was lucky in that I learned quickly not to post things online that I wouldn’t want certain people to see. I have many friends who were not so lucky and didn’t learn this lesson fast enough. What we post can be shared, screenshots can be taken, and things can be used out of context. I think people are slowly starting to realize this more and more and trying to reel things in but it’s not that simple. Some are deleting their accounts, others using them less or posting less.

Is the amount of things we have access to online good or bad? Was life better when we lived more privately and didn’t share everything with the world? Were things better in the good old days? I find myself wondering these types of questions. Were people happier when they socialized with their friends in person or is socializing online better?

What do you think? Do we live happier lives with less privacy? Can anything be done to reverse this process, or is this just our new normal?