2-108 The joke is on Dwaas
With their laughter, comes my silence… poor Dwaas
Privacy and social media
I’ve just seen the Circle. I read the book before. I didn’t like the book that much; though I liked the premise, I felt it was a bit over the top. To be honest, I found the movie to be a bit better than the book. It was a bit easier to imagine why Mae does the things she does. In the book she changes too abruptly for my taste, and I didn’t like the ending of the book. The movie-ending made a bit more sense (a bit…)
Nevertheless, the story isn’t amongst the very best for me; but the premise is an interesting one. Social addiction… privacy… are we alone? As most of you know by now, I’m not on Facebook (so I don’t use instagram or whats-app either). And people ask me to defend this choice a lot. To be honest I don’t have a rationale, It’s a matter of principle. And I feel it’s disturbing that a company like Facebook still knows everything about me, even if I don’t give them anything on purpose; they follow me around on the net (unless Ghostery blocks some of that), they know about me through the address-lists of my friends phones after Whatsapp uploaded the contents of their address-lists to the Facebook servers (without my consent), and then there are probably all kinds of algoritmes that know more about me than I know about myself.
As I said, its a matter of principle; I know I can’t outrun these companies. Actually I’m on Google and use Apple…. BUT… I chose to give them my data. Ah well.
And than the addiction; seems like a growing number of people derive (part of) their identity of how they think they are perceived online… don’t get me started on that.
Anyway… the circle; read or watch it, not for the story, but for to get you thinking on social addiction and privacy; what are we willing to give up? What aren’t we wiling to give up? What are we giving up; without us knowing about it; a lot more than I know, I’m sure.
What are your thoughts on the premise?
9 Comments
Comments are closed.
Like you I read the circle. I liked the premise, but the ending and execution, left a lot to be desired. I wish I wasn’t on social media and I applaud you for not having succumbed early on. Im contemplating leaving FB and maybe IG. I know the damage has been done, but i don’t want to further the goals of that company. Ive made my peace with Google. Ive chosen my over lord so to speak.
Precisely! I’d like to choose myself with whom to share my personal data (even if it is Google or Apple). Facebook just took the data without asking; uploading the contacts on my phone without permission of the people in my contacts. Blergh…
I have facebook, twitter, and instagram, but I haven’t actually used twitter and instagram in years. I have a google+ account, but I haven’t ever put anything on it (and I don’t intend to). I do a lot with facebook; it’s the only way I manage to keep in touch with some people. Ballinabricky has a facebook page, as does my other project at Facebook.com/CatholicBricks — that one only exists on facebook at all (it’s not a website independent of facebook). Ballinabricky has a twitter, but it just auto-publishes each new episode. I find it near impossible to imagine quitting facebook given the couple important things I do with it, but if it’s true that facebook is declining (my students’ generation already doesn’t use it), I’m just going to refuse to get on anything new.
I’ve always admired people who manage to keep a zero-social-media-footprint.
I feel like making Facebook lasting so long “at the top” is already a huge accomplishment. But it’s in the order of things that new social networks, sons of Facebook and stuff, replace it. Nothing is made to last now.
I am on twitter too, to be honest. so no zero-socia-media-footprint for me 😉
Your twitter-posts are regularly on my timeline though, I guess they are automated.
Yes. When I publish something on WordPress, it automatically goes to Twitter and Facebook without me having to do anything. If I ever start a Twitter for my photography project, I’ll let you know. I tend to put a lot of text and links with each photo (as a teaching tool), which would not work so well for Twitter, but maybe some day…
Had to admit I had no idea about the movie you where talking about (At first I thought you talked about The Ring… Don’t judge me LOL)
I honestly don’t care that much about companies knowing what I like, what I do. I’m not on Facebook or Twitter. I used Linked In only to try to reach a girl I used to love back in high school so I’d say it can be useful LOL.
I feel like I have nothing to hide, yet I don’t feel the urge to tell the world what I do or like. This is the world we’re living in, anyway. We’ve never used the word privacy as much as today, yet we all know we don’t have it anymore.
What I think is “funny” is that we are trying to make everything we dislike in SF movies become a reality… I’ve always been amazed that the human specie, as good as it can be to hurt itself, keep finding ways to make it worst for itself under the word “progress”.
Oh yes… You DO have something to hide! 😉
https://www.wired.com/2013/06/why-i-have-nothing-to-hide-is-the-wrong-way-to-think-about-surveillance/
OK, it’s not “I have nothing to hide” it’s more like “I don’t care what they get”