Zuckerberg Talks Privacy

Week 5:
Analyse critically the following statement by Mark Zuckerberg while comparing it to privacy issues raised by online social networking collaborative practices

In reference to a video in a post a little while down, Mark Zuckerberg made a comment about sharing and social networking on his organisation Facebook.

“When people have control over what they share, they’re comfortable sharing more. When people share more, the world becomes more open and connected. And in a more open world, many of the biggest problems we face together will become easier to solve”

Zuckerberg goes on to explain core changes to facebook’s nature that allow for more sharing in what he views to be a positive nature. New elements such as master controls, basic directory information, application settings have been implemented to allow for both easier sharing and to also enable one to control the level of privacy relating to their information.

Social networking allows for global connections to be established; you could be having a real time conversation with someone in a completely different time zone to you. This back-and-forth conversation which now can take less than 10 minutes, may have taken months using the old snail-mail method.

The sharing of information through social networking also permits for the lines of democracy to be opened up to a greater degree. A CBS article recently explored how the ‘Facebook Effect’ Mobilizes the Youth Vote. It highlights that through showing youth information in this manner allows for a greater realm of discussion about world and domestic issues and hence, made American youth more likely to participate in the upcoming elections. This also leads to a wider sense of civilian journalism, once again adding to the notion of freedom of speech and democracy.

However, the sharing information is not without its faults. Privacy issues tends to be the number one concern in regards to the sharing of information on the internet. Various websites are dedicated to raising awareness of the risks people face when sharing their personal information on the internet.

Please Rob Me, for instance is an example of this. It highlights the dangers of the Facebook features ‘FourSquare’ and ‘Check In’s’ in which through a mobile device you are able to post to your social networking site your exact location. Please Rob Me’s main aim is to show that this information is basically begging for your home address to be robbed since it clearly shows that you are not, in fact, at home.

Glitches in the FaceBook system were well publicised and caused a public outcry. This is because ‘private’ information was being reported to other companies and was not kept to one’s profile and friends. Zuckerberg faced severe backlash as his mantra is usually to encourage the sharing of information. While Zuckerberg may encourage this behaviour to keep building his multi-billio dollar company, there are real people out there, especially young children and teens, who don’t understand quite how to control their privacy to the maximum degree. This is a concern that Zuckerberg needs to be taking a closer look at.

A further complication to the process of sharing information on the internet is the possibility of others stealing facets of your identity or maliciously using information you have shared.

Ultimately, it is up to the individual as to what they choose to post, how sees these posts and how they post it.

Facebook is not the Demi-God that many make it out to be. While Zuckerberg stated in the video, “find the settings that feel right for you”, many vulnerable people in society need protection from the practices of online social networking.

References

Sullivan, Michelle, ‘Facebook Effect Mobilizes Youth Vote’, CBS News, http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/11/04/politics/uwire/main4568563.shtml, accessed 1 April 2011, dated 3 November 2008

Borsboom et al., ‘Please Rob Me’, http://www.pleaserobme.com, accessed 1 April 2010, dated 2010

Vascellaro, Jessica E., ‘Facebook Grapples with Privacy Issues’, The Wall Street Journal, http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704912004575252723109845974.html , accessed 1 April 2011, dated 19 May 2011