When a book makes you think, Part II

For anyone interested in privacy in our technology-saturated world, or in the reasons why we are obsessed with social networking, reality TV, and sharing and learning everything about ourselves and others...read The Peep Diaries. I'm not saying it's all fact, but Hal Niedzviecki has some very interesting speculations.

One of his ongoing ideas is that in our online, global community, people are actually less connected. We live in cities, we have smaller circles of real-life friends and family, and we all go home at night to our isolated homes. "Community" now is completely different than it was 50 or 100 years ago, and, what's more, human habits haven't evolved as quickly as technology. So, Niedzviecki says, we are all lonely: "Secrets are revealed, but nobody talks, and we remain alone on an increasingly crowded planet."

He also spends a lot of time discussing privacy: online privacy, corporate privacy, financial privacy, any kind of privacy. From his research, it seems that people are most willing to share personal information when they have no expectation or reassurance of privacy, and when the topic is not mentioned. Thus, social networking, blogging, surveys, etc. Also, as long as people feel they are getting something out of it, they are willing to share their information. If they have an audience or get paid or even get a reward of some kind, that makes it worth it. Thus, reality TV, points reward cards, frequent flyer miles. Apparently we are so used to sharing this information, and so inured to its effects, that we just go along with it: "People are so wrapped up in themselves that they don't really notice."

The point I found most interesting about privacy was that nearly everyone living in our world cannot really have privacy. If you have a job, own a car or a house, have some kind of insurance, post anything online, have a phone, get in the news...you no longer have complete privacy. Someone, whether it's the insurance company, the federal government, or your friends online, can easily access your personal information. Only perhaps the homeless, who are cut off from all of these avenues, have true privacy. Even the very rich, who can pay for privacy, are still at risk of being discovered. Kind of a strange thought, isn't it?

Comments

[b]

Hi, In this leadership class, we're talking about social capital, human connections and synergy springing from a sense of community. Lots of great stuff is happening in WW at the grassroots level. I really felt like I was coming home after being in SD for three weeks. Keep thinking!