It’s easy to point out individual social media disasters. Whether it’s Twitter, Facebook, or MySpace, individuals who share too much, or don’t consider the repercussions of what they post online, end up feeling the consequences. But what about the rest of us? When other people have problems dealing with their online reputation, does it make a difference to how we use the Internet? Dr. Kieron O’Hara, from the University of Southampton, says yes.
Today, at the London School of Economics and Political Science, Dr. O’Hara delivered a report to the Media, Communication and Cultural Studies Association (MeCSSA) detailing why he believed that, “Users of new media, in their self-disclosure, are often as complicit in assaults on our privacy as the authorities which orchestrate surveillance.”
In essence, Dr. O’Hara argues that individuals who do not adhere to the proper standards of online behavior, i.e. those who engage in drunken debauchery and all varieties of criminal action and then post it on YouTube, are inviting the government to engage in additional scrutiny of new media channels. As such, it is becoming increasingly difficult for regular web surfers to expect a level of anonymity online.
Dr. O’Hara’s argument is interesting, and one which bears further consideration. Next time you see one of your friends send out a twitpic of themselves doing a kegstand, maybe you should enlighten them with some of Dr. O’Hara’s research. You wouldn’t want a few bad apples ruining the Internet for the rest of us, would you?
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[...] of that decision (e.g., “Facebook loophole allows extensive data mining“, “Online exhibitionists undermine our right to live a quiet life“), but most analysis has focused on the impact on users’ own choices: are you fully [...]
[...] of that decision (e.g., “Facebook loophole allows extensive data mining“, “Online exhibitionists undermine our right to live a quiet life“), but most analysis has focused on the impact on users’ own choices: are you fully [...]
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