Privacy is very rare in this age of data sharing on the Internet. Every day, people share a wide range of information about themselves on several social media sites. These sites are designed to encourage the share of information and the expansion of networks. The expansion of networks allows other online networks to monitor and record your online activity. In that case, is the privacy on an individual so secure online and should they be worried of their information being leaked? Social media sites are not the only online sites that are being monitored by various data-collecting corporation. Search engines websites can record what an individual searched for and even their coordinates of their location. Privacy is diminishing in our every day lives, as we know it. We cannot stop it, unless we disconnect ourselves from social media, which is extremely impossible because it surrounds our daily routines. Social media definitely has huge impact on privacy however does it impact it in a positive or negative way? Although views on the way in which social media impacts privacy and the notion of “personhood” varied between the students and faculty we interviewed, one commonality in opinion was shared by both groups— life is certainly impacted by participating in social networks within the “noosphere”, in one way or another (Vitaliy).
Diana sophomore at Baruch College City University of New York. She started off with AIM (AOL Instant messenger), and admits to it became a substitute for actual casual conversation. Diana claims to have stop talking on the phone and strictly used AIM for events, updates, and group information. Diana’s most frequently visited social media outlets include is Facebook, twitter, and Instagram. Vine, snapchat, Tumblr, YouTube, are for casual use i.e. doctor office waiting room entertainment. She admits to having the desire to refresh her Facebook at least once every thirty minutes. Diana is aware of her data being tracked. She is normally not bothered by it until certain instances occur such as a recently searched item appearing on her Facebook. On a scale of one to five, Diana rates a three, based on the level of concern regarding her privacy. Her father has recently joined the Facebook Network. It freaks her out but she is fine with her normal use because they are not friends online. When it comes to perspective job recruitment and social media she is conscience of what she is posting. Vitan is currently signup for Instagram, Linkin, and Facebook. Vitan is more into pictures and art, so his preferred social media of choice is Instagram. When it comes to data mining, Vitan doesn’t mind the government snooping in our data bases as long as their intentions are for the good of the people and for the purpose of national security. However, data miners collecting for reason consumer research and product sales turn him off. Even though Vitan is aware of such events taking place he admits to not having an option but to stay connected with social media. If he wants to stay informed then he need to have social media. He also feels that social media has taking away from the person to person interaction. Vitain feels that we as a society are too involved in their everyday tech toys. Sam is our next candidate, and has been using social media for the past ten years. He uses Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Linkedin. Admits to once using Myspace but then switched to Facebook for convenience reason. Facebook was easier to find people he knew. All of Sam’s family is on Facebook except for his grandmother. Sam is naturally conservative in his normal day to day life. So when it comes to posting on social media he keeps things neat. Sam is not concerned with data mining because he doesn’t post anything of great interest. He feels that the person to person interactions have slightly diminished due to technology. He admits to posting skeptical pictures in his past that he wishes were never posted (Leonard).
On the other hand, the faculty we interviewed at Baruch were more hesitant in trusting social networks , media, and the “noosphere” as the integral communicative and expressive center of their lives. They expressed an apprehension at allowing their representations of self and “personhood” to be encapsulated within the limiting spheres of these networks, primarily due to concerns about the underlying economic factors influencing social networks, as well as the tendency of social media to misrepresent identity as something quantifiable. When asked about the claims made by “Generation Why?” author Zadie Smith concerning the ways in which this generation’s idea of personhood has changed due to social media, Professor Bellamy intimated that she also feels that the widespread use of social media has resulted in this generation becoming increasingly concerned with online appearance. As she expressed, the necessity of maintaining an “acceptable” image within the noosphere has led the “Generation Y” expression of personhood to become far more performative than the representations of identity made by prior generations, both consciously and unconsciously. While there have always been ways in which social interactions have measured identity, what has changed is that quantifiable performance has now become the solidified object of social interactions, rather than a mere byproduct of these interactions as it was in the past. The social structures designated by social networks have caused this generation to internalize and reinforce that aspect of performance, particularly in the way that these networks necessitate the creation of images of “self” that feed into notions of personhood. These images serve to control how people act, because they now think that they have to live up to their reputations. This has an effect on how this generation views relationships as well, because social media allows memories of personal relationships to become concrete, which allows for a disproportionate sense of their actual value. In the case of Facebook and other social networking sites, the “memories” formed via pictures, posts, and interactions with “friends” creates a sense of the past that ends up profoundly influencing the way people think of themselves and their life. This can be misleading, because users think they have an accurate representation of the past, but instead they have an accurate representation of a performance that the Facebook algorithm thinks is important, as Professor Bellamy related. By using these sites as a platform to advertise to users, corporate interests parasitically feed upon relationships within the spheres of these networks, which affects this generation’s quality of connection within these relationships. The feelings of the professors about the negative implications of using social media is likely because as “Generation 1.0ers”, they were given the chance to experience life and personal relationships without the impact of social media influencing their interactions. This differs from this current generation, who is growing up deeply enmeshed within the noosphere (Arianna).
Social media has forever changed our world including the “micro-noosphere” that exists in Baruch. Baruch’s “micro-noosphere “ consists of students, staff and faculty who are a very diverse group with very different opinions on the effects of social media on their lives. The general consensus of Baruch students is that even though their data is being collected, stored and sold to third party companies, access to apps are worth the privacy breach. These apps and programs bring convenience and information into the palm of their hands through their devices and the trade off seems to be worth it. Many people are ignorant to the extent that companies know about us through tracking and mining our data. It became apparent that barely anyone reads the terms and conditions and sometimes student were clueless about how much of their information can be accessed by companies or that their information was even being sold. However staff and faculty who have lived in a time before giving up your information was normal are wearier of giving up their information to companies, and think more about the repercussions and disadvantages of giving up personal information. However everyone agrees that times have changed and that in order to be able to be “normal” or have access to common information or easier methods of communication you must give up part of your privacy to become part of this online community. Apps and social media have also changed personhood and how we see ourselves and other people. When online we become less of “people” while thinking and representing ourselves more like a brand. Whether we are obsessed with having an amazing profile or page or censoring our Facebook’s because of family members having access to or page, social media has made us more aware of our online presence and behavior. Social media has forever changed society and only time will tell if it was positive or negative event (Breanna).
A recent Silicon Alley Insider poll shows that Facebook leads social media network activity, accounting for 24% of all communicative sharing.
