Nobody will argue that social media has not changed our everyday lives. While sites such as Facebook and Twitter started as devices for college students to socialize, both have exploded to become part of what our society views as normal. Everybody is on Facebook—college professors, house cleaners, twelve year-old middle school students, fifty-something year old moms, and eighty-six year old grandparents. Sound strange? A first it was, but now it is more normal than ever before. Facebook alone has over 500 million users that spend over 700 billion minutes each month on the site.
Though there has been exponential growth in the still developing industry, the popularity has led to controversy. Most revolves around the issue of privacy, or lack thereof, on each given website.
Social media websites make it possible to find out virtually anything about an individual—names, pictures, relationship status, location, recent check-ins, and more. People can search for specific people and “stalk” them through social media. Facebook and twitter have spurred a new industry of business that rely solely on their huge communities to profit. There are websites such as PleaseRobMe.com which harvests people’s statuses and check-ins on Facebook, Twitter, and other websites and publicly posts where they are and how far away from home they are. Maybe the name of the website is a joke, but the goal of the website is to inform people how easy it is to collect public information from social media websites which can potentially put a person in danger. As writer Mark Evans states, “Most people are not thinking about social media privacy. They’re far too happy with the idea of leading transparent lives that can be shared with friends and family.”
Obviously there is nothing wrong with that. Social media is designed exactly so people can stay in touch with family and friends. It is time for all social media users to know their privacy rights however. We must hold all of these websites accountable for their actions and terms of service, whatever they may be. This will increasingly become more and more important because Facebook can make more money with lower privacy settings. They simply use our personal likes and dislikes to customize their advertising, often times selling off the information. The chance to make more money will always cause social media websites to push the limits when it comes to privacy. Nobody should rely or even assume that these companies are going to implement privacy settings that are in the best interest of the user. We live in a world where capitalism is king. Lets not be at the mercy of multi-billion dollar companies. And if Facebook and Twitter do not live up to their end of the bargain is there anything we can realistically do? If this becomes the case, maybe it is time for some government regulation. That would certainly get their attention. Here is to hoping that the government does not have to get involved.
theblainetruth 
May 1st, 2011 at 5:50 pm
To the naive users of facebook, the website can be dangerous, but for the experienced and smart users a simple tweaking with the privacy settings can solve a lot of problems. I have set up my own page to block other users who are not my friends to view any of my content. This means that only the people I trust can have access to my information. While this seems like a good choice, educating everyone else to do the same is easier said than done. Younger users of facebook do not understand the consequences of over sharing information and some older people on facebook barely know how to use their computer let alone change their privacy settings on a social networking website. Because of this, I think that facebook should go out of their way to educate people on this matter. Will they want to? No. Like you said, they make more money with less privacy, but I believe that the government could step in and make them do it, much like you mentioned. Just think of it as friendly reminder much like the surgeon general’s warning on the side of a pack of cigarettes.