Week 4 - 540

Denise and I talked this week about the future jobs that could arise surrounding the internet and the information that it creates/gathers. They are on the page in the wiki, but one of the things that I was surprised with was the level of comfort that people have with being 'watched' online. Some people I have found take the view that it doesn't bother them in the least, and they feel that sharing is the new norm.

I find that these people are the ones who have come of age, with Facebook being the norm. Zuckerberg has stated clearly that he feels privacy is a thing of the past, and Facebook makes it very difficult for people to hide. The whole idea is that you are out there for everyone to see, and likewise you can see everyone else.

I then also run into people on the entirely other end of the spectrum, who are really disturbed by the openness of the internet and do all in their power to hide from it. They have avatars for everything, they are not going anywhere near facebook, they are involved in no social media, their emails have pseudonyms. While this isn't a common character that I run into, it does occur occasionally, especially with parents and their kids at my school.

I'm not sure one of these groups is right and the other is wrong, but after watching the Tancer videos, I'm absolutely assured that our activities are being watched. While is seems Tancer is using all this information to inform business, and marketers and in general for the good of all, but who is to say that someone could use all that information in another, less socially acceptable way?

By the way in case you are wondering, I'm out there on the social media scene and am not really concerned about hiding my information. I figure if someone really wants to do me harm, it will happen regardless. Why make it easier? Is it easier if everyone is in the same boat, it seems the odds would pretty much stay the same, if the vast majority of people were to follow the same strategy, no matter which one they choose?