Posting your most private information online… Yay or nay?
January 7, 2009 | 10:13 amMitch Joel, today, in his TwistImage blog revealed some alarming statistics about young teens and how so many of them have electronically posted/sent some form of “nude or semi-nude photographic or video images of themselves” or received someone else’s. He questions whether this will lead to further sexual activities in even younger children.
My comment on his blog was this:
I think kids will always find new ways to push the sexual boundaries, each generation pushed it one step further. If it wasn’t online nudity, it would be something else.
But for us pre-internet adults, the other reason we value privacy is because we are worried about who is out there that will abuse of this information and come and stalk us or our kids.
8-10 years ago, I was one of the first people i knew to have a “personal website” containing my resume and a bit about my life. Others around me were shocked that i would make this information public.
8-10 years ago, not many people had a website, so my info was probably easier to be found by predators. Today, EVERYONE is one facebook, and if you think you have scandalous pictures of yourself, don’t worry, someone probably has worse.
Suddenly. you become anonymous in this sea of personal information.
So, i wonder, are our traditional fears still rational? Online predators exist, we know that, but if EVERYONE is sharing their information, doesn’t it make it harder for them to find YOUR kid?
Has private information become less valuable and more of a commodity?
I would like to hear your thoughts. Is the definition of privacy changing? Should we no longer be scared of posting private information online? What about for our kids? Do they have a point, now, when they say “but mom! everyone’s doing it!”?
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