Social Media or Social Strain?
A family sits around their dining room table on your average Thursday evening, sharing a meal together. But as you look more closely, the family is not sharing with each other, but instead sharing on their devices. The hard-working, bread-winning father has his laptop out, conferencing with some co-workers in an effort to finish his work that is due the next morning. His son is typing away on his smart phone, texting his friends about how boring his life is, while his sister chats on the phone with her boyfriend. This leaves their mother plenty of time to update her Facebook with the latest photos of their family vacation.
In Meghan Daum’s, I Don’t Give a Tweet What You’re Doing, she addresses the issue the world
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Daum, being a member of the minority anti-Twitter epidemic, does not solely disapprove of Twitter for being seemingly useless, …show more content…
Millions of people resent the government for being somewhat of a Big Brother, making accusations of spyware programs and hacking, supposedly regulating our every move, yet freely share exceedingly personal information publicly. It has become common practice to post about your family members, location, phone number, email address, workplace, political affiliations and so much more, reaching far beyond the simple question “what are you doing now?”. Although many sites like Twitter and Instagram have a delete button, your postings are in actuality never erased permanently, but instead are gone from your so-called timeline. Daum notes in her essay that, “in a world without boundaries… privacy as a cultural or even personal value has been going out of style for quite some time now” (233). It is almost hypocritical in a way how our society pretends to value secrecy and discretion, yet people of all walks of life exhibit very little self restraint when it comes to filtering the kinds of information they post about
The word “privacy” has a different meaning in our society than it did in previous times. You can put on Privacy settings on Facebook, twitter, or any social media sights, however, nothing is truly personal and without others being able to view your information. You can get to know a person’s personal life simply by typing in their name in google. In the chronicle review, “Why Privacy Matters Even if You Have ‘Nothing to Hide,'" published on May 15th 2011, Professor Daniel J. Solove argues that the issue of privacy affects more than just individuals hiding a wrong. The nothing-to-hide argument pervades discussions about privacy. Solove starts talking about this argument right away in the article and discusses how the nothing-to-hide
“One family. One Room. Four Screens. Four realities.” When he made this point I automatically thought about my household and how the statement compared to my family. In my house we do not interact with each very often. We are either always on our phones, watching TV, or on the computer, which is not very good when you think about it. This is something we have gotten accustomed to doing. I strongly agree that electronics have their effects on families, so much that is to the point where small children have and can function iPads, iPhones and other devices. According to “PEW Research Centers” and the “Internet and American Life Project” research shows that “60 percent of American families with children own 2 or more computers”. Dr. Koepnick states how technology has changed the quality time shared by families. He also states if you go back 200 years, there were valid complaints about the future with technology devices but the main focus back then was reading books which kept everyone busy. Back in the day families seemed to be much more family orientated, they were reading books, outside engaging in activities, and doing typical family things. Now everybody can be found just dazed on their phone and looking at the television screen. I feel like it would be a little less of a problem if families took the time out their day to see how important family bonding and interaction really is and just put
Mr. Richtel, though, doesn’t seem content to let people go about their lives without realizing the potential ramifications overuse of technology might have on their lives. By shining a spotlight on an actual family, he seeks to show his readers how families in the modern age truly exist, and perhaps to have his readers recognize behaviors similar to those described in the article in themselves, and make a conscious effort to try to change their habits.
It is the way of life in this age, to search the internet for leisure, research and general amusement. When you are not able to communicate with someone face to face, you pick up the phone. When you venture out of your house for any reason and into populated areas, you are recorded by businesses, photographed by red light cameras, and recorded by traffic cameras. The government has the capacity to watch all of this use. Last year, Edward Snowden’s leaked documents proved it that Big Brother is indeed watching. (Orwell 1)
Government seems to take away more privacy than they say they protect. In 1984 the citizens were constantly being monitored no matter where they were, there was no escape. "It was terribly dangerous to let your thoughts wander when you were in any public place or within range of a telescreen. The smallest thing could give you away" (Orwell 62). Members of the party were constantly being monitored, at even the slight sign of disloyalty they would be apprehended by the Thought Police, striking fear into the people. People had no privacy due to the government and this can now be seen today. Referring to the NSA "The agency has circumvented or cracked much of the encryption, or digital scrambling, that guards global commerce and banking systems, protects sensitive data like trade secrets and medical records, and automatically secures the e-mails, Web searches, Internet chats and phone calls of Americans and others around the world"(Lopez np). Growing use of internet and technology makes it easier for the government to spy on us. Like in 1984 they will soon be able to track our every move. There is no way to completely remove ourselves from technology, there's are steps to take to protect privacy. A solution is to keep more records on paper instead of online. Also, what is posted on social networks should be limited. The less information you give them, the less the government knows.
“Human beings are not meant to lose their anonymity and privacy,” Sarah Chalke. When using the web, web users’ information tend to be easily accessible to government officials or hackers. In Nicholas Carr’s “Tracking Is an Assault on Liberty,” Jim Harpers’ “Web Users Get As Much As They Give,” and Lori Andrews “Facebook is Using You” the topic of internet tracking stirred up many mixed views; however, some form of compromise can be reached on this issue, laws that enforces companies to inform the public on what personal information is being taken, creating advisements on social media about how web users can be more cautious to what kind of information they give out online, enabling your privacy settings and programs, eliminating weblining,
The personal connection Americans have with their phones, tablets, and computers; and the rising popularity of online shopping and social websites due to the massive influence the social media has on Americans, it is clear why this generation is called the Information Age, also known as Digital Age. With the Internet being a huge part of our lives, more and more personal data is being made available, because of our ever-increasing dependence and use of the Internet on our phones, tablets, and computers. Some corporations such as Google, Amazon, and Facebook; governments, and other third parties have been tracking our internet use and acquiring data in order to provide personalized services and advertisements for consumers. Many American such as Nicholas Carr who wrote the article “Tracking Is an Assault on Liberty, With Real Dangers,” Anil Dagar who wrote the article “Internet, Economy and Privacy,” and Grace Nasri who wrote the article “Why Consumers are Increasingly Willing to Trade Data for Personalization,” believe that the continuing loss of personal privacy may lead us as a society to devalue the concept of privacy and see privacy as outdated and unimportant. Privacy is dead and corporations, governments, and third parties murdered it for their personal gain not for the interest of the public as they claim. There are more disadvantages than advantages on letting corporations, governments, and third parties track and acquire data to personalized services and advertisements for us.
When we mention the word ‘privacy’, we mean that there is something very personal about ourselves. Something that we think others are not supposed to know, or, we do not want them to. Nevertheless, why is it so? Why are people so reluctant to let others know about them entirely? This is because either they are afraid of people doing them harm or they are scared that people may treat them differently after their secrets are known. Without privacy, the democratic system that we know would not exist. Privacy is one of the fundamental values on which our country was established. Moreover, with the internet gaining such popularity, privacy has become a thing of the past. People have come to accept that strangers can view personal information about them on social networking sites such as Facebook, and companies and the government are constantly viewing a person’s activity online for a variety of reasons. From sending email, applying for a job, or even using the telephone, Americans right to privacy is in danger. Personal and professional information is being stored, link, transferred, shared, and even sold. Various websites, the government and its agencies, and hospitals are infringing our privacy without our permission or knowledge.
The United States government is up to its ears in the personal information it has collected from its citizens. Americans are becoming increasingly “aware of these slowly eroding walls of privacy,”(Hirsh) and more than half polled admit concern “about the overall accumulation of personal information about them “by […] law enforcement, government, […] and other groups,” though “they accept it as an unavoidable modern phenomenon” (Hirsh). The question is, how far is too far to trust the government with the collection, proper storage, and usage of this information? Studies show that “Americans believe that business, government, social-media sites, and other groups are accessing their most personal information without their consent” (Hirsh). People should be given the ability to admit or deny access to their personal information. The government does not have a right to use whatever information it wants for any purpose it wishes. Michael Hayden, once the NSA director for seven years, says, “Even I recognize that it's one thing for Google to know too much, because they aren't putting me in jail. It's another thing for government, because they can coerce me” (Hirsh). The United States government's ability to collect information about its citizens and residents should be restricted by what kind of information it can take, how it can acquire it, and what it can use it for.
Across the nation, people use cell phones daily to interact and communicate socially with each other. Unbeknownst to the average cell phone user, 4 billion people worldwide use cell phones daily. According to an article from ABCNews, people check their phones one hundred fifty times a day. People are not just using the cell phone for messaging or voice calls, but they are also mainly taking and sharing photos with them; 500 million photos are shared each day through social media such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat. Apparently in our country, fifteen percent of Americans admit to sharing most or everything online (ABCNews). All of these statistical facts prove that ...
After a recent court ruling in Europe, Europeans now have protection against, well, being stupid. Any user under the age of 18 can erase posts that they made on social media. After these posts are erased the user will no longer be held accountable for them. Documents withholding details and names about old court cases and convictions also have to be deleted from search engines. Several states are adopting their own version of the “Right to be Forgotten” ruling.
For decades, the internet has been easily accessible for anyone, whether it be on a public computer or your personal mobile device, everyone seems to have access to it. With a couple simple finger strokes, anyone could look up current events, history, and even brutal crime cases. In some situations, there are people who are unhappy with the publicity given, because sometimes it can be embarrassing or shameful. The “right to be forgotten” in context to the internet is the ability to have personal videos, pictures, and information deleted from the web. The purpose of this is to be “forgotten” so others can not find you through search engines.
When you are little, it’s sharing your toys, then in school, it’s sharing your ideas with classmates and teachers, and as you settle into a career, you are expected, like in The Circle, to share your ideas to benefit the company. It seems everyone wants or expects a piece of you. Technology, such as phones, computers, tablets, and cameras, play a major role in staying connected or sharing with each other, but this obsessiveness is not always a good thing. When does sharing become over-sharing and detrimental to our “self” and society? From the early 1980’s to the present, the use of cell phones has grown exponentially and become increasingly dominant in today’s society. Today, it would be rare to know an individual who didn’t have a mobile phone or smart device. At first, cell phones were used only for voice communication; however, smartphones, as they are referred to today, interface with almost every aspect of our lives. Sharing has exploded! People can’t help sharing every single thing they do in their daily lives. Cameras, like phones, are everywhere, every street corner, every building, every pocket via cell phones and even in space attached to satellites. Cameras take high resolution photos, most record full high definition video and some even record 4k video. Today there is video taken of everything that happens in
Perhaps the founder of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, said it best when he claimed that privacy is no longer a “social norm.” Virtually everyone has a smart phone and everyone has social media. We continue to disclose private information willingly and the private information we’re not disclosing willingly is being extracted from our accounts anyway. Technology certainly makes these things possible. However, there is an urgent need to make laws and regulations to protect against the stuff we’re not personally disclosing. It’s unsettling to think we are living in 1984 in the 21st century.
Consider a situation where a family is sitting at the dining table, the son pulls out his iPhone, connects to Wi-Fi, and starts chatting with his friends on “Facebook”. The father has a Samsung Galaxy S4 in his hands and he is reading the newspaper online and using “Whatsapp” messenger while having his meal. The mother is busy texting her friends. They are all “socializing” but none of them has spoken as much as a single word to each other. This situation can be commonly seen nowadays.