Comments on: (Re-)Presentation of Self http://gfmorris.com/2006/02/27/re-presentation-of-self/ The Life and Times of Geof F. Morris Thu, 11 Mar 2010 01:03:05 -0600 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Geof F. Morris http://gfmorris.com/2006/02/27/re-presentation-of-self/comment-page-1/#comment-8058 Geof F. Morris Tue, 28 Feb 2006 06:10:54 +0000 http://gfmorris.com/archives/2006/02/27/re-presentation-of-self/#comment-8058 Well, y'all have certainly hit on the rational, present-day approach. I think I'm jumping way ahead to the day when it just doesn't matter. Unsurprising that I'd have my head in the clouds. ;) Well, y’all have certainly hit on the rational, present-day approach. I think I’m jumping way ahead to the day when it just doesn’t matter. Unsurprising that I’d have my head in the clouds. ;)

]]> By: Roger http://gfmorris.com/2006/02/27/re-presentation-of-self/comment-page-1/#comment-8057 Roger Tue, 28 Feb 2006 02:19:57 +0000 http://gfmorris.com/archives/2006/02/27/re-presentation-of-self/#comment-8057 "So, here’s my novel idea: don’t publish things that you don’t want the general public to know about you." So there was one thing I was thinking even before I reached Jeff's comment. You still have your online privacy in that you don't publish on your weblog what you don't want the world to have access to. On the other hand, I think a lot of things would change in the world if everyone was completely honest with themselves and others and no one had anything to hide. Yes, I do like it up here in Maine with my rose-colored glasses. :) “So, here’s my novel idea: don’t publish things that you don’t want the general public to know about you.”

So there was one thing I was thinking even before I reached Jeff’s comment. You still have your online privacy in that you don’t publish on your weblog what you don’t want the world to have access to.

On the other hand, I think a lot of things would change in the world if everyone was completely honest with themselves and others and no one had anything to hide.

Yes, I do like it up here in Maine with my rose-colored glasses. :)

]]> By: Jeff http://gfmorris.com/2006/02/27/re-presentation-of-self/comment-page-1/#comment-8056 Jeff Tue, 28 Feb 2006 00:52:10 +0000 http://gfmorris.com/archives/2006/02/27/re-presentation-of-self/#comment-8056 This is <i>really</i> interesting to me. Given the premise that information we want to remain secret is destined to become public knowledge, I agree that the potential consequences are major. However, I don't necessarily accept the premise. There's certainly a disturbing trend in information collection. There are possibilities for people being able to track certain of my movements, activities, purchases, etc. that I'm not entirely comfortable with. That being said, I think the majority of what's being discussed here isn't really violation of privacy as much as it is a misunderstanding of just how far the Internet can take our very public statements. Is it really that hard to understand that anything we put on the web is by definition <i>very</i> public? Part of what I see in that discussion is that people seem to have some expectation of privacy in what they put in a web log. I don't understand that. The example Geof cited about Heather Armstrong seems a perfect example. I applaud her for owning up to the fact that she created the situation, but she still didn't quite seem to understand: <blockquote>Would it be any different if someone found a notepad on which I had scribbled things about my job and turned it in to my boss?</blockquote> Is it not obvious that the answer to this question is "yes"? A notepad isn't being published, indexed in search engines, and generally made available to anyone who cares to look. So, here's my novel idea: don't publish things that you don't want the general public to know about you. *shrug* I think the revelation here is not that our privacy is destined to be violated, but that the Internet effectively creates a "rear view mirror" effect: the audience you see may be much larger than it appears. :) This is really interesting to me.

Given the premise that information we want to remain secret is destined to become public knowledge, I agree that the potential consequences are major. However, I don’t necessarily accept the premise.

There’s certainly a disturbing trend in information collection. There are possibilities for people being able to track certain of my movements, activities, purchases, etc. that I’m not entirely comfortable with.

That being said, I think the majority of what’s being discussed here isn’t really violation of privacy as much as it is a misunderstanding of just how far the Internet can take our very public statements.

Is it really that hard to understand that anything we put on the web is by definition very public? Part of what I see in that discussion is that people seem to have some expectation of privacy in what they put in a web log. I don’t understand that.

The example Geof cited about Heather Armstrong seems a perfect example. I applaud her for owning up to the fact that she created the situation, but she still didn’t quite seem to understand:

Would it be any different if someone found a notepad on which I had scribbled things about my job and turned it in to my boss?

Is it not obvious that the answer to this question is “yes”? A notepad isn’t being published, indexed in search engines, and generally made available to anyone who cares to look.

So, here’s my novel idea: don’t publish things that you don’t want the general public to know about you. *shrug* I think the revelation here is not that our privacy is destined to be violated, but that the Internet effectively creates a “rear view mirror” effect: the audience you see may be much larger than it appears. :)

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