SOCIAL MEDIA + YOU

I saw a comment the other day on facebook from someone who said:

I wish facebook would enable more privacy settings because I don’t want people to know what I’m doing all the time.

I LOL’d. But then I got to thinking… this is what the majority of people complain about on facebook. It feels like a double standard: if you sign up for facebook and you’ve added friends and you post on it regularly - then it can be assumed that you do want people to know what you’re doing at all times.

Facebook’s privacy settings are something to be discussed (and we did here, here, and here). Truthfully, the social media site’s privacy settings can be really annoying at times… but isn’t that just what you get when signing up for a free, public site? 

Facebook won’t be able to share any information you haven’t willingly given it. Although it may seem like it at times, facebook is not a mind reader and it cannot predict what you will say. It can, however, sweep through key words on your page and show you ads that pertain to the things you like. It can decide to randomly show your cell phone number. It can suggest you ‘like’ things, or ‘friends you may know’. But remember, NONE of this information is something that you, or someone you know, hasn’t offered to facebook in the first place.

So before you get all angry at facebook and say, “UGHHH I hate you so much! You’re the worst!!!” Remember 3 things:

1. *facebook is a free, public service that exists for your pleasure and convenience. You do not pay for the site, nor are you forced to utilize it or share information on it.
2. *facebook is not capable of sharing information that you did not already make public by posting on their site. Whether you like it or not, your cell phone number showed up on the site because you put it there.
3. *You still continue to frequent the site, regardless of how frustrated you are with it. If you really hated it as much as you say you do, I reckon you’d just delete it altogether.

Here are some over reactions, or just silly reactions, to the #newfacebook for your viewing pleasure:

What do you think: are you fed up with facebook, or are you just going to continue riding the wave?