Tech Break: How Much is Facebook Privacy Worth?

by Art Fag City on December 14, 2009 · 3 comments Events

POST BY: PADDY JOHNSON
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Image via: Gawker

Unless something truly radical happens to the Internet, people need to either forget the idea that anything they do on the web is private or pay for the privilege of having some. This means writers like Gawker’s Ryan Tate should consider giving the “evil Facebook” tirades a rest. Tate’s latest post responds to CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s newly announced privacy settings, which the blogger claims make securing personal information harder. The new public default settings bear some scrutiny for sure, but sites run on ad revenue don’t make money by creating traffic walls, and privacy settings are the largest barrier to this.

If users really want privacy — and I’m not sure most do —  I wouldn’t be surprised if companies started charging for that privilege. For years, phone service providers have successfully charged their customers for private numbers. I don’t see why Internet companies would do any different.

{ 2 comments }

Adam December 19, 2009 at 10:46 pm

I agree. Most users of Twitter, Facebook, Myspace and Blogs, don’t really want privacy. The main reason that people use the internet has become a total call for people to pay attention to them. This is both good and bad. But in the end, the internet should remain largely open. There are some safety concerns that should be addressed so that people stay physically safe. But how can we dictate what people chose to say or do online? Does freedom of speech refer to the virtual realm? Our forefathers must be glad they never had to deal with this daunting prospect…Or they are rolling over in their graves.

That said, I know that I take full responsibility for what goes on via the web. The lines between art and pornography or offensive and distasteful material has become even more blurred thanks to the world wide web. This to me is exciting and terrifying!

Adam December 19, 2009 at 6:46 pm

I agree. Most users of Twitter, Facebook, Myspace and Blogs, don’t really want privacy. The main reason that people use the internet has become a total call for people to pay attention to them. This is both good and bad. But in the end, the internet should remain largely open. There are some safety concerns that should be addressed so that people stay physically safe. But how can we dictate what people chose to say or do online? Does freedom of speech refer to the virtual realm? Our forefathers must be glad they never had to deal with this daunting prospect…Or they are rolling over in their graves.

That said, I know that I take full responsibility for what goes on via the web. The lines between art and pornography or offensive and distasteful material has become even more blurred thanks to the world wide web. This to me is exciting and terrifying!

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