Is Facebook Really that Revealing?

To the average college student, Facebook is the coolest, most happening online niche to be a part of. And what's not to like about it? You have a ton of friends (though some of which you interact with once a year if that), pictures to remind you of memorable and not so memorable times, and messages that contain inside jokes that further your popularity status. Of course college students are going to love it.

But what really caught my eye when I read another article in TechCrunch was an article entitled, "Ok You Luddites, Time to Chill Out on Facebook Over Privacy." Initially, the title seemed slightly confusing with the way it was phrased, but as soon as you read the first few lines of the page, it makes more sense.

In order to get the full scope of the story, I had to define "Luddite" on dictionary.com. I learned that a Luddite is someone who opposes technical or technological change. Then I started reading the paragraphs and took away some main points, knowing that privacy was going to be an issue.

According to the article, in the 1900's, people freaked out about using phones because it was easy for the government to listen in and tap phone calls. With the turn of the millennium, people raved over the benefits and technical aspects of Gmail, even though the website scans every e-mail for special keywords. These, of course, inadvertently lead to contextual ads. That's why it's no coincidence to see your favorite bands' concert tickets always on sale!

Once people became educated about the power of the World Wide Web and it's ability to discern your identity through a few clicks of a mouse, consumers started to ease up on the conservatism. They ultimately decided that the benefits outweigh the privacy costs, which means that Facebookers will learn to accept their favorite site's publicity initiatives. Though people think pictures and personal information are too revealing on Facebook, it hardly compares to the information that banking companies and supermarket chains have on file for each of us. In fact, privacy is really, really dead, and with cell phone companies tracking our every move, GPS systems could finally be the end of true privacy.

In my opinion, the take away point was that we are not going to stop using Facebook. If people really were opposed to the site, they could either create a better solution or neglect it all together. But the lure of it is so great, that people eventually give in. Some people are so willing to share personal information, that new, innovative sites, such as Blippy, tracks a user's purchases made online. Though it sounds crazy, it's creating quite a stir in the internet world, because word-of-mouth spreads and more advertisers can cater to them through suggestions of new products. Hundreds of accounts exist, but it may be just to give your popularity another boost.

So until Facebook faces a serious court case for violation, it's here to stay. And that's good news to us, because for many people, regardless of age or background, Facebook is our friend.