Privacy settings protect free speech
Alex Boles
Issue date: 1/21/10 Section: Opinions
I bet you think the inside jokes with your friends that are shared through social networking sites like Twitter and MySpace are private, right?
One Truman student recently found out just how wrong that statement is when she jokingly made an anti-Semitic comment to one of her friends through Twitter (see story, Page 1). A Jewish organization, Jewish Internet Defense Force, found her statement and re-tweeted it to their followers - more than 50,000 of them - calling her a "Jew-hater" and soiling her reputation. And all of this could have been avoided.
Our generation checks Facebook or Twitter more often than they shower. I'm sure there are some people who update their accounts in the shower. We are so caught up with this social networking fad, myself included, that we haven't stepped back to realize the risks of putting our lives and our words out in the open. People are forgetting that the words they say and the information they share is out there for good. We're under the impression that our tweets and Facebook status updates are temporary and private, but we're wrong. With Web sites like Campus Tweet archiving every post, including screen shots of profiles, our updates are and always will be permanent and open. We can, however, combat this by only sharing information with certain individuals through controlled privacy settings.
This incident could very well have been avoided if the Truman student, well, never said the comment in the first place, or had her Twitter profile locked so only her followers could see her updates. By locking your profile, you have to approve everyone who requests to follow you, making it easier to monitor who is looking at your updates. Having your profile open allows anyone using Twitter to search for one word, let's say "Jew," and see every post you or anyone has made including that word. Adjusting your privacy settings could allow you to avoid being seen altogether on that list. And don't worry that locking your profile will limit who can search for you. The only difference is that you have to approve them to follow you. Think of it as accepting a friend request on Facebook. If people want to follow you that badly, they will send you a request. I don't think anyone will actually be deterred by a locked profile and choose not to follow someone. If anything, they will admire you for your conscious effort to not be stalked.
One Truman student recently found out just how wrong that statement is when she jokingly made an anti-Semitic comment to one of her friends through Twitter (see story, Page 1). A Jewish organization, Jewish Internet Defense Force, found her statement and re-tweeted it to their followers - more than 50,000 of them - calling her a "Jew-hater" and soiling her reputation. And all of this could have been avoided.
Our generation checks Facebook or Twitter more often than they shower. I'm sure there are some people who update their accounts in the shower. We are so caught up with this social networking fad, myself included, that we haven't stepped back to realize the risks of putting our lives and our words out in the open. People are forgetting that the words they say and the information they share is out there for good. We're under the impression that our tweets and Facebook status updates are temporary and private, but we're wrong. With Web sites like Campus Tweet archiving every post, including screen shots of profiles, our updates are and always will be permanent and open. We can, however, combat this by only sharing information with certain individuals through controlled privacy settings.
This incident could very well have been avoided if the Truman student, well, never said the comment in the first place, or had her Twitter profile locked so only her followers could see her updates. By locking your profile, you have to approve everyone who requests to follow you, making it easier to monitor who is looking at your updates. Having your profile open allows anyone using Twitter to search for one word, let's say "Jew," and see every post you or anyone has made including that word. Adjusting your privacy settings could allow you to avoid being seen altogether on that list. And don't worry that locking your profile will limit who can search for you. The only difference is that you have to approve them to follow you. Think of it as accepting a friend request on Facebook. If people want to follow you that badly, they will send you a request. I don't think anyone will actually be deterred by a locked profile and choose not to follow someone. If anything, they will admire you for your conscious effort to not be stalked.
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