Privacy and age generation.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009 by 3982652
Kevin Lewis’s survey on privacy settings is interesting to me as it discusses the way privacy settings on websites like Facebook are different for different people depending on various factors, such as gender or peer influence. I find this really interesting, as the extent to which privacy is negotiated online extends beyond these factors, to such factors as age generation. I read a news article online, which discusses a lot of this idea about the way the younger generation and older generation control their privacy on new media like Facebook in different ways, with the younger generation being more careless with their privacy on the internet.
This is important as the idea of a surveillance society in today’s world to me seems somewhat more acceptable to the younger generation, that is displaying oneself publically, and allowing the possibility of being watched as more acceptable than the older generation would allow. This is evident with such things the younger generation present online, such as the amount and type of information they display, some which they wouldn’t even give to a stranger on the street, as well as the photos they display, just to name a few. By displaying private information on new media, it could be a threat to privacy, something which is now being examined a lot in the media with discussions on employers checking Facebook profiles, the threat to future prospects in life with the way these will forever be in cyber space somewhere, as well as the link between private becoming public and the extent to which it makes it unsafe for children.
I feel the older generation see the threats of new media as outweighing the benefits and therefore are a lot more cautious with their privacy, but the younger generation see the benefits outweighing the threats and therefore are more accepting of living in a surveillance society, and the private becoming public. With the older generation dyeing out, the younger generations’ acceptance and embracement of new media of private becoming public, it kind of seems to me a surveillance society is somewhat inevitable perhaps.
This is the link to the news article.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/tech/facebook-generation.html
This is important as the idea of a surveillance society in today’s world to me seems somewhat more acceptable to the younger generation, that is displaying oneself publically, and allowing the possibility of being watched as more acceptable than the older generation would allow. This is evident with such things the younger generation present online, such as the amount and type of information they display, some which they wouldn’t even give to a stranger on the street, as well as the photos they display, just to name a few. By displaying private information on new media, it could be a threat to privacy, something which is now being examined a lot in the media with discussions on employers checking Facebook profiles, the threat to future prospects in life with the way these will forever be in cyber space somewhere, as well as the link between private becoming public and the extent to which it makes it unsafe for children.
I feel the older generation see the threats of new media as outweighing the benefits and therefore are a lot more cautious with their privacy, but the younger generation see the benefits outweighing the threats and therefore are more accepting of living in a surveillance society, and the private becoming public. With the older generation dyeing out, the younger generations’ acceptance and embracement of new media of private becoming public, it kind of seems to me a surveillance society is somewhat inevitable perhaps.
This is the link to the news article.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/tech/facebook-generation.html
Enjoyed reading this post. Interesting observation on your generational point. If you watch the interview with John Palfrey I posted the link for a few days ago, he claims that the younger generation of digital natives are more savvy and careful about their privacy than the older generations.