Posts Tagged ‘Facebook’
I admit it: I’m a lazy bastard. I was recently given an assignment to investigate the marketing activities at my local library, and despite the fact that I live only half a mile from the Sunnyvale Public Library, I decided to investigate only the library’s online marketing efforts.
Earlier this year, Facebook raised the ire of users and privacy rights groups when the social networking company announced updates to its privacy policy, which some interpreted as a declaration of ownership over the media and information uploaded by Facebook users. While the Facebook debacle may be old news, the larger issue of ownership over personal media and information has yet to be addressed in a meaningful way. Thus, the question remains: when we participate as “users” in a cybernated society, whether as Facebook fanatics or AT&T customers, are we (or should we be) allowing these organizations to claim ownership over the information and media we store in their systems? Do all our base belong to them?
When I was first coaxed into joining Friendster back in March 2003, I had no idea that social networks would become such a BFD. Or maybe I just didn’t get it. I mean, I’m not a social butterfly by nature, and I can only play “6 Degrees of Kevin Bacon” for so many days before getting bored. But most of all, I think I was resistant to participate because social networks seemed kind of creepy to me.
