Balancing the Public and Private: A Blurring of Boundaries

Sherry Turkle, Psychologist and author of “Alone Together: Why We Expect More from Technology and Less from Each other,” commented on the state of our existence as being individuals within the information society. “I share, therefore I am” denotes the fact that in today’s society, without an online presence you do not exist. If you are not sharing your information: your interests, skills, hometown, phone number, photos, likes, etc., with the online community, your existence deems to be invalid. However, with the amount of privacy concerns regarding online surveillance, how much sharing is too much sharing?

A majority of us utilize multiple Social Networking sites for different things. For example, I use Facebook to stay up to date with friends, view photos, and join groups or events. On Linkedin, I use this website to post my resume and keep in contact with potential employers. On each of these sites, my identity is completely different as I choose to share distinct information with the users of each of the various sites.

Turkle explains this as the way in which people “negotiate the virtual and the "real" as they represent themselves on computer screens linked through the Internet.” Such experiences “challenge what they have traditionally called "identity," which they are moved to recast in terms of multiple windows and parallel lives.” (Turkle, 1999) Through our use of multiple Social Networking sites, we draw on distinct parts of our identity in order to portray different sides of ourselves.

Boyd and Ellison suggest that ‘‘public displays of connection serve as important identity signals that help people navigate the networked social world, in that an extended network may serve to validate identity information presented in profiles. While most sites encourage users to construct accurate representations of themselves, participants do this to varying degrees.” (Boyd& Ellison, 2008)

With my personal use of Social Networking sites, I may post such items as my political views, comments on recent popular events, or post a photograph of my friends and I onto Facebook. My profile has information such as my hometown, date of birth, current city, and “likes”. However, while this type of profile has the least amount of filtering in regards to what I post, I still do not include other contact information such as my phone number, e-mail, or mailing address.

In comparison to my more “professional” use of Social Networking sites, my LinkedIn account is actually less filtered in regards to the amount of contact information I have. Posted within the resume section is information such as my name, phone number, address and current employer. In a sense I feel more “safe” posting this information through this website, because I am dealing more with potential employers and business contacts.

However, my LinkedIn account is more filtered in regards to the things I “post” regarding my interests. For example, I would not post my political views, or make humorous comments on recent events as I would with Facebook because employers may judge these things as being unprofessional. Thus, there is a divide between the more “personal me” via Facebook, and the “professional me” via LinkedIn.

While I filter specific information for specific sites, I am not overtly concerned with privacy issues. At a time, I was highly concerned with my privacy and what kind of information was being viewed online. Up until a few months ago I had hidden much of my information from my Facebook friends, including my tagged photos, age, birth date, location, and posts. As well, people that were not friends with me were unable to search my profile by name and could only send me friend requests if we had mutual friends.

Restricting my information made me feel in a sense “safe” as my information was hidden from my Facebook profile. However, I had realized that I was not being put under surveillance by my “friends” or contacts, but rather by Social Networking sites as a whole. For example, Facebook tracks a multitude of personal information such as products or companies which you “like”, the places you have checked in to, or even private messages between friends. While this information is unsettling, I find that it is a small sacrifice in order to stay connected.

As we currently reside in the information age where without an online presence you do not truly "exist," it is near impossible to avoid these sites completely. As privacy concerns continue to grow, it is important to be aware of exactly what information you are giving out to these types of sites and to monitor your online presence regularly. George Orwell's fears depicted in 1984 have never stood more true than they do in this day and age, so the next time you go to post something on Facebook, think of who could be watching.

References:Boyd, D., & Ellison, N. Social Network Sites: Definition, History, and Scholarship. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication Volume 13, Issue 1, pages 210–230, October 2007

Turkle, S. Cyberspace and Identity. Contemporary Sociology Vol. 28, No. 6 (Nov., 1999), pp. 643-648

Sherry Turkle. The Flight From Conversation. New York Times Sunday Review. April 21, 2012 http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/22/opinion/sunday/the-flight-from-conversation.html?pagewanted=all



Huffington Post article on Facebook's sharing of information:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/28/facebook-home-addresses-phone-numbers_n_829459.html