Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Facebook & user privacy
Ya gotta hand it to Facebook for responsiveness to public concerns (and news media reports on said). No way to be sure we have a perfect cause-and-effect situation here, but one week in January we hear from CNET that it's really hard to delete a profile from Facebook and the UK government is concerned, sharing that concern with the BBC and The Telegraph. Then the New York Times chimes in on the subject a couple of weeks later, following that report two days later with "Quitting Facebook Gets Easier." "The updated Facebook help page now includes the question “How do I delete my account?” With this last piece, the Times has made a man named Nipon Das - who tried to delete his Facebook account for two months and likened the experience to "Hotel California," our of where, the Eagles song goes, you can check out any time but can never leave - "a mascot for disgruntled Facebook users," the Times says.
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This post is very relevant. Most social network users do not realize that once they post their profile, it is on the Web forever. Even if Facebook provides an easier way to delete your profile (which they must), we should all know and tell our friends and children that anything submitted to the Web can be found. The days of PR for corporations only is over. Whether you realize it or not, everything you add to the Web contributes to your personal PR campaign. The Web provides wonderful opportunities for individual PR campaigns, but like half-backed corporate marketing plans, they can backfire. You can loose a job or suffer public embarrassments. In short, post wisely.
ReplyDeleteThis post is very relevant. Most social network users do not realize that once they post their profile, it is on the Web forever. Even if Facebook provides an easier way to delete your profile (which they must), we should all know and tell our friends and children that anything submitted to the Web can be found. The days of PR for corporations only is over. Whether you realize it or not, everything you add to the Web contributes to your personal PR campaign. The Web provides wonderful opportunities for individual PR campaigns, but like half-backed corporate marketing plans, they can backfire. You can loose a job or suffer public embarrassments. In short, post wisely.
ReplyDelete