So long Facebook privacy as we knew it

Thoughtful explanation of Facebook’s new Privacy settings by TechCrunch:
http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/12/09/facebook-privacy/

I'll let them explain the details, I'll take the time to raise a glass to what was and hope that what's next is more exciting and not too, too scary for people.

There is inevitable transition between ideal customer experiences and profitable business models. Business' get off the ground by executing their idea to within an inch of its life in hopes that it will succeed. At some point they need to make money, and that’s when the compromises arise. I don’t hold it against them, actually I resent the people who do. It’s inevitable, and I just hope they will do it well, in a way that respects people’s experience and emotions.

Classic example, but Google did it well. They introduced ads that clearly weren’t primarily the best interests of the user, made billions of dollars as a result, and I don’t mind one bit. Win-win.

Facebook clearly is taking a gamble. They know their content is worth a Google or more in revenue, but they know once the party is over – it’s really over. Ala Friendster. They need people to keep sharing - and feel comfortable – while also allowing them to share that content with the world. So as the article points out, the days of Facebook being a “private” social network are over. At least entirely.

That said, 80% of people probably won’t take notice or change their settings. As a result some people will be upset, others will leave, and most will never notice. Although I wonder if a decrease in privacy will lead to a lesser user experience. I'm imagining that slowly, almost imperceptibly, we all begin to share less because we're not sure who these "Everyone" people are, which leads to less interesting content across the site, and a duller user experience overall. Or it just becomes a shouting ground for exhibitionists - re: MySpace.

Anyways – this is a big deal, Social Networks are growing up. Long live the good old days when we were all drunk college kids who didn’t care about getting a job.

Now time to go delete some status updates from last weekend...

Assume you’re being watched…

How long until everything is available on DVR?

Oh, I’m not talking on TV, I’m talking EVERYWHERE…

You can see it right? Our lives lived out like 1984, a “police state” blah, blah, blah, blah. That’s all fine and well, call in the constitutional experts and have a debate. That’s not what I’m excited about. I’m wide-eyed cause were watching the moment where tech is finally beginning to saturate the landscape and everything is imminently indexed and searchable.

Yesterday Serena Williams was fined a load of cash and placed on probation for 2 years for verbally threatening a lines women at the US Open. That’s fine, she deserved to be punished. But, can anyone deny the role that high powered microphones and HD cameras played in this suspension? She was penalized a point on the spot, which ended up costing her the match, but as time has passed and the video of her meltdown gains views, anyone can read her lips and faintly hear her say “I’ll KILL YOU” it built pressure on the governing body of tennis.

How can they NOT suspend her when there is undeniable evidence of her unsportsmanlike conduct? Things are no longer one word against another – now everyone is watching.

Similarly, the brutal women’s soccer match between BYU and New Mexico has been replayed continually because it’s breathtaking. The fact that she would pull her oppontent to the ground by the ponytail is bad, but the fact that she did it on national television is remarkable. In the moment it was brutal, but replayed again and again and again it reaches a level of cold-blooded Sinicism. She received so much media attention that she eventually spoke out in the NYT.

These are sports you say, clearly they’re being watched, that’s the point. While true, our eyes are deceptive and forgetful. Reality is amorphous and relative in ways that HD video is not.

A BART cop out in SF recently broke a window with a man’s face – again, momentarily overlooking the fact that he was….yup, on video:

WARNING: somewhat graphic and humanly disturbing, even the spectators enjoyment:


Shouldn’t police ALWAYS behave as though they're being watching? What do they have to hide? Weren’t WE always told to behave like our parents were watching? Not to write anything over email that we wouldn’t mind posting publicly?

While the principles of behavior and conduct may be timeless, or at least evolving generationally, we’re experiencing a moment of inflection where technology is reaching into corners of life previously not illuminated. As we watch the implications of technology saturation impact and alter our daily events the stakes are rising faster and in more ways than they were before.

And is that bad?

“Yes and no” isn’t a very satisfying answer, but it’s all I have for right now. A great deal remains to play out as technology continues to permeate corners of our life.

How bad has it gotten already?

Well, on a personal note, shortly after I moved into my new apartment a friend asked “oh, the one on Buchanan, yeah, someone sent me a video of that place asking if I wanted to apply to live there.”

Me: “…a what?”

Her: “a video, I’ll send you the link”

To take a tour of my home click below, just make sure to enjoy it while pondering the implications of everything being just a link away…

My apartment