Social Media 02

Never repeat a conversation, and you will lose nothing at all.With friend or foe do not report it, and unless it would be a sin for you, do not disclose it;for some one has heard you and watched you, and when the time comes he will hate you. (Sirach 19:7-9)

If you wouldn't nail it to the post office door, don't put it on Facebook!

The social media have at least this in common: they allow both text and photos to be posted to “friends,” or to the world, while their distribution to “friends of friends” through “sharing” makes it possible that thousands of “not friends” may see it. 

Second, posts are like fish hooks; once inserted, they can't just be pulled back without leaving something behind. Their contents can be stolen, stored, re-purposed in unintended ways by persons with sinister or foolish agendas. Many persons in the political sphere have been haunted, even destroyed by the unanticipated resurrection of posts from distant pasts.

Cute pictures of babies can end up on the hard drive of a pedophile, be passed on in the image distribution networks they've been known to set up. Posting personal material on the internet is not like showing the family album to your friends. As the opening sentence declares, it's more like nailing it to the post office door.

We were recently subjected to an extortion threat wherein a somebody out there (could be anyplace on the globe) demanded that $835 dollars in bitcoin be transferred to him/her within 48 hours or everything on our computer would be publicized, including websites we had visited. The hacker responsible had a password of ours to prove that the threat was not an idle one.

We all know by now that using the internet comes with a risk to our privacy, that our valuable banking and contact information is vulnerable. Physically, we protect ourselves by locking our house doors, installing security systems, and still our invulnerability to the professional criminal can never be guaranteed. But how many of us know how to “lock our computer doors, install a computer security system?” I don't know about you, but I find the workings of internet security far too complex an issue for my scant technical knowledge. I guess none of us are comfortable with being “dependent on the kindness of strangers,” but we seldom have a choice when it comes to nanotechnological fixes.

We recently shopped for a dining room table and I checked out the most-advertised on-line furniture store to compare styles and prices, then bought one in Saskatoon. Ever since, my on-line computer use has been inundated with dining table adverts from the furniture website; someone is paying Google to tell them what George Epp is shopping around for. It reinforces again the realization that day by day, in every way, I'm nailing my life to the post office door.

Some time ago, I set up a “Secret Facebook” page on my Facebook account. The page is exclusive to 16 family members, all of whom can post news to it. No one else can see it, let alone post to it. (At least that's what I believe, keep your fingers crossed.) So far, there have been no intrusions from outside the circle. Hackers, of course, are lock-picking, sliding-in-under-the-door professionals and even on a secret network, I try to post both pictures and text judiciously.

So how do we engage on SM (Social Media) given the present environment? Should we post only photos of trees and birds and squirrels playing pianos? Surely that can't be necessary. But, I took a picture recently of an endearing 3-year old girl helping to pack relief bundles for refugee camps. I would never share such a picture on SM unless on a secret network, and definitely not without her parents having seen the photo and given their approval. 

A few rules I now try to keep in mind for myself are:

First rule: give careful thought to yours and others privacy. Legally, a photo taken in a public place can be displayed, printed in a newspaper etc. because it's assumed that if you're out in public, you're OK with being seen. But the concern is not about legal, is it? It's about courtesy, respect and defending against potential harm to us and others.

Second Rule: "Share" posts cautiously. If you “like” what someone said on SM, it's all too easy to tap on “share” as well. But remember that if you “shared it,” you “said it.” Be sure that the post aligns with your convictions and views in its entirety, or you may inadvertently be puzzling your “friends” about your stand on something important. (Might even destroy your chances of success when you finally decide to run for political office.) Furthermore, SM being what it is, an endless barrage of clutter is not going to be conducive to making any argument, no matter how pregnant the cause.

Third Rule: Communications guru Marshall McLuhan famously said that “the medium is the message,” and we forget this wisdom at our peril. The internet began as a medium for more rapid communication in the military. It spread to civilian use and by 1996, we were toying with electronic mail. Just like cars were invented for transport and then became status symbols, racing toys and fornicating rooms for teenagers, the internet and SM are changing us, and not so much because of the messages transported on them but through our absorption with the technology as plaything, as obsession, as addiction, as habit.

Have a good week: drive safely, eat healthily, exercise regularly, be creative and SM discretely! 

"My [notebook] —meet it is I [write] it down
That one may smile, and smile, and be a villain—
At least I am sure it may be so in Denmark." (Hamlet I,v,107-109)