First, let me be very candid in saying, "There are a lot of sick people out there."
Now, if a long lost friend of mine wants to find me, they're more than welcome to search for me on facebook, and send me a message to see if it's me. They wouldn't be able to see any of the very little information in my profile unless I accept their friend request. And that, is not guaranteed to happen.
If a stalker wanted to find out more information about me, they could also search for me on facebook. What would they get? A picture of my head that's about 10 pixels wide. That's about it. I'm very restrictive with the information that I put up online, because I never know who's looking at it. Even with Google Analytics which lets me see where the people that view my blog are from, doesn't tell me who, exactly, they are. Anyone could be snooping... even a prospective employer.
In this way I feel that I have a good balance. People who know me can find me and contact me before finding out more info. People I don't know, don't get any info, but still have the opportunity to message me if they feel so inclined. As I build my life online, including website with that catacomb my work over the years, both professional and collegiate, I want to be able to control who sees and uses it. I feel that someone checking me out online, is practically the same thing as if they were looking through my window at me. It's just as creepy when you find out someone's there, because you don't know what they've seen, or how they've interpreted what they have seen. The online world is a fun and magnificent place, but it can get very scary, very fast when "a motivated person," as Lenhart and Madden describe, hunts you down. These two authors tell us that 63% of teens with online profiles think they could be found. Imagine how many are in denial... imagine how many actually can be found. It's a daunting thought.
http://www.pewinternet.org/report_display.asp?r=211 - "Teens, Privacy and Online Social Networks: How teens manage their online identities and personal information in the age of MySpace."
3 comments:
Wow, I thought you were being a little paranoid until I read your window analogy. How creepy, you're right. For me, the most disturbing part is that they are looking in the first place. And what can be even more frightening is it could be anyone, it makes me wonder who is out there looking for people just because they can and how many of them I have met in real life. Probably more than I care to realize.
mmmmmm I agree with the last comment.
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