Writing Privacy

There has been quite an uproar in recent days over privacy scandals involving social networking sites. It comes at an interesting time with my PhD upgrade procedure next week. A better media furoré could not have been hoped for in demonstrating the relevance of privacy in a very public sphere.

Privacy Expectations

The details of Facebook’s battle with users over privacy have been widely documented. For reference, a few startling facts: the growth of Facebook’s consumer base, and presumably its expanding commercial empire, has coincided with increasingly complex privacy settings. It has meant over 100 different privacy settings, and a policy which (columnists have taken pride in noting) is now longer than the US Constitution. This week, however, members, propelled by consumer experts and a media bandwagon, prompted Facebook director Marc Zuckerberg to rethink. Hence, Wednesday saw an official declaration of a more simplified system to try and repair the relationship with a sceptical Facebook usership.

What privacy rights and expectations should users expect for social networking structures? Little in life comes for free. Facebook’s own business model must be based to some degree on future profit projections, and that, to date, has not involved consumers paying for the service. Plus, the internet has spawned several high-profile casualties (e.g. Myspace) when tastes and preferences move on. The fickle nature and finite lifetime of cyberspace fads are the incentive to push for whatever marketing potential can be found. But it is often the results of that push which drive consumers away. As the venerable Al Allday notes, “People don’t like being a target demographic“.

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