I really enjoy Facebook. There. I’ve said it. I like getting a glimpse into people’s lives and I don’t know if that makes me a mass stalker, or if I am a “creeper” as my youngest daughter says or what it makes me. I think there are a lot of people out there that are in the same boat.
I see a post from a friend, click on their profile to see what else they are up to and suddenly I find myself looking at their vacation photos and then their wedding pictures and every album they’ve got. Generally these are actual real life friends that I just like getting to know a little better, but it might be people I’ve invited to do interviews on the Get Inspired! Project, or “friends” I have on their that I really don’t know at all. (some of those folks I sort of wonder how we got hooked up, and mostly it’s just that we have lots of other ‘friends’ in common, so we connected.)
I’m not really stalking in any real sense, just curious, but some people are stalking. Divorce lawyers and private investigators, for example. It’s amazing what you can learn about people, and lots of folks don’t have their account private at all. They chat with friends and don’t even consider that other people could be following that conversation. Sometimes it’s innocent, but sometimes a “wow, you look great in this photo” turns into “would you like to get together to talk about old times??” and that leads them down a trail. But it’s a trail that professionals can easily follow and then there is evidence to bring up at the divorce settlement.
What are people thinking? And it’s not limited to Facebook. It can be LinkedIn, MySpace or any of the other social media. It could even be Twitter, but who has time to delve into all that 140 character drivel. I post there all the time and I doubt many people read every post I have there, and I don’t even post about the mundane.
But what I am saying here is, think about what you post. Think about what you write. Pretty much anyone can read it and it can be held against you in a court of law or an argument with someone you may care about.
How difficult is it to add things up? Suddenly we see “you” in group pictures, and you are always standing next to that same person, and your spouse is no where in sight. There are innocent but cryptic messages floating between you and that person. Or maybe, hey a group of people is going to location X. Are you going too? The signs are written in big letters and people are reading them and gossip is flying. Don’t think it goes unnoticed.
Social networks are great, but they can lull you into a false sense of security when there is none. Think about what you post and know that if you are not thinking about it, someone else is.
(before you read into this post, I read an article on Facebook privacy and it just got me to thinking.)
