argue all you want...but the perception of privacy is and will always be just that perception...

#readurbible

enjoy the read

Okay okay - so understanding that we as users of the internet are the products of the internet should help give us some language on how we want to use the internet. Again, it’s critical to understand that there is not a “right” or “wrong” filter we are building, rather just a roadmap for our brains to filter this evolving language. That will continue to impact every aspect of your life moving forward.

While anyone can type anything into an internet search bar, the next thing we need to understand is the roadways of the internet are emails and social networking or social media. Many of us have that deactivated email that we started in middle school. Probably featuring some cheesy nickname and favorite number. Possibly that’s just me, but I doubt it.

Today kids are given laptops by their public schools day 1 to take home. Essentially replacing real books and book bags with a laptop case that carries virtual books and homework. First thing they do? Get an email. You can see it a bit like a universal language. This email address gets them access to all their school work. Or when a user gets a new job, one of the first things on the job is getting access to your work email. This email address is then a way for you to go about cruising the internet and getting access to different people and information around the world.

The second major roadway to the internet is social media. If it’s snapchat with your friends, twitter for the news, or tiktok for the laughs. Following the opening of an email, users will get around next by stepping into social media. Some would call it today’s public square, where the marketplace of ideas gathers. It generally gets accessed some what flippantly. Maybe there are some minor goals of the user like being connected to friends, or laughing, but generally a user discovers uses for the different social media networks with use over time.

Understanding that these two roadways are how people get around will set the table for the next rule we want to talk through:

There are no private messages on the internet.

In our emails, and various social networks we are apart of, we have the ability to have the perception of privacy. You can send a direct message, or private message. However, that privacy is built on an assumption of trust, that the other party can choose to agree too or not.

Why is this a big deal?

Because 30 years ago, our social connections were built on person to person live interactions. You had the opportunity to tell you friend a secret, or you could vent to a co-worker over a drink in confidence. If that friend or co-worker chooses to violate your trust by telling others you would lose a friend and the world would go on. If it was a serious issue insides of a workplace or friend group it would be a challenge, that would generally go back to a basic argument of he/she said and the burden of proof and time would eventually cause things to simmer down.

30 years later we may still have friends that we will confide with or vent to in person in confidence. However, much of our correspondence in relationships with people happen over email, or different social networks. And when a person chooses to violate your trust by sharing something that was said in confidence. Rather than tell there buddy face to face, they will take an email you wrote, or a screenshot of something you sent them, and pass it around on the internet. Now, instead of a back and forth argument in person, something of confidence is now posted to the internet, with no context for the user of the internet that consumes that information. This creates a perception that could be worse than a felony. It comes with big words, like sexist, racist, bigoted etc.

So, as you are navigating the internet, it’s critical that your communication on the internet is not private, nor will it ever be private. That’s not something to be afraid of, however it is something to understand when cruising around the internet and interacting with people. The idea of privacy is predicated on trust, and the idea of trust on the internet is a great idea, however not reality, and the ramifications of broken trust are significantly beyond what they were. Which will lead us into the next rule:

What’s spoken or written cannot be erased.