draliman on life

Weekly Writing Challenge: Mind the Gap – Facebook – to poke or to puke?

So this Facebook thing – a force for good, or an insidious evil? A social network – some may say the social network – in a world in which the inhabitants are increasingly obsessed with sharing every detail of their lives and of course with revelling in the thrills and mishaps of others.

Let’s break it down.

Responsibility – at the end of the day, what I post is down to me

Make no mistake, whether I intend the whole world to read what I write or it’s only intended for “friends”, what I post on any social network, including Facebook, is my responsibility. No-one else’s.

In the heat of the moment it’s easy to post something I may later regret. I rarely post to Facebook using my phone (which is always nearby) – my big clumsy fingers are not phone-friendly. I often find that by the time I’ve fired up the laptop I’ve gone off the boil. Maybe it wasn’t such a good idea to post that after all?

How many people have found themselves in trouble for posting something “inappropriate”?

An expectation of privacy. Really?

Do we have any expectation of privacy when posting to Facebook? Personally, I don’t. My posts (largely publicising my WordPress posts, to be fair) are set to be visible to “friends” only. In my case, all my Facebook friends are people I know, or knew, in real life.

However, I’m posting to a nameless server somewhere thousands of miles away. I’m putting my information in the hands of the administrators of those servers. Will I spend hours complaining about my job and calling my boss every name under the sun and be absolutely certain the boss will never find out? Could a programming error or hack make my comments temporarily public some day?

Will one of my Facebook friends suddenly turn on me (nooooo)!

I try not to post anything I can’t afford the whole world to know – some common sense is required!

(Of course, the only way to stay off the digital radar completely is to live in a bunker in the middle of the desert surrounded by bottled water and tins of Spam.)

Facebook’s Privacy settings have long been the target of much controversy and bad feeling, and in my opinion correctly so. I lock things down as much as possible but I don’t trust it to keep my private thoughts private forever.

Considering the future

It’s so easy to post hilarious mishaps now without considering future implications. The minimum age required to hold a Facebook account is thirteen. You’re still at school. Something posted now could come back to haunt you later on – at thirteen years old there’s a lot of future to ruin.

Endless posts about getting drunk and smoking pot in the school toilets lose their laughter appeal when they come to light right after you’ve just finished law school and you’re studying for the bar exam.

Hey, this is all a bit doom and gloom. What about the positives?

Reading this through, I realise that it’s pretty negative. That’s not like me! Am I dead against Facebook?

Not at all.

I think it’s great. I’ve caught up with old friends through Facebook. I can see what people are up to no matter how far away they are. How amazing is that? I can “like” the pictures of their kids, or their latest holiday. I hope that makes them happy – I certainly love it when someone likes what I’ve been up to!

Facebook provides a forum for our thoughts, a place where we can share things about ourselves with others.

I know the risks and I’m willing to take the chance. I use it sparingly. I stay away from the games. It’s a place to keep up with the exploits of my friends, some of whom are far away.

Facebook is like fire

It’s a tool.

It’s useful.

You can use it for good or evil – it’s your choice.

Treat it with care and respect or you might get burnt.

I’d include an impressive picture of the Facebook logo here wreathed in flames, but unfortunately my Photoshop skills are not up to the task!

Do I practise what I preach? Well, I’m reasonably careful but…