My facebook friend Kray pointed to an article in the guardian about the darker side of facebook in a recent post. I wrote the following comments. I'm going to be writing more, maybe this weekend. I think it's important.
Kray, this is a fascinating article, and I agree that much of it is disturbing, the way that whole parts of the "new economy" are disturbing. I think I will try for an in depth meditation on some of the issues raised, but meanwhile, two short observations:
1) While I agree that if you're using facebook to connect to your local community, then you're clearly short circuiting what could be much more productive "real" social interactions. But for me, it's been proving an amazing way to maintain and restore previously "disappeared" personal communities that span the entire planet because of my current location. That's a "good thing."
2) Yes, we are very "exposed" on the net, and I agree that having all that personal information out there is scary. But I've always been a huge fan of the concept of transparancy as a way to ensure ethics in things like government and business, and while there are big-brother aspects to something like facebook, isn't it possible that we could be hypocritical if we are unwilling to apply the same standards of transparency to our own lives? I'd rather have my "dark secrets" online in a medium I at least in some ways can monitor and control (e.g. my blog, or facebook) than in spaces I cannot control (e.g. that file the FBI/CIA undoubtedly already have on me, somewhere in Washington, or the file my past doctors have of me in some database).