Post #7: Online Privacy

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 How large an online footprint do you have? Do you have a personal website?

I try to keep any semblance of my true identity off the internet. Even so, I also have a fairly active Google account that I'm not particularly proud of. Of all web data collection services, Google probably has to most accurate profile of me of anyone given just how frequently I use its services. So, yeah. Even when actively trying to maintain a low profile, I'm not very good at it.

I also have a portfolio website. I need to get hired at some point, so having this website is pretty much a must. Still, this site contains very little actual information about me.

Which social media sites do you use? What have you put on them? What have you linked to? 

My Facebook account has sat dormant for years, and is set to private. I don't use Instagram, snapchat or Twitter. The only one that I really use is a fairly filled-out LinkedIn because I need it for school. 

My old Facebook account that I've since deactivated included any rambling thoughts that I had at the time. This included my political views, personal life drama and general inadvisable oversharing. I've since deleted all of that and deactivated Facebook.

LinkedIn only contains information about me that's relevant for a job recruiter. I don't make posts or repost anything that other people have posted. It's quite honestly just a summary bio of my potential as a job candidate.

What information about you could a visitor glean about you, even indirectly, by visiting your pages on social media? 

That I've got long, blonde hair and that I'm desperately looking for a job.

What private information have you voluntarily given out, such as your phone number and e-mail address? To what sites and why? 

The only sites that have any intimate details like that are sites that I've needed to use for shipping something to my house, or sites that I'm using to get a job. I don't trust other websites to have that information.

Consider the sorts of questions posed by The Atlantic article: Does social media make people lonely? Depressed? Isolated? 

Hoo boy it sure does. Social media (particularly Facebook) is a bane on society. It's created divides larger than ever should have been possible. It encourages people to find echo-chamber groups that self-radicalize and spiral into obsession and control. It reflects realities that are so disparate from real reality that you feel inadequate and unworthy. 

Facebook profits off suffering.

 

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