Social Networks, Uninhibited Life Broadcasting, Circle of Trust & Network Cleanliness
Trust means having confidence or faith in someone and a friend is a person you know well, have regards for and trust. Does this same apply to the people who are your friends on a social network.
In real world, you have friends but you share you life with them on a meet or need basis. That is, during a natural conversation or when you get a chance to meet them.
What social networking brings to you is the facility to share the life constantly with people around you. Few years back this phenomenon was not at all available to you.
Well, how does it matter to you. Well it of course matters to your personal "circle of trust". You keep on adding people to your social network, sometimes he/she is a person you have met before, plan to meet in future, friend of a friend, just an acquaintance, a person you would like to connect with, a colleague, person trying to sell you or just some random person trying to reach you for a reason or no reason.
Remember the random person that you add become available to your friends and your networks. Thus to infiltrate a network of millions, you just need to be friends with one weakest social networker. This is how nastiest things happen to people in the real world and it’s no different online. In fact it is easier and faster online.
There are some filtering options provided to you on a social network to classify these people. But for most of us, these people land up as "friends". We do want our private moments and when ever we think of it and we do some housekeeping of the friends list and organize them. But almost all of us have a unmanaged and unsorted list of people as friends.
When you are broadcasting your life on a social network, you never think twice, it is almost at the spur of the moment. Every action has it’s reaction and bang these days it is on social network.
It’s not within the circle of trust. A news/pic/video which only friends should see and comment on.
It’s not something that your friend will understand, respect and keep private.
You just did it on Air, recorded on the net forever and never to be deleted. To spread is the only destination of your last update.
"The more I grow my network, the less comfortable I feel to share my life on facebook" – a friend’s status message on facebook.
How to keep your Network Clean & Broadcasts safe
- There are many distinctions in your life – personal-private, friend-stranger, friend-enemy, friend-colleague. But as a human you are tuned to respond them in real life situations, social networks are a different world and your natural responses in natural environment doesn’t apply here. E.g. a happy face on a profile pic doesn’t reflect the present mood of the person. You might be trying to connect with a person who just committed suicide.
- Respect yourself, respect your circle of trust and keep your network clean. If you are there to network and as an open networker, don’t share the updates that you would hate it in future for going public
- Respect your friends too, whatever that you do with your friend on social network is available for your “network” to see.
- Don’t share an a highly opinionated message containing anger or hatred. It would be like stamping it with seal of proof and justifying in the court that yes you said it. And forget the world not even you can deny it.
- If you are in doubt, think again before befriending someone. Don’t add random anonymous people with malicious intent to infiltrate your network.
Last but not the least.
Privacy is a myth, don’t carry it when you are online. Someone in this world, definitely knows (or can know) what you did on your computer.
Image : SEOUL MAN66 on Flickr
Related posts:
- Study: On Social Networks You Are Who You know
- Influencer’s life stage and the word of mouth on social media
- Privacy – Whatever it is but we can’t afford to believe in it
- De-Anonymizing Social Network Users
- Gary Wolf on The Data-Driven Life
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