Too Much Information: The Blurring of Private and Public Life Online

Judy Sandra

October 17, 2011

https://www.digitalethics.org/essays/too-much-information-blurring-private-and-public-life-online

"Breaking the Boundaries of Publicity and Privacy Online"

First Impression:

The title reminds me of the only one thing associated with online life and has the means to change it around for better or for worse: information. Of course, being an infinite and needed resource all the time, it may seems that regardless if offline or online, information seems to thin out the boundary between public and private life until today. 

Quote: 

" You are a person who must use a gadget responsibly and ethically." 

Reflection Proper: 

The invention of the "information superhighway", as I recall back in my youth thanks to the essay's title, was one of the most important inventions of all time. This highway, which is a slight metaphor for the Internet, is basically an endless infinite spring of knowledge, growing ever so significantly with every word, every thought, every sound, and basically everything that we experience firsthand. But as time grew, one finds out important lessons in life, like the fact that information is a dual-edged sword, for it can do good or bad, depending on who holds it. In the modern age, where everything is interconnected due to the Internet, in terms of devices---computers to cameras to TV and radio to cellphones to game consoles all the way to smartphones, and not to mention information is accessible---both known as a blessing and a curse--,one must stop to think of this thought as provided by the essay I have just read: everything we do online that we think is private can be suddenly public, as we are not realizing that through the nonstop texting, photography, and video content every second, we are exposing ourselves through and through. It makes me think of this question in mind: what ever happened to the words "personal space" and "keeping one's boundaries" nowadays? Heck, privacy nowadays sounds like something a grandpa would say in this day and age. Let's face facts though: the Web now may have provided everyone endless information, news, entertainment and education all around the world for millions worldwide, but it also became the catalyst of many social upheavals as well as cultural and communication shift; to put it simply, the Internet came with a price: our humanity---only that for a juicy taste of information and what not. I may think that the world may have gone to heck with this sort of thing --- losing respect for one's privacy and boundaries and the world may have gone immoral somewhat, but there is one lesson that has been taught to me by my parents: we are not robots or machines that does things without thinking and no choice, we are human and we are what we choose to be --- in this case, we are people that must be responsible for what we do online, as well as being ethical. Let's put in this way: parents usually post a time limit of sorts for children when it comes to playing with gadgets, as well as a set of rules like "don't do this" and "don't touch that" --- if we apply that sort of thing, regardless of who or what we are, we can become better individuals like for instance as said in the essay: if one wouldn't say something out loud, then don't say it online, or rather think first before you act, because we have the responsibility to know what we are doing is right or wrong, and perhaps maybe, just maybe, we can start respecting privacy again, especially in this world of online exhibitionists.

5 Things Learned From Article: 

1. I learned about the massive effects of the shift to Web 2.0 and its open-source nature.

2. I learned about the fact about inter-connectivity and accessibility have become the blessing and the curse of the digital age.

3. I learned that private activity or rather things that were personal once have suddenly become public nowadays without a single thought.

4. I learned that it's our responsibility to use our devices correctly.

5. I learned that it's best to have a sense of privacy back into our lives, especially in an online world where one exposes himself or herself everyday carelessly.

5 Integrative Questions:

1. Do you believe in privacy becoming public nowadays online?

2. What's your opinion on people's practices online nowadays when it comes to "exposing themselves"?

3. How do you feel about knowing that in today's digital age, privacy seems like an old-fashioned term?

4. Why do you think personal space and respecting one's boundaries seems lost nowadays in the online world?

5. What's your suggestion or solution involving respecting privacy again in today's world?