Some time ago, I was given a ‘top 10’ list from two people on Facebook of documentaries that I should watch. ‘Extraordinary people doing extraordinary things’, was the quote they gave me. So now….I have 20 movies to get through! Most have admittedly been pretty interesting (I’ve watch 8 so far) and I’m definitely looking forward to the rest!
Today, I watched ‘We Live in Public’ about Josh Harris, the dot-com entrepreneur from the 90’s. In true documentary form, they discuss his upbringing (cold and detached), then some of his projects (well…..human experiments, actually but you certainly could can them ‘art’), his inevitable fall from the top, and the ensuing insanity. Regardless of what you think of the internet, it’s certainly a must watch since it really shows the early days of what is was like to ‘surf the world wide web’ in a way that I think some of us forget. Harris certainly knew where the online world was going and where we are today is a big part of his (and others) vision. After all, it lead to here – a strange woman in the middle of nowhere rambling on her blog/site about a documentary on the dot-com age!
But what was so facinating to me was not just that this man was able to so clearly envision what we take for granted today (social networking, streaming video, etc) but the reaction of the filmmaker to today. Perhaps I’m misinterpreting his statements but, it seemed almost like he was okay with webcamming your entire life when you live in a bunker in New York with a bunch of strangers (Harris’ ‘living art’ project) but seemed concerned about Google, Facebook, and other sites that are a staple of life today.
I know there’s an awful lot of hulabaloo about privacy online these days. For those with psycho stalkers or X-rated pasts, I see the concern (to a point). However, to complain about advertising that’s targeted to you because you wrote a status update on Facebook about widgets so suddenly, the ads in the right-hand column change to widget companies is a ridiculous criticism. It implies that advertising was never targeted to you to begin with which is false. If you consume anything in this world, it’s inevitable that you will also consume advertising and that makes you a target! And not just certain commercials running during certain TV shows or particular magazines having particular ads printed although, those are classic examples. Think about contests/draws, signs in bars and restaurants, product placement in movies and TV, and let’s not forget the ‘mystery shopper’ scheme – a person who singles you out and praises a product you’re waffling about without realizing that the person is actually being paid to do so! We’re surrounded by advertising so what’s the big deal if it’s online right after we sent an email about that very thing?
Okay, if I had a conversation with a friend in a pub about over throwing the widget maker, only a small group of people would hear which is a tad different than posting it online and run the risk of upsetting and angering the widget maker and his cronies. I know I’m being silly with that example but it does highlight a couple of points. If you voice an opinion/thought/preference/whatever instead of keeping it in your own head, people are free to do with that information whatever they please, right or wrong. Yes, doing it in a pub theoretically limits your audience but does potentially put you at more risk because it’s live verses semi anonymous. But there’s a more fundamental issue at stake here: free speech. Now, I’m not a crazy advocate of anything but, if we ever get to the point (and to a certain extent, I think we have always been at said point) where people are sanctioned socially, financially, or any other way possible by a company or government simply for voicing opinions, we’re in deeper excrement than any privacy invasion issue could put us in!
But to get back to the privacy issue, I honestly believe that the real problem actually lies at the feet of those who ‘use’ our information. When did it become okay to advertise in such a manner that personal information gleamed from emails or credit cards could be used in the first place? What kind of boundaries should there be (not just online either!) and could we ever see them enforced by law? Running and hiding from the internet sounds like a great way to ‘protect’ yourself but I don’t believe that it will stop hard core corporate advertising to me and it won’t stop them from trying to analyze my life in order to sell products directly to me. The real complaint should be the advertising not the internet. But in someways, I kind of hope that they do read some of my (and my friends) comments on Facebook because guess what? I want a company to build me a better bra in my size! I want a company to make me a better migraine medication! And I want a company to HIRE ME!!!
Seriously though, I choose to be online, in multiple ways including Facebook, Twitter, and my personal website here because I want to be able to share a bit of my life with my friends, family, and everyone else. If that includes the corporate world, so be it – they are kind of paying for it, aren’t they? I certain can understand why some people feel disconnected by being online so much. Let’s face it, we are social animals and want to be around other people but at the same time, I’ve been able to keep up with friends and relatives who I haven’t seen in decades, meet new friends, and been able to keep up with the kind of news and events that are important to me. What’s so wrong with that?