A repost from my other blog, WebnographY, where I track changing attitudes and past research on online social networking. I thought it a pertinent topic for Iggli, as well. Enjoy 
The following was initially a comment on danah boyd's recent post discussing Facebook's "slippery slope" of betraying its users, most recently with Project Beacon. Please share your thoughts if you have them!
"Trusting
Facebook users" are generally older folk- I think they're more open to
publicizing their online profiles because they're seeking to make
connections, they're gaining from the public exposure and excited by
all the novel possibilities. My ethnography of social networking sites
primarily re/presents the voices of college students- particularly
veteran Facebook users. The site started out as being a great little
niche environment, so people could exchange intimate messages and
upload photos from that crazy party where everyone was on a ton of
drugs and so on. Then it opened up, everyone was pissed, and that's
when attitudes toward Facebook started to shift.
Most
first-generation Facebookers have some degree of distrust/disgust for
the site, often a great deal of it. Yet they continue to use it because
it's become so firmly integrated into campus social life- it's a way to
easily invite people to parties and share photos from said parties, to
visually organize one's social network and keep track of alumni and old
high school buddies, to find out the sexuality or relationship status
of that boy you've been admiring from afar. It's crucial. If you're not
on Facebook, you're going to be somewhat out of the loop.
Such
important social practices generally take precedence over the egregious
invasions of privacy that most are highly suspicious of. The trend is
not abandoning Facebook- it's far too useful. However, the site's
reputation is definitely tainted, and some Facebookers are using the
site to form or join groups that promote awareness of Facebook's
privacy policies and petition for change. Most, however, are simply
becoming more savvy and protective of their online personas; it's
become increasingly common for me to be unable to access the profiles
of those I'm not friends with because of that practice. Others have
simply taken to deleting much of their profiles, leaving just an e-mail
address, a witty or ironic comment, and maybe a funny picture. There's
also a huge trend to apathetically accept that nothing can be done
about it, much like how a lot of young people feel about our government.
Again,
these are just observations of the changing attitudes among a specific
subset of Facebook users. They know what's going on (though I would say
that only the Tech-savvy blog-readers have even heard about Project
Beacon- but they know their information is being used for capitalist
endeavors), they're disgruntled that so much of what they do on
Facebook is publicly broadcast and forever archived. Regardless of how
they talk about it, however, they're still using it regularly for
everyday social practices. For many, it's become as habitual to check
Facebook as it is to check e-mail.
This redhead is getting pretty pissed off- not only at the increasingly exploitive surveillance of people around the world, but also with widespread apathetic acceptance of blatant privacy violations. Get a grip, people! Stop bitching about spam on MySpace or dysfunctional applications on Facebook and learn a thing or two about user controls! You're not being nearly as victimized as you'd like to believe.
Lesson #1: No, you can't track who views your profile on Facebook. Not even Trakzor will help you- it's just another useless Facebook application. I get a high proportion of hits to my blog, WebnographY, from those seeking to find the answer to this question. The answer is no. The only way you could possibly ever tell was if whoever was reading your profile just happened to have installed the same dumb application. Odds are slim it's someone you were hoping would be "stalking" you... sorry!
... oh, and don't worry- no one can tell you're refreshing their profiles every two minutes unless you click on a Trakzor link.
Lesson #2: Craft a Limited Profile on Facebook, and use it for family members, co-workers, and anyone else you'd prefer not to be exposed to photos of your most recent debacles. A few months ago, my father assured me not to worry about my Facebook, 'cause "there's nothing too bad on there". Turns out my sister had left herself logged into her account on his computer, granting him free reign to scour through the little details of our college lives. Craft a Limited Profile and check "Show Limited Profile" to any Friend Requests from those who are even the least bit untrustworthy, including your little sis.
Lesson #3: Regularly browse through all tagged photos of yourself. This one is really important, especially for all you high school MySpacers who don't see a problem with posting photos of that last kegger. You just don't know if your principal's created an account and is jotting down your names, as my high school principal did before he called a dozen kids into his office. And, though you may be quite proud of your latest nude photo shoot, I assure you that you are being judged. Harshly. At the very least, make such photos "Friends Only" instead of revealing your titties to the world at large!
Unless you're into that sorta thing, you little exhibitionist, you.
Lesson #4: You've got more control than you realize. Tired of reading headlines about high school friends you haven't spoken to in 5 years? You can control what updates are shown to you- all it takes is a bit of fiddling around with settings and preferences. Sick of getting bitten by vampires and having your brains eaten by zombies? Click on the invitation, scroll down the page a bit and click "Block Application" on the right-hand side of the screen. Poof! No more blood/brain loss! On MySpace, you can choose to moderate your comments, meaning that you get to review what's being posted on your profile and accept or decline messages. Friend tagged an embarrassing photo of you? De-tag it. Don't want just anyone to find you? Change your name to an alias.
Lesson #5: Take a note out of Tribe.net’s book: lean on intimately-established networks of trust. Find smaller social networking sites where you can engage in thoughtful discussion about your eclectic interests with those of equal passion and intelligence. Smaller sites ensure you won't get spammed, phished, and friended by the bitch who talked shit about you in high school. Remember, it's up to you to control how you spend your time on the Internet. You can waste it in the underwhelming pursuit of diminishing your self-confidence through comparison to others, or you can engage your mind and creativity by chasing after the most whimsical of fascinations.
Thought I'd keep it short and limit it to 5 tips; please post comments and/or questions below, and I'll address them in a follow-up post!
