Beware the Digital Age: Privacy Concerns on Social Networks

Since the dawn of humanity, storytelling has been an intrinsic part of our lives. Even in the absence of a written language, humans have ingeniously found ways to communicate their cultural narratives across generations. From the invention of books, newspapers, and magazines to the rise of radio, film, and television, industries have relentlessly competed to deliver increasingly personalized messages to their audiences. This relentless pursuit of connection and storytelling has inevitably led to the creation of the internet, a platform where any tale ever told can be accessed instantaneously.

In the digital age of the 21st century, social network sites (SNSs) have emerged as platforms where individuals not only have the opportunity to share their stories but also interact with others who resonate with them.

Applications such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram have greatly accelerated the participation in online interactions. Unlike traditional media enterprises, the online media industry empowers individual consumers to create personal channels or profiles. However, many users sign up with little understanding of the privacy policies associated with these sites, hastily agreeing without thorough consideration. The rampant practices of data mining, customer tracking, and the selling of users' personal information to third parties are eroding personal privacy, leading to heightened privacy concerns in the social networking realm.

The Dual Nature of Social Networks

Social network sites (SNSs) are digital platforms designed to enhance social communication, create interpersonal relationships, and maintain connections with both new and old acquaintances. On the surface, SNSs appear to offer privacy advantages over face-to-face interactions. For instance, participants in online discussions can conceal emotions that might otherwise be conveyed through nonverbal cues. Members can draft and revise their responses before posting, which can lead to increased comfort with this type of interaction. Thus, people find acceptance in virtual communities with like-minded individuals, fundamentally transforming the nature of relationships as we know them. As a result, Western societies have increasingly embraced SNSs as an integral part of their cultural identity. According to Jose M. Such and Natalia Criado, "Today, over two billion internet users consume social media, uploading and sharing hundreds of billions of data items." Facebook alone reported 1.44 billion active users in 2015, with numbers continuing to rise each year.

The universal need to connect with others encourages users to maintain an extensive list of friends, blurring the lines of privacy. Eileen Zurbriggen, author of a Psychological Science issue, provides a plausible psychological explanation for the allure of SNSs. She asserts that the affordances of social media—connectivity, visibility, social feedback, persistence, and accessibility—naturally attract humans.

Privacy Concerns and the Need for Awareness

The affordances of social media—particularly connectivity and social feedback—along with the vast amount of personal data shared with a largely unknown audience, challenge privacy boundaries and necessitate robust preservation efforts. Privacy, by definition, involves the right to personal autonomy and freedom of choice without external manipulation. Zurbriggen emphasizes the importance of privacy in identity development, asserting that it provides essential personal space for emotional release, self-evaluation, and protected communication. Understanding the significance and structure of privacy is crucial in preparing for potential security breaches on SNSs. In an era of rapid technological advancement, the ability to collect, share, and use personal information has grown exponentially, making privacy a dominant concern, as noted by Hsuan-Ting Chen and colleagues.

Those who disagree, including Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, argue that privacy is an outdated concept and that sharing personal information has become the norm. Zuckerberg's statement suggests that as personal posts on SNSs become increasingly normative, people are gradually becoming more comfortable with the amount of information they share and less concerned with platform privacy offerings. However, it is not indifference to diminishing privacy that has brought us to this new era of sharing, but rather an addiction to gratification. The endless interactions, content, and user-friendly technologies not available through direct communication naturally draw humans in due to their curiosity. This sense of control experienced online is theorized as the 'uses and gratification theory.' An extension of Maslow's hierarchy of needs, this theory posits that people seek various gratifications that cannot be obtained outside the realm of technology, and like other stimulants, this can become addictive. Therefore, society isn't careless; it's addicted.

Profit Motives of Social Media Industries

Media industries are businesses, and businesses need to generate profits to remain active and relevant. Consumers often assume that because a profile is about them and includes material they personally upload, the platform belongs to them. However, this assumption is incorrect. SNSs are not created for the people; they are designed to generate revenue from people by any means necessary. Recent attention to the disproportionate earnings of social network companies has raised suspicions among users. David Kirkpatrick, a writer at The New York Times, claims that Facebook was expected to earn over twenty-one billion dollars from advertising revenue in a single year! So, how do they achieve—and exceed—their financial goals? The most common method is through user engagement. Promised that their advertisements will be seen, companies choose platforms based on user base size and the platform's ability to reach targeted groups who may be interested in their products and stories. Relying on advertising fees, the media industry has become increasingly corrupt, with corporate influences wielding the majority of power. Corporations, having paid substantial sums, dictate the content and information displayed on the sites they support. This undermines users' ability to make informed decisions as corporate interests bury competing perspectives with their financial might.

Real-World Consequences and the Importance of Action

The vibrant nature of SNSs encourages masses to join the excitement. As of December 2017, Facebook reported 2.13 billion active users each month, according to Kirkpatrick. If so many people are involved, it must be safe, right? Unfortunately, this assumption is incorrect. The lines between private and public, news and propaganda, have been blurred. A recent example is Facebook's privacy scandal involving Cambridge Analytica. This political data firm, hired by a Republican party supporter, accessed tens of millions of Facebook profiles without permission to manipulate behavior during the 2016 elections. The New York Times reported that the data included details on users' identities, friend networks, and "likes." The aim was to map personality traits based on Facebook likes and target audiences with digital ads. Out of fifty million profiles, only about 270,000—less than one percent—consented to their information being used, and only for academic purposes. The unauthorized collection of our data is a threat to online privacy and a free, functioning democracy. Actions like these restrict competing perspectives in the media, leading to a false sense of choice regarding the information we share and the beliefs we hold.

Gathering user information has become a profitable venture in the marketing world. "To offer that level of marketing detail, [SNSs] need to record information on who their users are," states Christina Phillips. Through cookies, sites can track every click and sell this data to companies to boost sales. The more information they have, the more precise their targeting, and the more money they'll pay for it. Data mining is a common technique to extract additional information that SNSs can't provide. According to Kodala and Blockeel, there are three main areas of information gathering: web structure mining (extracting graphic content of a web page), web content mining (analyzing text), and web usage mining (tracking user navigation). Data miners argue that they merely collect publicly accessible information, which we consent to share by using the web. While valid, this argument doesn't justify their use of our information afterward. "The threat to informational privacy from data mining comes from this 'secondary use' of personal data," state Kosala and Blockeel.

Depending on the miner's intent, classifications may pose future problems for the user, with stalking being the most common issue. A website called Mylife gathers personal information, including addresses, phone numbers, ages, and family members, and publishes it for the world to see. The only precaution is a pop-up message asking users to check a box, promising not to use the information for stalking or slander. With no security to verify users' intentions, sites like Mylife pose real threats to our safety. Customer stalking is also prevalent in the SNS world. To boost sales and improve customer service, businesses monitor customer messages mentioning competitors. For example, "by actively monitoring customer messages that mention competitors, Verizon was able to proactively intervene and attempt to convince a T-Mobile customer to switch phone providers," according to Joris Demmers and colleagues.

Conclusion: Taking Control of Our Digital Lives

It is essential for SNS users to be aware of the potential consequences of sharing private information online, particularly regarding platforms that sell personal data to third parties for profit, engage in data mining, and practice customer stalking. When it comes to maintaining privacy, we must make informed decisions about what we allow. This could mean meticulously reading the policies presented to us, using pseudonyms and alternative birthdates, shipping to P.O. boxes instead of home addresses, using PayPal instead of direct card payments, or pruning our profiles through social gardening. In more extreme cases, it could mean denying ourselves the gratifications SNSs offer by refraining from creating profiles or deleting existing accounts. Alternatively, we could take an activist approach by creating pages to educate others or voicing our concerns and suggestions at local city hall meetings. Whatever the course of action, something must be done. The digital age is thriving and will continue to grow stronger. Let us become informed, spread awareness, and take action for the sake of future generations!

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