Online reputations: Nowhere to hide

Last month, a Rutgers freshman dared his Twitter friends to log on to iChat, where he used a webcam to broadcast his dorm mate's intimate encounter with another man. Just days later, after posting a final Facebook status, the roommate who was recorded took his own life. Some say the social-media harassment played a role in his decision. "People who are accustomed to this public life think nothing of airing people's dirty laundry," said UW sociology lecturer Jonathan Wender. "As technology invades more of our personal space it's changing the meaning of personal space. Right now, there is a lot of cultural and moral confusion between what's technologically possible and what's desirable." As technology rapidly advances, Wender stressed the importance of making informed, careful decisions when it comes to our own privacy and the privacy of others. "Easy access and forwarding means that people can spread personal information far and wide," said UW communication professor Malcolm Parks. "Things you might have wanted to keep private are harder to do so right now." In a recent Facebook press release, it was announced that there are currently 500 million active users, or roughly one in every 14 people on the planet. Twenty-nine percent of those users in the United States are between 18 and 25. "I change my privacy settings like most young people who might be applying for an important job or something," said UW student and athlete Tony Gobern. "But also a huge process I go through is managing the large number of friend requests I get." Gobern explained that because he plays for the Huskies, complete strangers often ask to be Facebook friends. About a month ago, Robert Francescini permanently deleted his Facebook profile, a task that the site makes difficult to complete said the UW junior. Apart from taking up too much of his free time, he felt his profile gave a one-sided and somewhat inaccurate impression of who he really is. "I didn't like lots of the pictures posted of me," Francescini said. "Pictures taken at parties aren't the most flattering; it made me look less serious than I might like to be represented." Despite people's attempts at privacy, UW informatics and philosophy associate professor Adam Moore explained that databasing companies are constantly gathering information through social-networking profiles. This information is then sold to advertisers and big companies interested in learning more about their target audience. "It's good to remember that there are many, many ways that we place personal information online," Parks said. "It's not just Facebook - it's everything you Tweet or text, every purchase, every visit to a medical provider, parking ticket, every piece of e-mail." Wender offers the "Grandmother Rule" as his number-one piece of advice for what people should share on the Internet. If you wouldn't want your grandmother to see it, Wender said, don't put it out there. Moore observed that increasingly students seem to be volunteering a lot of information about themselves on social-networking sites, such as Facebook. Francescini agreed: "I think lots of people are sharing information that usually would be kept private or they wouldn't normally disclose with everyone they know." Parks suggested that because expectations of privacy are different for younger generations who grew up online, they are sometimes willing to reveal more. "One student told me," Parks said, "'Somebody can find out everything anyway, so what does it matter what I put on my profile?'" But the findings of a recent survey conducted by Microsoft suggest that what we choose to share could matter after all. The study found that 70 percent of U.S. recruiters and human resources professionals report rejecting potential employees because of information found online. "There [are] ways to duke our privacy settings," Moore said. "It's very troubling for folks coming up on the job market that this stuff never goes away. A dumb, little innocent thing you did when you were 18 is something that will deny you a job when you're 25." UW junior Emily Yang found it hard not to laugh when she was called into the principal's office her senior year of high school. The administrator slid a picture across his desk that had been turned in by a fellow student. Yang was pictured with her friend who was wearing an adult diaper. Assuming underage drinking, the principal threatened to kick Yang and her friends off of their school sports teams. "It's something that seems so dumb and insignificant," Yang said, "but because everyone can see it, all [of a] sudden, it's a big deal." Yang began to censor her Facebook profile, untagging herself from photos that could be considered inappropriate. "There are people out there that are preying on our giving of information," Moore said. "We're all way too trusting of giving sensitive information over electronic media." Moore worries about what he calls the "nothing to hide" mindset. He claimed that we all have things to hide, and privacy is necessary. When we can no longer restrict access, physical and health problems can arise. "We put people in solitary confinement because it's painful," said Moore. "Similarly, if you can't withdraw into a place of your own, you find it equally irritating. In online environments, we're not allowing people a sanctuary to withdraw into." Reach reporter Becka Gross at lifestyles@dailyuw.com.

Online reputations: Nowhere to hide

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