Musings on privacy and communication
Sep. 21st, 2006 10:09 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
azekeilGoing on a theme from my last post and another article following on from the last one, I have a theory. People don't normally tell strangers about their sexual habits for all sorts of reasons, but mostly because of privacy and the thought of what they may think of you in return (of course, sometimes people want them to think those things). People post private stuff like their sexual habits online precisely because they are not accountable.
In a not so stunning revelation, then, people who post private stuff online do not generally feel that the people they are revealing this information to are important. I guess the next question is, is this because of the medium affording an illusion of anonymity and/or insulation from others ("they're only words"), or is it simply because interaction online is 'worth less' or even 'worthless'?
I still wouldn't hand someone on a bus a piece of paper with my sexual habits written on, nor would I tell them over the telephone. I also wouldn't online, but I'm not sure that's always been the case. If I were writing on a site I didn't also use to organise my social life, where I had better anonymity, perhaps I might. I guess this is the reason people create second journals, to feel more freedom. But don't be fooled. They write for them, they don't want to hear about you.
In a not so stunning revelation, then, people who post private stuff online do not generally feel that the people they are revealing this information to are important. I guess the next question is, is this because of the medium affording an illusion of anonymity and/or insulation from others ("they're only words"), or is it simply because interaction online is 'worth less' or even 'worthless'?
I still wouldn't hand someone on a bus a piece of paper with my sexual habits written on, nor would I tell them over the telephone. I also wouldn't online, but I'm not sure that's always been the case. If I were writing on a site I didn't also use to organise my social life, where I had better anonymity, perhaps I might. I guess this is the reason people create second journals, to feel more freedom. But don't be fooled. They write for them, they don't want to hear about you.
