Privacy and confidentiality are especially sensitive matters when it comes to new media.
Unfortunately, most people are not knowledgeable about the risks they take when using social networking sites.
When joining sites like Facebook many people are very trusting with the information they share. They reveal a wealth of information about themselves on these sites without realizing how they may be compromising their privacy. Users need to know how to use the tools provided to enforce that not all of their information is shared with just anyone. Privacy allows us to maintain control of our relationships, both personal and professional. People do not share the same details about themselves with their colleagues and their close friends or partners. It is by protecting this privacy that we can maintain the differences in our relations.
All of the information that people share on Facebook, Twitter, blogs, etc., can be used by anyone, with the right skill set, to build a profile of an individual. This is how we Facebook can deliver ads that target certain demographics.
This is not just a problem with new media but the Internet as a whole. New media is a product of the information age. The threats to privacy and confidentiality are exponentially greater as a result of how we share and consume information on the web.
I like how you've pointed out that keeping certain information private helps us maintain our relationships with others as they are. I agree, that due to increased popularity social networking sites often reveal information about us that we would not normally share with just anyone. Nowadays employers are known to go to social-networking sites during the interview process of recruiting new hire-es to get a sense of a candidate's reliability and integrity. Many people do not understand that what they post online is just as valid as saying it in public, thus possibly compromising their integrity in the eyes of others, or revealing too much personal information.
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