Majority Rules: Screw Privacy... Lets Mingle!

As a society we have agreed to give up our privacy.

Modern society has made a general consensus to give up their privacy so that they can enjoy the conveniences of a globalized world. While this statement may seem far fetched and exaggerated it's as true as the sky is blue.

As the internet craze grew throughout the 90's and into the late 2010's every detail about our lives have been digitalized, recorded, repeated, and shared by more people and companies than you would care to know about. For instance, when we pay for services for daily things such as car insurance, credit cards, health insurance, and more, we usually have to fill out some basic information about ourselves. This information then gets stored in the company's consumer profile files for good.

Since we are now in the age of computers all of the information is digitalized. Digitalized information is much easier to steal than written information for multiple reasons. Digital information is floating around in cyber space which makes it easy for hackers to access it; it is also easily reproduced so millions and millions of copies of your information can be floating around at any given moment.

Another issue with sharing information over the internet is the issue of company sharing. Many advertisement agencies get a hold of your information and can sell it to other companies. The companies who buy your information then use this information in order to try selling you their products and services.

The method of information sharing above is a more indirect way in which privacy is eliminated. In fact, many consumers may be entirely unaware of information sharing/theft between parties. In this case, the modern society is certainly not openly and willingly relinquish their privacy.

Perhaps one of the biggest ways in which information becomes less and less private is through social networking on the internet. On sites like facebook, myspace, xanga, youtube, and twitter, people share information about what parties they are going to, who their friends are, their religion, and even their sex life. From drunken photos of you at a bar to embarrassingly slutty pictures of the halloween costume you wore four years ago. The thing is that everyone who searches for you on google, potential employers, future in-laws, your parents, grandparents, etc. can learn a lot about you. Get the picture?

Now an outsider would think, "Why would people possibly even consider sharing such information?" I believe that the reasons why people share their information on social networks can be found deep within our psyche and societally charged preferences. Popularity, social acceptance, and celebrities are the most coveted elements of America today. Everyone wants to see and be seen. In such a big world it is easy for individuals to get caught up in the rip tied of urban life that they can often feel ignored and unloved within their world. Especially since the internet is making in person contact less and less necessary. Social networking acts as a direct protest against the internet craze in that it is the humanistic lonely yearn for attention and human contact.

For example, we all have those friends from high school who go out every weekend and post pictures of their adventures on facebook about 5 seconds after they get home from the bar. Now why is it so important for them to post all of these pictures? It is simply that they want to be seen. Now we all have those friends who post their thoughts on facebook wall about 6 times a day or tweet every time they go to the bathroom. Now we know that these are the people that simply want to be heard.

Furthermore, internet socialization takes out the pain and embarrassment of the real thing (face to face contact). It is easier to say what you really think when on a computer because the blow of rejection is softened by the fact that you are essentially talking to a computer screen and not a real person. A lot of people I know are real tough guys on facebook chat, but in person, they watch what they say!

The whole point is this. We hear celebrities and normal people complaining about identity theft and their lack of privacy on a daily basis. But what none of them want to admit is that they love the attention, that they are not willing to give up the social connections and modern conveniences of the internet in order to protect their information. Therefore, modern society has given their consensus to do away with privacy once and for all.

So i must admit that I'm on Scott McNealy's side here when he says, "You have no privacy. Get over it." The truth is that he is right.