A very silly article was posted on the BBC website yesterday. Cindy Gallop is identified by the Beeb as "an advertising consultant and commentator on cultural issues" (well, that makes all of us, surely). In her article she suggests that instead of trying to compartmentalise our lives and only share certain information with certain people, we should just not worry and make everything public, and instead concentrate on our image. Worries about privacy on social networks are unfounded, she implies.
By managing our image, she means that we should be consistent in our behaviour and not be one thing to one person and something else to someone else. If you don't want your boss to see photos of you as an idiot drunkard puking your guts out in the city centre, then don't be an idiot drunkard puking your guts out in the city centre. Just don't do stuff you'll be ashamed for other people to see.
Well, that's a sound argument; it's not one I disagree with. But it completely misses the point.
I'm not ashamed of what I do or of who I am. If I take my family on holiday for a couple of weeks, that's not something I hide from the world because I'm ashamed of it. But if I plaster the fact that my house is going to be empty for a fortnight all over the internet, that's a massive security risk.
My date of birth and mother's maiden name are nothing to be ashamed of. Sharing them could turn out to be pretty useful - more birthday greetings perhaps, and maybe a friendly genealogist might trace my family tree for me. But publicising information banks use to reset online accounts is never a wise move.
I agree with Cindy that it's silly to pretend you're something you're not, that telling lies is a bad thing, and being open, honest and transparent is good. But to pretend that privacy of information doesn't matter, that it's ok to share everything about you, that worries about what Facebook might do with your information are unfounded - well, that's just daft. It's embarrassing.
It's something to be ashamed of.
