In the Swedish newspapers "Svenska Dagbladet" it's an interesting article on the future direction of facebook. A Swedish author and debater Per Ström has published a piece were he compares facebook to a social constitution rather than a social network. Maybe this is a good platform to start a debate on? So for all the Swedish participants read the piece and share your opinion!
I'm personally of the view that I find it rather disturbing that all this information is out there already, before I knew the consequences of my actions.
The article can be found here:
SvD - Facebook ser dig
As a consumer i think it's easy to forget about these kind of things. I never think of it in the point of view that Facebook can see me and whatever i contribute with to the website is visible to them. Maybe it's dangerous not to thing about it but i think that the society are going in that direction, not only Facebook. Many business uses information about their customers for example to create directed commercial. When you shop at ICA supermarket, they record what you buy and then you get discount on those merchandices that you buy the most. Spotify uses information about where you live to select adds about products near you.
SvaraRaderaI'm more concerned about the new timeline on Facebook and that it maybe becomes too hard to keep track of what you are sharing or ain't. We like to share stuff occasionally with our friends but if they can see what you are doing all the time then maybe it becomes too much. It is like that app to your phone that can keep track of your friends, it seems pretty cool but when you come to think about it, do you really want your friends to know where you are all the time? I know i wouldn't but maybe that's because i like to be private.
I am not really that distrubed with all this information about us floating around on the internet. If we had a choice and could decide if we wanted to erase it I would surely do that, but it is not that big of a concern for me. I am not much of conspiracy-guy and feel that as long as you know what sites stores information about you and trust them, it should not be a problem.
SvaraRaderaIn the cases with ICA and the directed advertisement it really works both ways. Sure, the companies keep track on us, which to some degree is a bit creepy, but we also benefit from these discounts and products because they fit our needs and interests. The companies are also saving money and are increasing thier marketing effectiveness.
To summarize I would say some companies know a little to much about us, but as long as it is for a good purpose I am not that against it.
"I am not really that distrubed with all this information about us floating around on the internet. [...] I am not much of conspiracy-guy and feel that as long as you know what sites stores information about you and trust them, it should not be a problem."
SvaraRaderaWould you be more concerned if it was the Swedish state (rather than an American company) that kept track of what you did in cyberspace? Why/why not?
I think i would because then i might have a harder time understanding the reason for it. I would probably be more worried that the Swedish state would use the information in a, for me, bad way. For example checking me if i have done any illegal file-sharing or anything else that can get you into trouble. I thought about this when the FRA-law came which also has been heavy debated because of its violation of the civil rights. So for me when a commercial business uses information about you im thinking that its probably to create directed commercial which maybe is annoying but not harmful. When the state starts to control its citizens tho then as i said before you start to wonder what the reason for it might be.
SvaraRaderaWhat about China then? The Chinese equivalents to Facebook and Twitter are not run by the state, but cooperate with the state...
SvaraRaderaWhat if the Swedish state asks to get information from Google, Facebook etc. more and more often...?
Of course it would be more concering if the state was monitoring and asking for personal information without any specific reason. But I still think you have to be smart with what information you show and share on different sites. I, for example, would not share stuff I think might harm me in some way, by people reading it or by the state watching me. Since I am not worried about the information I share on the internet i am not concerned about anyone keeping track of me. Then, if the state collects it in some way and uses it against me, that is not really comforting. But with the information I voluntarily post online I think it would be faretched to be worried about that. At least for now.
SvaraRaderaYes that is quite interesting because i actually didn't knew about that until it was discussed during a seminar. I'm having a hard time imagining what it would felt like if it was the same here in Sweden but i guess i still think that it would violate the civil rights like freedom of speech. Of course there is always things that you can't say like libel so i guess it still comes down to how the social media technology is built, what type of information are the state asking for and what are the restrictions they are setting up.
SvaraRaderaI was told at the seminar, if i remember correctly, that people in China are trying to overcome the obstacles with for example certain words that you can't use. So there's got to be people who doesn't like that the state are doing this?