Week 5: I Didn't Do It

In class this week an interesting point was raised about the embarrassing situation of putting on the Internet photos and videos of yourself doing silly things, then having people like employers see those things and the ensuing negative repercussions. Or worse still, someone else taking photos and videos of you, unbeknownst, and posting them up. Government legislation would be the last thing we need to "protect" people from such things... would anyone want some pencil-neck bureaucrat in a dark room somewhere reviewing every video, every photo, every message they post to determine whether it is "suitable" or not?

Hello Mao, hello Stalin, hello Goebbels.

As a result I think we are entering an "age of paranoia". People will start being on their best behaviour when stepping outside, terrified that their antics be caught and saved forever in cyberspace. At the same time people (young mostly) will become more adept at managing their "performances". They will learn to bifurcate their online personas into "good" and "bad" selves, probably maintaining two or more separate profiles. Then when something nefarious pops up their "good" side can deny all knowledge. Many people already do this to some extent; but it will always have limited utility, as Donath & Boyd point out, since someone in your list of cyber-friends who knows you well enough will wise up.

I foresee, perhaps a generation down the track, a backlash against this paranoia. People will simply not care who sees them making dickheads of themselves on the Internet. It will become a part of accepted social norm; no employer or prospective mate will hold a video of you throwing up against you, especially as there might be a dozen videos of them doing the same thing.