Jarvis: social networking beneficial, user must choose though

Posted by Jean Yves Chainon on December 3, 2007 at 11:22 AM

New media proponent Jeff Jarvis discussed about the goods of social networking in his Guardian column, saying “this new publicness is likely to be a good thing”. He doesn’t seem worried by the increasing loss of privacy and the rise of Facebook and the likes.

One surely can’t deny some of the benefits of social networking: it enables work colleagues, friends, strangers and more to connect or stay in touch. It can help you find useful information faster than you would have on your own. In Jarvis’ case, it even helped him get more knowledge about his heart condition – he posted his medical data on the Web.

“No longer can you escape relationships when you move on; you will be tied to your past - and to the consequences of your actions,” argued Jarvis.

Furthermore, he believes this increased openness and long-lastingness of consequences will eventually help to increase tolerance, believing people will be protected by “mutually assured humiliation.”

Sounds reassuring or scary?

About Facebook’s new ad program though, which potentially makes buyer information available to marketers and friends, Jarvis reminds of the necessity for users to have a certain control of their privacy, or lack thereof.

“That control will be a key issue in Facebook's implementation of its next-generation advertising, which associates brands not with content but with customers.”

Source: Guardian