Use Facebook? Okay, who doesn’t –but while I bet you do know that Facebook keeps some information about what you do whilst your at Facebook.com, you probably didn’t know that every single click you make as been saved, cataloged, and sold to who-knows-who. An Austrian law student named Max Schrems managed to get the complete file Facebook has on him, and it totaled 1,222 pages. Perhaps Max spends a lot of time on Facebook but I’m flabbergasted that anyone can compile a 1,222 page dossier on anybody…a definite moment to pause.
And read! Facebook certainly has become a subject for commentary on both the evolution of the Internet and what an information economy really means and does. We have a number of titles that comment on Facebook, and all the implications of the Internet’s great equalizer-time-waster-snoop-amusement-park.com
- Tales from Facebook by Daniel Miller
- The Facebook effect : the Inside Story of the Company that is Connecting the World by David Kirkpatrick
- People Will Talk : the Surprising Science of Reputation by John Whitfield
- Virtually You : the Dangerous Powers of the E-Personality by Elias Aboujaoude
- Rewired : Understanding the iGeneration and the Way They Learn by Larry D. Rosen, L. Mark Carrier, and Nancy A. Cheever
- Hanging Out, Messing Around, and Geeking Out : Kids Living and Learning With New Media by Mizuko Ito [et al.]
- You are Not a Gadget : A Manifesto by Jaron Lanier
Mr. Lanier was on campus this fall and gave a captivating lecture…much to think about…