"After reading the section “What Isn’t Said” with the four points about how the Web might overcome the volume of information to make useful connections, think about Kevin Kelly’s point about having to be transparent in order to benefit from The One. How has your position on transparency and information sharing changed over the past few weeks of this course?"
I really......don't think that my personal position has changed about transparency and information sharing over the internet. I have learned a lot about how the internet works, and about different ways to share information over it; but my underlying feelings about what and how I share my personal information hasn't changed. I think this is probably because even though some of the technology and websites were new to me (ie, I'd never used Twitter before), life had already forced me to make decisions about what I would share, and how much time I would devote to sharing it on the internet.
The blog that I kept while living in India is a good example. I decided to create a blog - my first one - and I had a specific purpose in mind: to post information useful to other expatriates, or anyone, who might want to live in that specific region. I did that because I couldn't find any information about Chennai, except for one phrase in a guide book which I will never forget: "the blue-collar city of southern India". I did a lot of research before I decided to take the risk of moving my young children there, and I even demanded and got a look-see trip before we made the decision, mostly because the company changed the job location at the last minute, so I had some leverage.
So, my blog is quite simply about living in Chennai, India. It tells what I learned while I was there - very practical things, like how to de-louse children. (Don't ask.) It was interesting to me, and I hope it helped other non-natives who were living or thinking of living there. It contains some posts that reveal my personal feelings about some issues, but they are feelings that I would be comfortable telling to anyone.
My blog was not to keep in touch with my family. I know my family members, and most of them didn't read it, for various reasons. We used other technology to keep in touch with them; mainly regularly scheduled Skype sessions, which we still hold weekly. Skype is our technology of choice for communication; almost none of us use Facebook or other internet avenues.
I specifically avoided mentioning anyone by their real name, and I also chose a blog site that allowed me to choose between three levels of privacy for each post: public, friends only, and private (my eyes only). Almost all of my posts that mentioned or had photos of my children were for friends only. I did not and do not think it wise or safe to put their photos all over the web. They were already getting enough unwanted attention, just by living in India. I never mentioned the company, or company politics, either, especially after the Managing Director's wife got a call from corporate security about her blog entries, which were quite blatantly anti-corporate and mentioned a lot of specifics about corporate policy, travel plans, etc. Not good. She had to take it down.
I try and remember when I e-mail, or put anything on the web, that it's the same as putting it into the newspaper. No matter what you may think about who is going to see it or not see it, it's in the public domain. It is not private, like a letter. It feels private because it feels anonymous; but it's not, because once it's out there, it's very easy to copy, and forward, and publish.....and then someone's feelings are hurt. Or worse.
In a nutshell, when necessity or personal preference demand it, I have no problem learning and using new technology; but I'm not born-digital. I value my privacy. I don't have technology just to have technology; I have it and use it for a purpose. Otherwise, I have other things I'd rather do with my time.
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