There are certain things you just don't share with everyone!

An article published by Jacquielynn Floyd in the Dallas Morning News titled "On Facebook, Biggest Threat to Your Private Date May Be You" deals with privacy concerns when it comes to social networking sites, specifically talking about Facebook. Floyd is very ironic, yet serious. Statements such as “Don’t confide that you have two spleens or that you threw up at your junior prom (…) It’s not that I don’t care about you. It’s just that, if I want you to know that stuff [about me], maybe it would be nicer to tell you in person over a glass of wine than to send out a buckshot bulletin to 200 people online” conceal a valid point, even if presented in a slightly humorous way. Floyd goes on by voicing her opinion about the outrage over the “term of service” changes Facebook had recently instated. She concludes that “people are fooling themselves if they depend on a company – any company – to guarantee privacy information voluntarily posted in a place that, by definition, is extremely public”. Furthermore she seems convinced that if you “don’t want that creepy guy from the mailroom to be your “friend” you have to reject him”. I very much agree with this statement, since it almost a declaration of war not to accept someone as your friend on Facebook. Floyd also voices her worries that eventually we will “lose our ability to distinguish between our public and our private selves”.

I find this article very well written. It utilizes humor and seriousness to make a point. The two decades of writing experience Floyd has racked up by now probably helps, she has been writing articles for the Dallas Moring News since 1990. I do agree with her views though. She makes valid points, that I have thought about myself in the past too. We seriously cannot blame Facebook for violating our privacy, if we are the ones volunteering the information in the first place. Seeing that this article is more of a personal opinion topic, rather than a full research topic, I don’t mind that she does not give any sources, or seems to use any, besides the “terms of service” statement from Facebook.