Did Social Media Kill Privacy?

“Privacy is dead, and social media hold the smoking gun.” – Pete Cashmore, Mashable CEO

I read this quote on a list of quotes, available here, and it struck me as odd. Both because Mashable is a social media news site that could obviously not exist if not for social media, and also because I disagree. The former is just an observation, one I’m sure you could have made for yourself. The latter, however, is my opinion and with that we begin…

Privacy is defined by Merriam-Webster online as “the quality or state of being apart from company or observation” or “freedom from unauthorized intrusion.” While I don’t particularly care for the first definition, because there are two, my response will have to be two-fold.

First, “the state of being apart from company” is something we elect to give up when we join social networks. No one made you be on Facebook or Twitter. If you truly have given away some of your privacy by simply joining one of these networks, you can get it back quickly just by ditching your account.

Secondly, once you are on Facebook or Twitter, you have supreme reign over that account. This means that you can exercise your free will to maintain whichever level of privacy you feel comfortable with. If you don’t want someone to see your posts/tweets, you can block them. Or if the number of people you want reading your posts is so small that it would be easier to select who can than who can’t you can make your profile private to only people you friend/follow. Any intrusions on your privacy are therefore authorized by you and only you.

So, if you a) choose to be on social media, you are giving up definition 1 of privacy and b) choose not to apply privacy settings, you are yourself responsible for any “unauthorized intrusions,” which rebukes definition 2 of privacy.

I’m afraid the case is closed and the culprit apprehended. Facebook was a red herring, the real criminal is you and me. Just like the NRA says, “social media doesn’t kill privacy; people kill privacy.” It’s all on us.