Facebook, Privacy and the New Exhibitionism

The artist in me is all for exhibitionism.  Not necessarily for exhibiting my own personal details but for communicating things I wish to communicate.  Some things I've communicated may very well have a higher level of risk attached to it than others are comfortable with but just going to art school was probably a pretty risky social move from the perspective of some...I suppose I've always been more afraid of what might happen if I didn't try to express what's stirring in my soul.  While some of my fears may have been realized despite my efforts, the gains in wisdom and social understanding and the generosity of few have been enough to dispel any notions of being regretful about it.  Privacy issues from the corp. aside my biggest problem with facebook as a social networking tool is how careful people with their image. I know it's naively idealistic but I do really think there is a lot to be gained if we collectively got past harsh judgments of peoples mistakes and allowed people let it all hang out, have open discussions, and benefit from the wisdom of others who may have useful experiences.  Facebook may well disappear but the internet isn't going anywhere fast.  It's going to be interesting to see how the kids who've grown up with it playing an intricate part of their entire lives continue to use the web and deal with having posted a bunch of stupid embarrassing stuff when they were kids and how comfortable they will continue to be in posting their mistakes and short comings in an attempt at becoming a fuller, well-rounded and evolving person.

I didn't mind the side scroll too much as it's unreadable otherwise but that's fine if you prefer it like that.  Your comic on the other hand suffers in my browser from the higher z-index given to the ad div and could probably benefit from a link too.

I considered quitting facebook a few times.  After removing all of my pictures for a period each of the 9 cartoon panels above appeared as profile pictures updates on my facebook account over the course of winter 2008/09 as part of larger, mostly futile attempts, to experiment with the artistic potential of the site.

editing my post also removed this link which I had already given to the image(I know I'm a reckless linker!) of a video made by someone who coincidentally happened to be in my friends list.

Germany weighs bill to outlaw spying on employees

Quote:

Undercover spies and hidden video cameras - it sounds like the stuff of a James Bond movie. But for some German employees, it's just another day at work.

In recent years, a series of workplace spying scandals have come to light, several involving high-profile companies like the telecommunications firm Deutsche Telekom, the discount retailer Lidl and the national railway operator Deutsche Bahn.

 

"Until now, it has not been regulated, in what capacity and under what conditions an employer can use video surveillance to collect information about his employees," parliamentarian Christian Ahrendt of the pro-business Free Democratic Party (FDP) told Deutsche Welle.

 

[...]

 

The law also protects employees' online privacy on social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace. At a press conference in Berlin, de Maiziere emphasized employers would still be permitted to gather information about employees via publicly accessible sources, such as search engines.

 

"What an employer can't do is befriend someone on a closed social network and then use the 'friend' status to access private data and then use that information against the applicant," de Maiziere said.

 

If the bill is passed into law, Germany will become the first country to slap legal restrictions on the use of personal information in private social networking sites.

Like "The Voice" on The Current said this morning, now Goldman will have a friend.

Facebook tool inspires name for Israeli couple's third child

Quote:

The poor child got off lightly: she could just as well have been called Status, or even Poke. Instead an Israeli couple has named their daughter Like, inspired by Facebook to choose a name which, they explained, was "modern and innovative".

Lior and Vardit Adler, who enjoy cooking, already have daughters named Dvash – Hebrew for honey – and Pie, as in the English apple pie.

This time, Adler told the Israeli newspaper Maariv, he was looking for something more original, and had checked that nobody else in Israel had the same name. "In our opinion it's the modern equivalent of the name Ahava [love]," he explained.

The joyful arrival of Like Adler was, inevitably, announced on Facebook, where her picture and name immediately received 40 approvals – or "likes" – and when the BBC picked up the story, scores more. Martin Bolanos posted: "Heey Like! what a cute name you have! greetz from Denmark :) I just found an article from a Danish internet newspaper :-) You have made into a Danish newspaper! You are so famous! Wish you a perfect future!"

Stefan Schafer added: "Greetings from Germany. Nice baby cool name. Much better idea than that 'dotcom' guy some years ago!"

Groan.