Image by Salvatore Vuono
Every criticism of Facebook’s effect on privacy that I have come across begins and ends with how individuals use or – arguably – misuse it. I believe that is a wrong way to look at the issue. Rather, the discussion should proceed from an acknowledgement of what Facebook is designed to do, what its intended purpose is and, consequently, how its technical features influence user behavior. It is not that I have a problem with how people – users and those “interested” in users – employ the Facebook system. Rather, I see massive problems with the concept of Internet-based social networking in general, which boil down to a renunciation of Western society’s most cherished liberties in return for benefits that are at best nebulous and, more realistically, illusory.
More on that later.
