Oversharing
I think that this has been a problem for about as long as we've had internet communities, but the problem seems worse lately. People tend to post things on the internet that I'm a little uncomfortable reading and that make me wonder if they've really thought about exactly who is reading it.
LJ was bad enough, but at least you had to think there. With Twitter and Facebook status updates, though, it's become a bigger problem. Several times I've found myself wondering what, if anything, I should respond to a Tweet or an update. For instance, yesterday I found out that a grade school friend had lost her younger brother. She had recently friended me on Facebook (after years of not being in touch) and so now I'm getting a front row seat to watch her process that grief via status updates. 4 so far. It's not that the updates are offensive or that it inconveniences me to read them. It's just that it feels like I'm invading her privacy and I wonder how she'll feel later when she realizes how much of herself she's exposed.
Then there's the updates from people that I haven't talked to in years and wasn't close to when I knew them. I'm just getting a little closer look at some people's lives that I'm interested in.
I wonder if the novelty will wear off soon or if I'm doomed to spend the rest of my life knowing what the person who had third period Algebra with me thirteen years ago had for breakfast.
LJ was bad enough, but at least you had to think there. With Twitter and Facebook status updates, though, it's become a bigger problem. Several times I've found myself wondering what, if anything, I should respond to a Tweet or an update. For instance, yesterday I found out that a grade school friend had lost her younger brother. She had recently friended me on Facebook (after years of not being in touch) and so now I'm getting a front row seat to watch her process that grief via status updates. 4 so far. It's not that the updates are offensive or that it inconveniences me to read them. It's just that it feels like I'm invading her privacy and I wonder how she'll feel later when she realizes how much of herself she's exposed.
Then there's the updates from people that I haven't talked to in years and wasn't close to when I knew them. I'm just getting a little closer look at some people's lives that I'm interested in.
I wonder if the novelty will wear off soon or if I'm doomed to spend the rest of my life knowing what the person who had third period Algebra with me thirteen years ago had for breakfast.