You Can't Opt Out of the 21st Century
On Wednesday this week Christopher Wylie, a former employee of Cambridge Analytica, testified to the US Senate Judiciary Committee about that company's scandalous campaign efforts during the 2016 presidential race. Buried in his testimony about specific things the company did with Facebook data from tens of millions of people were some quite astute observations about the role of Facebook- and other social media platforms, and the Internet in general- in modern society. Addressing the argument that people who don't wish to have their data harvested and behavior tracked can simply not use these services, he said:
"Online terms and conditions present users with a false choice because using the Internet is no longer a choice. Americans can't opt out of the 21st century."
There you have it. You can't opt out of the 21st century.
Wylie added, "Data is the new electricity of our digital economy. And just like electricity, we cannot escape data. It is nearly impossible for the average American to stop using social media, search engines, apps and e-mail, but still be functional in the workplace and in society."
I agree. In my personal life I've chosen to keep a low profile on social media for the past several years, and I've paid a price for it. I've lost a lot of friendships as people migrate from older to newer ways of keeping in touch, e.g., Facebook instead of email. The newer means replace the older, and those who don't make the change are left behind. Curiously, some friends have even taken offense at my choice not to adopt specific new platforms, as if I were deliberately denigrating the value of our friendship by opting out of a piece of technology.
In my professional career I simply cannot not use these tools. Not and stay employed in modern technology, anyway. It should surprise noone that email has been a standard medium of professional communication for years, but some may not be aware that over the past 10 years "social" media has been conscripted by the professional world. In the tech sector social media is virtually the only way nowadays to get a job. Finding job opportunities and apply for them all happen primarily via social media, especially LinkedIn. And using social media in jobs is increasingly becoming required. More and more employees find that "How effectively you use social media" is assessed not only in determining whether or not to hire but also at performance review time.
"Online terms and conditions present users with a false choice because using the Internet is no longer a choice. Americans can't opt out of the 21st century."
There you have it. You can't opt out of the 21st century.
Wylie added, "Data is the new electricity of our digital economy. And just like electricity, we cannot escape data. It is nearly impossible for the average American to stop using social media, search engines, apps and e-mail, but still be functional in the workplace and in society."
I agree. In my personal life I've chosen to keep a low profile on social media for the past several years, and I've paid a price for it. I've lost a lot of friendships as people migrate from older to newer ways of keeping in touch, e.g., Facebook instead of email. The newer means replace the older, and those who don't make the change are left behind. Curiously, some friends have even taken offense at my choice not to adopt specific new platforms, as if I were deliberately denigrating the value of our friendship by opting out of a piece of technology.
In my professional career I simply cannot not use these tools. Not and stay employed in modern technology, anyway. It should surprise noone that email has been a standard medium of professional communication for years, but some may not be aware that over the past 10 years "social" media has been conscripted by the professional world. In the tech sector social media is virtually the only way nowadays to get a job. Finding job opportunities and apply for them all happen primarily via social media, especially LinkedIn. And using social media in jobs is increasingly becoming required. More and more employees find that "How effectively you use social media" is assessed not only in determining whether or not to hire but also at performance review time.