Public on the internet
A day or so ago, I tweaked my Facebook settings a bit. Opened it up a bit more. Yesterday, I started messing around with Google Buzz. This got me to thinking that maybe it is easier than before to make our lives more open than before.
Going back to 1996, when I first got internet access via 56k dial up, two things are apparent. First, There were very few people using the internet outright. Most users accessed it through a third party such as AOL, Compuserve, and others. Those of us who used the internet outright were very tech aware and understood computers and the internet.
Forward to 2010, and the internet is almost to the point of being a utility. Proliferation of computers and the internet through libraries and schools along with computers becoming more affordable to own has caused a dramatic increase of users. It can be argued that this increase of users are ones who are not as familiar with computers and the internet as those who started earlier or specialize in computers.
Where in 1996 most of your online friends were ones that developed over time through IRC, e-mail, newsgroups and forums now it is possible to find people you went to high school with, work with, and have friendships outside the internet.
So are we more comfortable being public? Possibly. I think if people were a bit more aware of their privacy they would not be as open. Something to keep an eye on.
Posted via email from James's posterous