Being Aware of What You Share

Privacy is a fundamental human right and it is imperative for functioning democracies. Yet in many aspects of our lives, we are willingly giving this right away, sometimes unknowingly. A growing number of countries are installing video surveillance in the name of safety and the world is nearing the dystopian society under constant surveillance and devoid of privacy portrayed in the popular novel 1984. Yet it's not only cameras tracking our every move. It's estimated that at least 66% of the population owns a smartphone and it's estimated that 4.9 billion people in the world use social media. Then it would not be so absurd to state that the personal information of all these individuals is widely stored, shared, and available. 

 

It's very common for people to share their personal information online. While we might not mind people knowing what our name and birthday are, our medical records, bank statements, and our search histories might be another thing. It is easier and easier to find out anything about a person. In Sweden, a common joke in school is to use the website hitta.se, which just means find.se, to find your friend's parents. You can see where they live, when their birthdays are and what car they drive, how much they pay for rent, and who their neighbors are. Students stalk each other on social media and challenge each other to find out as much as possible about someone. Frankly, this is a bit frightening. All these aspects of your life that should be private and could even be sensitive are available for everyone to take a look at. These types of websites are available all over the world and can provide you with all sorts of information from family trees to criminal records. While this might be useful in some ways, such as knowing who you are hiring or who you are meeting it also clearly undermines privacy. 

We might not be able to impact the disclosure of our information on these types of websites but there is another more personal source of information that we do have control over. While social media has many benefits such as connection and community it has also become a common place for a phenomenon called oversharing. Oversharing, as the term suggests, means sharing too much information, usually about your personal life. This can be done both face-to-face and online and can include information about who you are, where you are, and what you think (your opinions). 

There are many more negative impacts (other than the loss of privacy) of oversharing online, such as: 

1. Constantly craving validation and attention from others 

2. Hurting your reputation and future opportunities 

3. Security issues such as posting sensitive information and thereby putting yourself at risk 

The one golden rule to using social media responsibly is “think before you share”. Bad decisions that are shared online never go away and can have long-term impacts on your life. Even when you click delete it will continue being a part of your digital footprint (all the data and information you share online). On many social media apps, the comments and posts you delete are never fully deleted but still exist on other servers. People might also screenshot and save the images and comments you post and generally, you should assume that all you share will be available forever. You should never share private fights or arguments, strong emotions that can offend and that you might not agree with later, or comment on things that you wouldn’t say to someone in person. It can all be traced back to you. Its importance is often overlooked and only ⅓ of teens say that they restrict what they post because of concerns about how that will impact them in the future. While the reasons for oversharing can differ, being anything from seeking validation and support, in other words being seen, building connections and friendships, and sometimes even attention seeking, if it is done wrongly could have horrible repercussions. 

To conclude you should share carefully online. What you post now can impact your entire future, everything from your future school to your future job. Now I’m not saying that you need to delete all these apps, or that you shouldn’t comment or share your opinion. It’s definitely more easily said than done, but the first step, which I think everyone should take, is learning about your privacy online, and how you can protect yourself and your data. 

Sources: 

When it comes to internet privacy, be very afraid, analyst suggests – Harvard Gazette

What Is Online Privacy and Why Does It Matter? | Clario

What is a Cookie? How it works and ways to stay safe (kaspersky.com)

Internet and social media users in the world 2023 | Statista

Oversharing Definition & Meaning - Merriam-Webster

Teen Voices: Oversharing and Your Digital Footprint - YouTube

Oversharing: Think Before You Post - YouTube

Social media expert warns about oversharing online, and on apps - YouTube

What Is a Digital Footprint? Protecting Yourself Online (businessinsider.com)

1. Teens and their experiences on social media | Pew Research Center