Thought bubble on the privacy bubble

Myspace.com recently surpassed the 100 million user mark. No surprise, really, but it raises a question or two to me about the future of American politics. It may seem unrelated, but hear me out.

When I discussed the concept of myspace with my mom, her reaction was so surprising to me. It was simply one of concern for the revealing of "private" information about yourself to strangers. I tried to argue that the information that you give is completely voluntary, none of the fields are required except for valid contact info (email) so that you can manage your account. The argument defending myspace was difficult for me to make because I have loathed the site since I first saw it (way back when it was about 12 million users). However, it's not the concept of the site that bothers me, it's the execution of their concept, but that's another post altogether.

My mom made statements like "how do you know other people aren't lying about what they say on their profile?" My response was simply, "I don't. But I don't care." The reality is, I don't have anything invested in the idea that everyone online is being truthful with me. I've been burned before (which is another post for another day), believe me. But this was primarily my own lack of knowledge and experience, vs someone else's creativity in their willingness to deceive. On myspace, the most you have invested is reserved for the level to which you interact with any given person. If you add someone as a friend because of some information they put on their profile, the only thing you have invested into that "lie" (if it is a lie) is the 30 seconds it took to add them (or more frequently with myspace, the 3 browser reboots, 2 error messages, 47 ads, and 20 minutes of waiting for a page to load that looks exactly like the page you just left).

The thing that interests me about my mom's concerns versus the 100+ million people who are using myspace, is the difference in the view of privacy. The media and politics are bashing the hell out of the privacy issue because the government wants to be able to tap people's phone lines and listen in on conversations. Nothing new. Watch "enemy of the state". That was 8 years ago. The thing that's so stupid about that to me, is the same information (or more, probably) could be gathered by a few internet socialites getting paid to target people online and find information there. The point is, politicians are once again, completely behind the game when it comes to using technology.

I'm not endorsing the idea of having phones tapped illegally. I am just saying that the major issue of tomorrow is going to be the fact that people are voluntarily putting more information about themselves online everyday, and then fighting to protect their "privacy". This really isn't an issue of privacy for a younger generation though, I believe. I think it's an issue of Control.

I don't have a problem with information being out about me. I don't even really have a problem with the government wanting to know more. I don't even have a problem being told to surrender more information about myself when needed. I have a problem with NOT being told that the information is being used in a way that I didn't intend. And I have a problem with not be allowed to simply say "No." (or click, "no thanks"). It's an issue of control.

When I sign up for something using my email address, and myspace sells that email address to true.com, christiansingles.com, and other blood-sucking hack job websites that have absolutely no interest in helping humanity in any way, I have a problem with it. It's not "private data", I PUT IT ONLINE. It's just that I didn't put it online for someone else to make money by selling it. But that's exactly what happens. Myspace sold for $580 million because they were the largest, most profitable and thorough survey in human history. 100 million people listing their favorite movies and music (FOR FREE - years ago you could get paid for giving people this info), means a helluva lotta cash can be made by marketing firms who can target that audience with exactly what they want.

One day, the bubble we each live in will become so small for each of us, that people will revert from the desperation to be noticed (which is, I believe the primary tool of success for myspace and sites like it - people wanting to be known, to not feel insignificant), to the desperation to be left alone.

The celebrities of tomorrow are 18 year old girls who have 50 million downloads a week from what they do on a webcam in their room, or 16 year old boys who have weekly podcasts filming illegal activities. But when normal people become celebrities for doing nothing special at all, those people, we've seen, usually can't handle it because they don't have any sense of deserving that notoriety, and therefore can't be gracious and welcoming to the intrusion that is fame. People like Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie are great examples - celebrities by default. Talentless socialites with no gratitude for recognition. It's power without dignity. Frightening stuff.

So, keep posting pictures of yourself on flickr (I do), keep renewing your favorite music and movies list on myspace (I do), and keep subscribing to your favorite email newsletters and using credit cards online (I do), 'cause the only hope we have for privacy at this point is the notion that the sheer number of people using these technologies, and offering their information will create a sort of "white noise" that is impossible to filter completely, especially for a government that is dumb enough to TELL people they're tapping phones (don't broadcast it, genius, just do it!)