Social Networking is NOT for the unthinking!
Posted by Sid Plait at 3/23/2009 2:59 PM 
Categories: Technology,Big Mistakes,Critical thinking,OMG!,Miscellaneous,All,Internet
Categories: Technology,Big Mistakes,Critical thinking,OMG!,Miscellaneous,All,Internet
For some, social networking is out of control. There are people out there twittering their entire lives away without thought to what they are saying or doing. (Is that why they are called "twits"?) If you read the comic strip Doonesbury over the past several weeks, you saw a parody of a "journalist" tweeting his stories. It is a sad commentary on how some people use that service. (Click the link for the first strip in the series. This one is the second in the series and sets up the character, in case you don't know who Roland Hedley is.)
I stay away from Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter, mostly because I just don't have time to get lost in them, as so many do. There are huge risks to using those networks, and I don't like to risk my privacy. (BTW - the history of each of these sites and others can be found on the Wikipedia site.)
Kids give up enough information for bad people to figure out their online passwords (and sometimes even their parents' passwords). I don't need to know your birthday or your dog's name. Oh, and by the way, that is exactly the kind of info many people use for their passwords. Worse yet, I don't need to know your best friend's birth date or dog's name. You might be giving away SOMEONE ELSE'S passwords!!
Some people even share what they ate for breakfast and how many times they went to the bathroom today. This is stuff I REALLY don't want to know. You wouldn't tell me that when we meet on the street. Why (oh, WHY) would you think I'd want to share that information with 1000 of your closest friends??
I know there are good reasons to use social networking. For instance, I use LinkedIn to keep in touch with professional friends and acquaintances. There are work- and job-related reasons for doing so, and they make sense.
But, as I said above, some people are out of control. That story is a cautionary tale.
So, please, if you use social networking sites, use critical thinking (other definitions of the term can be found here and here) when posting information. Think about what you are posting. If you think it might be even the slightest bit negative, wait an hour before posting it. If you still feel obligated to post it, by all means, do so. Just be aware that you might be hanging yourself.
Sid Plait: "For some, social networking is out of control. There are people out there twittering their entire lives away without thought to what they are saying or doing. (Is that why they are called "twits"?)"
My thoughts exactly!
Sid Plait: "I stay away from Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter, mostly because I just don't have time to get lost in them, as so many do. There are huge risks to using those networks, and I don't like to risk my privacy."
Ditto! Your little brother, Phil, has been urging his "BABloggees" to join Twitter (he has over 7400 followers!); however, even though I like Phil and his Bad Astronomy blog, I absolutely refuse to do so for the very reasons that you point out in your post. As a cat man, I've no inclination to be 'part of the pack' -- you cannot herd cats; they are independent, intelligent, and skeptical!
Finally, to quote the late, great Groucho Marx: "I don't want to belong to any club that will accept people like me as a member."
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Groucho may have been the most intelligent man of all! (Who was the most intelligent woman? Ideas anyone?)
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I understand what you're saying, Sid, but I still think that it's like shouting into the wind. Still, there's no harm in trying, I suppose. Like you said, some of those people get to hear what he has to say and that's good for science.
I have to admire Phil's enthusiasm for science/astronomy and his tenacity to fight anti-science.
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Plus, you can give him credit for finding me, with whom you can have cereberal conversations about stuff other than science!
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Indeed!
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