You all know I’m a serious guy. A serious guy who talks about serious things. Important life issues, and pressing matters that affect today’s common man (or woman). So I want to tell you a story about Taco Bell.
I don’t eat a lot of fast food. But when I do, I usually choose two places: Arbys or Taco Bell. Usually depends on which one is on the side of the road I am on. Since I’m already busy (or lazy) enough at that point to get fast food, clearly I can’t be bothered by making a left turn. So the other day I’m running some errands, and decide that a Chalupa would be awesome. Having a few extra minutes than I planned on, I decided to just park and go into the fine establishment. I wait in line, and get up to place my order (a number 6, no tomatoes, the taco soft, and a Mountain Dew if you were wondering). As I’m ordering, I decide that while I do want all that gut-busting food, I don’t want the 32oz beverage that comes with it. Call me crazy, but I don’t need a quart of soda. So I made what I thought was a simple request. I asked to have a smaller soda size. Now, the look on the gal’s face was akin to showing a dog a card trick. Confusion. Then she said: "ahhhh, we can’t do that sir.” It was as if I asked her to explain Newton’s law of universal gravitation. Apparently, the keypad on the cash register didn’t include an option to have a smaller soda. So after a few moments, I simply told her to charge me the normal price, and just give me a smaller cup. The look of relief on her face was as though I was a cop and let her go with a warning instead of a ticket. It got me thinking. The whole process of ordering (selecting a number, choosing a few variables, pressing corresponding buttons, etc) is extremely efficient. But have we become TOO efficient?
Think of it with other purchases. Macs come in two colors, white and black. A package not on a car physically in the lot at the dealership involves a lengthy wait process and usually a LOT of extra money. Hell, even most newer neighborhoods offer 3 or 4 models with a handful of color schemes. There is an over-efficiency problem to the extent that institutions offer you only a limited set of choices and what results is a subtle determinism of your behavior. I believe that this isn’t what people really want. They want to be more free. They want to exercise their freedom of choice. Do you remember the old marketing slogan of Burger King? "Hold the pickles, hold the lettuce, special orders don’t upset us. Today, special orders might not upset them, they just short-circuit their brain synapses. The "Have it your way" mentality of the past is no longer valid. Today, virtually all of the fast food chains are saying "Have it our way". You are not free to choose. And this is a serious issue.
So it’s been about two weeks since I ditched Facebook. And surprise, my life hasn’t gone into the gutter, people are still able to get a hold of me, and things are pretty much the same as they were, albeit with a bit less noise. Since that point, a few more things have come out to further muddle the issue of what (if any) privacy exists on Facebook. To quickly outline:
- Their privacy policy is longer than the US Constitution.
- To manage your privacy on Facebook, you will need to navigate through 50 settings with more than 170 options.
- The NY Times had to do an infographic to explain the myriad of options (check it out here).
- Mark Zuckerberg has basically been accused of everything from being an amoral sociopath to not giving a shit (not that he really should).
But this isn’t about all that. I’ve said my peace on the topic, and I deleted my profile. So it’s done. HOWEVER, I’ve had a few interesting discussions with folks online as information has come out. And that’s what has troubled me. Not what Facebook is doing, rather, what people’s reactions have been. More so, people’s response to my desire to have some privacy online. Or, more importantly, the desire to control what information is made public by any of the web services I use. Some of the comments I was given were:
- No one cares what I am doing
- If you want privacy, you must have something to hide
- People will make judgments about me regardless of what info is available
- If you don’t want it public, don’t put it online (no shit)
- It’s a voluntary service (again, no shit)
- Privacy is a myth
Think of it this way: your bank has a ‘social graph’ about you that makes the one Facebook has put together look like a bathroom wall scribbling. Think about all the places you use a debit card in a given day. Your bank has records of where you shop, what you eat, how much you drive, and when you do all these things. They have years worth of data, could pinpoint things such as when you begin dating, the birth of a child, or just about anything money related (which is, to say, just about everything you do). Now, imagine if they decided to write an API to allow companies to use this information to market products and services to you. Pretty creepy, eh? Well, don’t worry about it, because they won’t. In fact, they can’t. It’s illegal.
Now I’m not saying that banking is the same as using a social network online. They aren’t. But the fact remains that my desire to have some part of my life private is not anyone’s business but my own. And this coming from someone who is pretty open online. I tweet a lot, put photos up on Picasa and twitpic, maintain a blog, and even have my phone number on my portfolio site. So I’m clearly not ‘off the grid’. But there are a few things in my life that I don’t share. The reasons for which frankly aren’t any of your business.
Over the weekend, I did what some would consider social media suicide. I deleted Facebook. You know, the place where EVERYONE is and EVERYONE needs to be. That one. Gone. Deleted. Goodbye. And not simply deactivating, but actually deleting the damn thing. It took a while to actually find how to do it, since they don’t make it obvious. So why did I commit seppuku to my online life?
It stopped serving a purpose. One could argue it never did.
Now a bit of background: I didn’t go to a college that had email for a while. It was a junior college, so they didn’t roll out email as soon as others. So inherently, I never had access to Facebook during the run-up with the college crowd. Also, I didn’t really attend college on a regular basis. Once on my way to class I stopped off to have a beer, and didn’t go back for 3 years. So there’s that. I was on the MySpace bandwagon pretty early on, and I held on to that for longer than most. But that’s gone, too.
A friend Ruth summarized her feelings on it pretty well, and coming from a different perspective. And that’s cool, it serves a purpose for her. But it doesn’t for me.
And then there is the privacy stuff.
Now I’m not some tinfoil hat person who thinks everyone is out to get me. Nor do I think that I have any real privacy online. Yes, it’s an illusion. But at what point is it just ridiculous? I understand that when I sign up for a website service, I’m giving them something of mine. Usually my data and some personal information. And I also know that’s probably gonna be used to market something to me. Again, I get it. Although some folks may not agree, the internet doesn’t run on rainbows and hugs. But when Facebook up and decides to give away my personal information to anyone who asks? That’s just a bit too much for me. It’s one thing for me to give away my information. It’s another for someone like Facebook to whore it out like a lonely girl with daddy issues.
Will I fall off the digital map? Doubtful. I use twitter, I have email, and even a *gasp* phone number. Crazy, eh? So I’ll see you around the ‘tubes. Don’t mess up the place while I’m gone.
I am a freelance web monkey in St. Petersburg, FL. I am heavily tattoo'd, I sleep too little, I drink too much coffee, smoke entirely too many cigarettes, but otherwise do my thing. I have a fantastic wife and a rock & roll son.
