Views on Privacy?

[Dynaknights]

I was looking through @citizenalex's profile and site, which made me wonder how people feel about privacy nowadays, of all things.

I'm nowhere near old enough to know how exactly how people's views on internet privacy have changed throughout the years, but I remember people being at least a little more wary in the 2010s compared to the 2020s. Although, then again, I was a shy little kid who never talked to anyone and despised talking about myself above all else, so maybe it was just me.
It just feels like people's online and private lives became indistinguishable after 2020. I remember seeing extremely personal information about strangers on my TikTok For You Page and people pouring their hearts out in Discord chat rooms in extreme detail (to the point where I've seen servers with six vent channels! Why do you need that many??) when the pandemic was in full swing and it doesn't seem to have gotten any better now, even though a lot of social media platforms are known to have scummy privacy policies, age verification issues, what-have-you. So do people just not care or what? 

[Noah_S]

One big thing that has changed is that people reveal their full name online, completely publicly. That wasn't a thing before facebook. Posting photos of yourself publicly was something you were warned not to do. Not to mention posting your exact location. If you connected with someone to the point of wanting to meet IRL, you would share those things privately. I'm old enough that I'm not gonna reveal what my S stands for. I just looked at your profile, and you're too young to remember the time I'm talking about.

As for talking about personal issues online.. that goes further back than giving out your personal info. People who are in an unsupportive environment AFK are gonna be reaching out online instead. But social media is a bad replacement for the small moderated communities. If someone reading is going to do that, I suggest doing it without revealing your personal info and staying away from social media. Including reddit, despite many people there arguing that it's not a social media.

[lakes]

One big thing that has changed is that people reveal their full name online, completely publicly. That wasn't a thing before facebook. Posting photos of yourself publicly was something you were warned not to do. Not to mention posting your exact location. If you connected with someone to the point of wanting to meet IRL, you would share those things privately. I'm old enough that I'm not gonna reveal what my S stands for. I just looked at your profile, and you're too young to remember the time I'm talking about.

I mean, unfortunately, that goes back even further too. I remember when I was young, overhearing some kid give another kid shit for using a food as a stand-in for his last name on Facebook

As for talking about personal issues online.. that goes further back than giving out your personal info. People who are in an unsupportive environment AFK are gonna be reaching out online instead. But social media is a bad replacement for the small moderated communities. If someone reading is going to do that, I suggest doing it without revealing your personal info and staying away from social media. Including reddit, despite many people there arguing that it's not a social media.

I agree with this. I know reddit is supposed to be a place for "forums." But in trying to be the "everything forum for everyone," it ends up being closer to social media like twitter or instagram.

[Melooon]

I generally prefer people being who the are online. Facebook's approach of only having your real self went much too far, it's important to have usernames and the ability to take on other selves when you're online; however going so far as making those selves completely anonymous produces toxic results too.

Its better to have a balance, you should have usernames for the different kinds of personalities you have, but those should also connect back to a true person, and I don't think its necessary to hide that true person. Being your real self offers accountability, and it helps make people behave themselves and consider their actions.

Of course that will depend on your situation too, e.g. if you live in a country that forbids dinosaurs, and you're posting about dinosaurs all the time.. then you might have good reason to hide that; so the balance is different for everyone.

I usually treat the internet like walking down the street; people there can see my face, they can approach and talk to me, they can know my name if they need it. However at the same time, I'm not going to tell my home address to random people on the street 

A username or an online self is a lot like the different ways of dressing and behaving people have in different spaces. In some spaces I might be formal, in other places its better to be more casual, and in other places you might want to look a bit tough. However you're still you in all cases.

[rnottelovesowls]

i only trust giving out personal details to people who get to know me well first, and vice versa. if i'm in an online space, i will only give my real first name and what country/state i live in to my close friends, and leave it at that. no one needs to know my full legal name, address, or heaven forbid, a picture of my face, if the space emphasizes avatars and usernames. and even though big social media has made revealing your full name, address, and face "normal", i will never do it on those platforms for as long as i live. do you think i trust musk and zuck with such info, when i already don't trust them with... anything?

[chilblands]

Wowie this thread brings up good points about Facebook and the metaverse blurring the line between online and in-person identity.

I usually treat the internet like walking down the street; people there can see my face, they can approach and talk to me, they can know my name if they need it. However at the same time, I'm not going to tell my home address to random people on the street 

I completely agree. I feel like some people overshare too much. Perhaps to the detriment of their safety and privacy. It is a false assumption that people who grew up on the web have better web-safety... if anything, it conditions web-users to unsafe web practices like specifying where you live, work or specific school.

A big example is family vloggers who show the internet their child's whole face, their school and personal preferences. A family vlogger (who I will not name) has been sharing their child's life from pregnancy to adolescence, and strangers would approach the child IN PERSON + the child have a fan-page (literally this PSA).

Even adults, especially female influencers get stalked! Two YouTubers who publicly mentioned they have been stalked by "fans" are Anna Akana and bestdressed (Ashley). I had to privately message a woman who posted a cat walking her home because she is literally showing strangers where she lives (I got ignored). Not every moment need to be shared!

My rule of thumb is: Am I okay with 500 people knowing this information about me?

I am not fully anonymous. Even if I am in incognito mode, I would not want to jeopardise my anonymity privacy is a privilege