Information Filters Are Like Car Air Filters; Change Them When You Need To!

A couple months ago, I started my car up and noticed a distinct smell coming from the AC. It was similar to a moldy smell and I realized that it had been some time before my air filter was replaced. I went to an auto parts store and replaced my old air filter, and immediately noticed a difference in air quality. I think that this situation is parallel to what Joab Jackson and Clay Shirky are trying to explain to us. Like allergens, debris, and dust, there are millions of useless (if not harmful) pieces of personal information. We as a society cannot do anything about the massive amount of personal information on the internet, so it is solely up to us to filter it effectively.

There is an article entitled, “Nearly Half of Facebook Users Still Accept Unknown Friends” (http://www.prosecurityzone.com/News/It_security/Internet_security_and_content_filtering/Nearly_half_of_facebook_users_still_accept_unknown_friends_11350.asp#axzz1lBjdpZ3e) In this article, two fake Facebook accounts are made up and send friend requests to various strangers. About 95 strangers accept the request, despite the fake accounts having profile pictures of cats and rubber ducks. This is rather alarming considering the fake accounts could have been con artists who were gathering personal information to steal identities from these 95 strangers. Essentially, these people are suffering from filter failure. There are millions of potential Facebook friends, but it is up to us to filter who to accept or reject.

Both Jackson and Shirky point out that when we are interacting in social media sites such as Facebook or Twitter, it may seem as though we are sharing information with a small group of friends, but that is far from reality. As University of Maryland Baltimore County Assistant Professor Zeynep Tufekci says, "So many people are using [social-networking sites] and they are acting like it is a private space. But it actually is a public space." As Shirky states, “In personal life, you could walk down the street with your friend having a conversation and somebody could be listening to you… and its not like every word you say is being recorded for posterity.” Today, we have to be very careful what we post on Facebook and Twitter because it could be seen by someone that should not see it. There are aspects of our personal lives that simply should never be seen by our parents, co-workers or professors.

When my friend Paul was applying to colleges, he changed his last name to his middle name on Facebook. Paul did this because he feared an admissions counselor would look up his Facebook and see inappropriate photos that would hinder his acceptance. Paul never changed his last name back because he now fears potential employers will look at his Facebook, and now people in college actually think his middle name is his last name. Is Paul being ridiculous or are admission counselors and potential employers overstepping their boundaries? Today, the information we put on Facebook are public, and not private. Paul, like all users of Social Media, should filter the comments and photos he posts. I like to ask myself when I upload a picture to Facebook, “What will my mom say when she sees this?” After all, I am Facebook friends with my mom and she will surely see this photo and all the embarrassing/explicit comments that will accompany it.