Public Network for a Public World
The history of Facebook and social networking has completely shifted society’s sense of what is private and what is public information. Dijck discusses Facebook’s history of coding features and poses the question, “who is allowed to share what data and to what ends?” (Dijck 47). As Facebook has evolved over time, users have become so much more open and inclined to share details about their personal life with their “friends” that years prior would typically not be general information to share with anyone. For example, people have an almost obsessive desire to share what they are eating, doing, and thinking regularly throughout the day and even disclosing what used to be considered more private information of relationship statuses and romantic interests.
Within Facebook’s Principles text, the idea of “sharing” information has a double meaning. The first principle of ‘the Freedom to Share and Connect’ “marks one user’s right to connect to another and to exchange data as long as they both consent to the connection.” The second principle of ‘Ownership and Control of Information’ gives users the freedom to “set privacy controls to protect [their] choices. Those controls, however, are not capable of limiting how those who have received information may use it, particularly outside the Facebook service,” (Dijck 60).
Users have followed along with Facebook’s evolution and have, on their own, adjusted with society into defining what is acceptable to post publicly. These values have changed with the obsession for giving and receiving “likes.” Clay Shirky describes this as different intrinsic and extrinsic values. Both needs are satisfied by Facebook’s like-system — extrinsic are met by receiving feedback through likes and comments and intrinsic by having an outlet to advertise accomplishments through status updates (Shirky). Both of these values have evolved in society just as Facebook has as users find themselves becoming more and more obsessed with receiving likes, simultaneously dropping their barriers to privacy.
