Lets Blog Off - Privacy - right......

Every two weeks Bloggers unite for a day to write about a communal topic. This week LetsBlogOff asks the question what is this thing called privacy? 

I think there is a definite line that was drawn between my generation and the next youngest.  Social media wasn't prevalent when I was growing up.  If I took a picture I had to wait to have it developed before being able to see it.  I mailed checks to pay my bills.  I never completed an application, for anything, on line.  

I love the internet and most of what it offers but I am also wary of it.  I know anything I type, on any forum including this blog, is out in the universe forever.  I have a friend, age 38, who doesn't seem to mind and posts all kinds of things to her Facebook page.  Things I would NEVER post.   Personally I am not a fan of Facebook and only have a page because so many of my friends who don't live near me post pictures of their kids.  I rarely update my wall.  I am very careful with Twitter, LinkedIn and now Google +.  Potential employers, mortgage lenders, apartment complexes, credit card companies, insurance companies are all now searching social media before approving applicants.  

It scares me that since I have been shopping on line for a pair of boots for the past few weeks  I now see ads pop up on websites I visit that are all about shoes and boots.  

Other parts of my life also have less privacy.  I remember when I applied and was hired for a job at a dentist office on Worth Avenue in Palm Beach, FL.  I was 20.  In order to work in Palm Beach I had to have an ID card to get on the island.  I was fingerprinted for the first time in my life to work for a DENTIST.  These days most of us are subject to a urine test at anytime by our employers.  When I walk down a street I now assume that I am on film.  Either a business with security cameras or a person with a cell phone camera for whatever reason.  

I do feel that my privacy rights are slowly being stripped away and it concerns me.  I wonder what the United States will be like in 20 years.  Will the 1st Amendment of the Bill of Rights still be in effect?  Will I be able to peacefully protest for my beliefs?  Yes I wonder. 

Please take a moment to read what the other participants in Lets Blog Off feel about Privacy.

You did what?

I had a party a few weeks back to thank my dear Yoga Chickees for their support over the past few years through some very difficult times for me.  Each person, in their own way, reached out to help me.  I was humbled and so very touched.

We have an age range of 25 years between the youngest and oldest and have had many discussions about social media, cell phones that have become smart phones, and what privacy means these days.

Many of us are on Facebook but not all.  One member of our group is fabulous about capturing our special times through pictures.  Though she doesn’t quite understand why a few of us prefer not to have the pictures put on Facebook she respects our wishes and instead emails the photos to the group.  Let me say that I am one of the folk that prefer not to have my photo posted on Facebook.  I can’t speak for anyone else but my issue is there are a few of my FB friends that are customers and I don’t want a picture of me tipsy and being silly posted.  It isn’t professional.

During the party people were taking pictures and that was fantastic, I can’t wait to create a photo album.  One member however was taking video.  Well if I don’t want a photo on FB I sure as heck don’t want a video!  I asked her three times to stop and she didn’t.  She truly didn’t understand my issue with it.  She is the youngest of our chickees and videotaping is something that is common amongst she and her other friends.  I know from being on Facebook and Twitter that the 20 something set thinks nothing of videoing and posting it be it a fight at school to people partying at a bar.

Here is where the 25 year difference becomes a gulf.  What does privacy mean?   The line is an individual preference so when does it become disrespectful and when should the older generation just need to get with it?

My take, I am a pretty private person and I do not like any part of my life being put on the internet unless I am the one doing it.  My professional and personal lives overlap a bit but not a lot.  More so now with Twitter as it started for professional reasons and these last 2 ½ years I have connected with people that I look forward to someday meeting and sharing time with.  I seem to have feet in both camps and I would think a lot of people do.

I shared my feelings with our youngest Yoga chick a few days ago and she apologized.  The Yoga chicks took a vote and no videotaping is allowed unless EVERYONE agrees to it.

What is your take on this subject?  Feel free to provide a videotape if you so choose!