The Glass Bedroom

Along with 500 million people in the world (Facebook, 2011) I am a Facebook user and until this week I have never really thought much in terms of the ‘glass bedroom’, where through social networking sites we can conduct private things in a public space and often have an invisible audience on watch. This week’s readings have prompted me to ask, why are we so comfortable with this arrangement?

In the years that I have had my Facebook account I’ve had a number of 'friend requests from people I have never met. Why would someone add a complete stranger to view their personal information, conversations and thoughts? Perhaps, they use these sites to create new connections OR to appear more impressive by having a lot of ‘friends’ (even though in the real world we wouldn’t be considered friends at all). We all know that sharing too much publicly can come back to bite us. I think it is important to be cautious of what you share and choose your audience wisely.  

I have a number of people that I’m friends with on Facebook but in reality are acquaintances.  I suppose I am comfortable with them viewing my page because I have control on what I put on. I simply don’t display anything I don’t want to share.

References:

Donath, J. and boyd, d. (2004). Public displays of connection.   BT Technology Journal , volume 22 (4): 71-82. 

Facebook (2011)  Facebook: Press Room. http://www.facebook.com/press/info.php?statistics

Pearson, E. (2009).     All the World Wide Web's a stage: the Performance of Identity in Online Social Networks . First Monday, volume 14, Number 3.