silly twits

twitter is dumb. for the same reason that myspace is stupid and amateur blogging to the entire universe is overrated (whoops, i do that last one). we are conditioning ourselves to put our lives on public display, while at the same time lowering our standards for privacy. on the surface, these effects merely put personal and professional reputations at risk, but prolonged behavior of this kind also puts civil liberties at risk. in a world in which at&t jumps when the nsa snaps its fingers, deliberately posting your every move constitutes tacit approval.

luckily, technology pushes boundaries and creates culture, but culture has a funny way of regulating technology. there are already signs that millenials are wising up to the perils of putting their lives on display, and social networking services are responding by implementing more ways to create circles of trust and levels of privacy. conveniently, they are also one of the best avenues for spreading information, such as the importance of privacy.

thanks to sharona for this article which scratches the surface more eloquently than i can.