Open Thread: What Won’t You Put on the Web?
March 12th, 2008 (11:00am) Mike Gunderloy 13 Comments
Some people – even some web workers – are more interested in moving their lives online than others. With microblogging sites like Twitter and Pownce, your every thought, feeling, and action can be posted for the world to read. Lifestreaming services like Soup and Tumblr make it possible to aggregate everything about yourself in one easy-to-find spot. New startups want to store your medical records or even your entire genome online – though hopefully not open to the entire world. You can order anything from a pizza to a car online, communicate with your virtual assistant, or book your next trip.
Of course, there have always been a few edge cases: people who want to share their entire lives with the internet via 24-hour webcam, for example. But most of us have some parts of their lives that they won’t or can’t put on the web: things that are too private, too secure, or that are just done better in person. Where do you draw the line? Which part of your life do you keep relentlessly offline? Which web sites do you think are totally ludicrous? Or are you already trying to migrate to a 100% online life?
13 Comments Post your own comment
Baljinder Singh says: March 12th, 2008 12:11pm
I won’t trust web with my personal account numbers and related stuff. I don’t use “money management” sites like Mint or Buxfer.
COD says: March 12th, 2008 12:20pm
I 2nd what Baljinder said. Given the relative lack of security online, I can’t imagine putting all my financial info in one place. It’s out there anywhere, small pieces at my credit cards companies, at my bank, with Amazon, etc. But if Amazon gets hacked the damage is limited to the credit card I’ve used there. If you centralize all that data somewhere web accessible…
Logical Extremes says: March 12th, 2008 12:37pm
No login aggregators. No (real) personal information, including calendar, contacts, photos. Email addresses, IM handles, and other accounts are spread across different services and different sets of contacts.
rossgoodman says: March 12th, 2008 12:55pm
I have no real qualms about sharing “real” information such as contact details, work calender and photos.
The main area where I draw the line is personal locations and personal schedules.
I try to geotag all my Flickr photos, but any that are taken at home are deliberately offset to a generic nearby location.
I also shy away from broadcasting my travel plans, letting people know that my house will be empty is NOT a clever idea.
Ross
http://www.RossGoodman.com
Jay says: March 12th, 2008 1:01pm
How timely.
It turns out I am not allowed to put online my thoughts or otherwise public information about my father’s former business having been partially destroyed in a fire. Which is just an extreme version of having to watch what you say where family and friends can see it.
Otherwise, well, there are things I would tend not to discuss, and things for which I wouldn’t rely on doing online, not exclusively anyway. In some ways I’m a Luddite as geeks go.
NJ WebGuy says: March 12th, 2008 1:35pm
There are a few personal things I will not put on the web, but I’m afraid I can’t say here exactly what those things are.
:)
Aaron Klemm says: March 12th, 2008 1:37pm
In the past I didn’t put my regular desktop files online (web at least), but many services, including one I co-founded, are making this more attractive.
Who here is moving more files online via Google Docs, online storage sites, etc.? What is holding you back; privacy, convenience, technical issues etc.?
ak
koskos says: March 13th, 2008 1:17am
Whenever I upload pictures I make sure they are without my name on it and most definitely without any of my frequently-used web login names. No one will be able to Google pictures of me (not unless face recognition search engines become common sometime soon).
Good-Fellow says: March 13th, 2008 2:11am
I rarely post information about my private life online. For work I put my email and cellphone online but that’s about it. Friends and family know where I live, what I do in my private time. There is no need to share this information with the world. I also don’t use flickr or delicious because frankly, I don’t have a need to share my pictures or bookmarks with people I don’t know. I have my private picture site which friends I let friends know about.
Financial business information and documents I also don’t put online. Sometimes I upload work files temporarily to my own webserver but mostly I just use remote desktop. I like the whole user generated content idea and people putting everything about them selves in myspace profiles and all, but I just don’t see the extra value it adds to my business or life. Plus, I don’t need no short comments from friends, they’ll call me to have some coffee. Clients are referred by clients, and the personal touch gives a better customer experience and they feel connected to you on a personal level.
I am a freelance web developer/designer and full-time crm consultant. I have to say.. Sometimes it’s scary to see how much information people enter on a website. The big corporations manage it very well :)
Anonymous of /a/ says: March 14th, 2008 7:16am
In totally anonymous discussion boards with volatile content, you would be surprised at the sort of intimate information I and others are prepared to disclose.
My meatspace name plus approximate location plus phone-book gives my address, so when my name is given, I do neglect to talk about travel plans in advance, just like Mr. Goodman.
Pamela says: March 15th, 2008 1:06am
Interesting question. I’m not a socializer, but I do have a LinkedIn profile for practical purposes. I have three blogs, one artsy, one cerebral, and an anonymous erotica blog. I have a personal website that’s password protected for family and friends… I don’t put my stuff up for attention, but rather for expression and communication. I think there is a certain type of person who thinks that everyone on earth should care that they’re refilling their coffee cups at a given moment… Metaphorically speaking, some people only put the few things that they find precious and beautiful on their bookshelves, while others feel a need to display every piece of junk in their possession…
online_person says: March 16th, 2008 3:35am
There are two radically different approaches. Use the same real name everywhere, allowing anyone with half a brain to show up at your doorstep, and using stealth by never revealing any real world info. Because of the long experience I’ve had with online activities, I will never use real name information in online discussions, preferring to reveal the info if and when I meet people in person and asking them to respect the “secrecy” online.
In the early days, circa 1996, someone from an inline chat I created actually did show up at our company office, probably via domain name details. (If I had it to do over, I’d make these stealth, too.) Fortunately, this was an online friend who wanted to surprise us :)
dschibut says: September 29th, 2008 5:30pm
I began this discussion to speak about public available web proxies:
Which are really anonymous?
Which can be used with facebook, myspace etc, in other words: are fresh ?
Which would you recommend?
Thanks for your help,
Dschibut
P.S.: In my land, the freedom of speech is somehow limited, please give me a hint, if you are not sure about your recommendation.