Based on a reading by: Albrechtslund, Anders. "Online Social Networking as Participatory Surveillance" First Monday [Online], Volume 13 Number 3 (2 March 2008)
In this digital era one must take into account that everything said online remains available indefinitely. The things people choose to blog about, post, tweet or communicate online could easily come back to haunt them. Danah Boyd believes social networking is a mediated public and can be categorized by four properties: persistency, search ability-, replicability and invisible audiences (Albrechtslund, Anders. 2008).
Persistency: Online social networking is persistent in the fact that what is said online is documented. The content you publish online is and will be available indefinitely and one must take this into account. Having information stored ads to the paranoia of our online past haunting us in our futures.
Search ability: With the online world growing and the amount of information available online, search ability is something that allows people to find information on us with a few simple key words. A searcher has access to any information you have not protected properly.
Replicability: The fact that so many people are so apt to publishing personal information, photos and things regarding their private lives makes information replicable. Communication on the online world comes with the chance of things being remade, taken out of context, or changed.
Invisible Audience: When people communicate online they generally have a specific group that they communicate to. Although communication is usually intended for a specific audience or group it is potentially available to anyone who has access to a computer with internet.
Boyd claims that, “together these four properties make friendships ‘eternal’- or at least existing beyond the control of the involved persons (Albrechtslund, Anders. 2008).” We must be aware of what we say while communicating online because these four factors could potentially make our online life surface in our real lives and haunt us at any point in time.
Albrechtslund, Anders. "Online Social Networking as Participatory Surveillance" First Monday [Online], Volume 13 Number 3 (2 March 2008)
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