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"Hey! That's Private!"

10/7/2013

76 Comments

 
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Is privacy important to you? Are you able to live a relatively private life? How has technology changed your idea of a "private life?"

76 Comments
Kayla Buypal
10/7/2013 03:45:49 am

Privacy is extremely important to me, I can't stand when people take my phone and look through it or touch items on my dresser; I don't have anything to hide, it's just the principle of the thing. I believe that I lead a pretty private life, my parents never enter my room unless I'm in there (as far as I'm aware) and As for social media, Facebook is all I have and I only post extremely infrequent statuses about the weather or something stupid like that. I haven't allowed technology to intrude on my private life and I plan to keep it that way.

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Delaney
10/10/2013 02:55:43 am

I agree with privacy being extremely important to you, and that it is not about hiding something, it is about the fact that some things should remain yours and yours only. Especially in places like your room where you are supposed to be able to go and be safe, or in your cell phone which in many cases today is something that you will store your most personal things and messages. Also, I agree that it is important to only go on Facebook occasionally, and other websites of the like. With all the updating statuses and pictures, etc. it is very easy to get caught up in it.

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Zach Pranger
10/10/2013 03:47:32 am

Kayla your comment is great. I fully agree with it. I too hate when others take my phone. I live in a similar situation regarding the entering of people into my room. Its important to not allow technology to invade and expose your life to the public.

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Marcus E
10/7/2013 07:53:38 am

Privacy is important to me. I like to be left alone and not have people snooping around in my business. In certain situations, no, it is not that a matter of concern to me. I think that it is because i dont like being the center of attention that it bothers me where as some people could not care at all, but the thought of being watched through everything that I do is something that i would not like. I am able to live a relatively private life, yes because like i said i do not like being the center of attention in most situations therefore i am able to stay off of the grid to a certain extent. Technology has changed everything in that anyone can find out pretty much anything about anyone on the internet. Technology has made it less private as well as more private in certain places. In social media you have the option to keep all of your information private if you choose. Your account can be set to private so that you must accept this person as a friend in order for them to access your profile and see whatever you have up. Technology really gives you the power to choose which way that you want to go whether it be private or open.

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Matthew D
10/8/2013 10:48:08 am

I don't agree with the fact that the privacy settings make things more personal. There are easy ways to get around those, and if someone really wants to they could access all of your info no matter your privacy setting. If you put it on the internet it's there forever.

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Kayla B
10/10/2013 03:39:49 am

Good point, I hadn't even thought about the privacy settings on social media! I agree that even in this seemingly not private society social media has created it is ultimately up to you to decided what to share and what not to share. You aren't forced to tell people where you work, live, an what breakfast cereal you prefer. It's YOUR choice, no one else's.

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Chris V
10/7/2013 07:54:26 am

Privacy could go either way for me. It comes down how important something is and whether or not I would want the world to know about it. For most things I do not care if the world knows or not like a casual tweet about what I am doing for the day or what I am eating, but when something is important I would like the privacy from the world. There are some things that people do not need to know about yourself or the important things in your life. It is your life not the worlds. I do believe that we are able to live a life of privacy. The information exposed it more than likely because the person chose to share it with the world. Social media makes privacy hard to have these days. People are tempted to tweet about every little thing that is going on with them. The geo-tagging that these apps carry is the icing on top of the cake. By clicking of the link of the tag, the internet is able to see where the photo was taken. Social media has the ability to make someones privacy nonexsistent if they allow it to.

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Marcus E
10/8/2013 07:22:28 am

I agree with Chris, the Social Media opens up new doors that allow for people to invade in others privacy if they choose to.

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Dan Trombetta
10/8/2013 07:38:20 am

I agree, Chris, that some things that some things are too important to be made public. Especially, when it comes the the location of a person, the social media really gets creepy and stalkerish.

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Natalie P
10/8/2013 08:04:13 am

I agree with you, Chris. Your personal life is YOUR personal life, not everyone else's. Unless, however, you choose to make it open with the world. When posting a photo or status, one should think to themselves, "would it be okay if everyone in the world saw this, or only a selective group of people?" That should narrow down the decision of whether or not something should be posted. You are 100% right when you say privacy is up to the individual and they have the choice of what they want private and what they do not.

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Jeff H
10/8/2013 04:00:13 pm

I agree with you Chris when you say that people don't need to know a lot about other people unless they are actually good friends or family. Like you said Social Media allows people to find out very personal information about other people which I feel shouldn't be as easy as it is.

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Sarah W
10/9/2013 11:51:20 am

Chris, I like how you explain privacy can go both ways. It is very true that some things are more private than others. I feel the same way about casual tweets versus something very important to you, both have different extents to who should know this information.

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Adam L
10/9/2013 05:37:41 pm

I agree. Social media makes privacy hard, especially with all the little "conveniences". But like you said it all comes down to what we choose to share.

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Natalie P
10/7/2013 08:58:15 am

Personally, I find privacy to be very important. There are particular personal and private facts relating to me and my family that I would not want anyone but my close friends and family to know. I would only want the people I trust to know personal issues like, for example, health problems or an unsteady financial stance. Therefore, I allow myself to live a relatively private life. I usually keep most things to myself and certainly limit my share of personal details with people. I try not to post irrelevant and revealing things on any social media sites like how I just took a shower or just took a walk down my street to my neighbor's house. However, technology has certainly changed the idea of living a "private life." With sites such as Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook, it almost seems impossible to avoid sharing pictures or statuses that give clue to where you are and what you're doing. For instance, posting a picture of yourself with your cousin at your Aunt Suzy's wedding tells all your social media friends that you attended a wedding last weekend and that your Aunt Suzy now has a new last name. Letting twitter know you "just had the best piece of pizza at Sally's with Mike, Amanda, and Katie" alerts people of your current location, what you are doing, and who you are with. As fun and beneficial as social media sites can be, they have depleted the amount of privacy we have in our lives and actually allows people to know more personal details about us then we think.

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Hannah B
10/7/2013 11:16:26 am

I agree with you Natalie. Privacy is very important to me too. I don't want people knowing about my personal life either unless they are close friends or family members. There was a issue that I came across when I let my Twitter be public. Some creepy old men started to follow me, and this really disturbs me. They should prevent people older than 20 from following younger people, unless you accept to be friends with them.

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Chris V
10/8/2013 07:44:54 am

I agree with Natalie that privacy is something I want and do not want to other people to know personal things unless they are my close friends or family. Social media also hinders our ability to be private.

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Hannah B
10/7/2013 11:10:42 am

Personally privacy is Important to me in a way. I like my social media sites now to be private, so that only my friends can see my photos and information. Before I had my social media accounts open to the public and I found out those creepy 30 year old men and women followed me out of nowhere. I find it disturbing that older men and woman like that followed me. But it wasn’t just the older people; it was also creepy little kids around the age of 9-13. This makes me feel uncomfortable and not safe about whom I share my information with. I am private however, when it comes to personal feelings and secrets. I don’t like to share secrets that friends have told me to anyone else because they are a secret. I am able to live a relatively private life by having my parents knock on my door before they enter my room. I also keep my social Medias on private so that only my close friends can follow me on them. Technology has changed my idea of a private life because nowadays, for instant on Facebook, when you post a photo it will say you posted it from your current location, for example Oxford, CT. This invades my privacy, and people are more likely to find me or find more information about me.

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Megan C
10/7/2013 01:40:28 pm

I agree with Hannah in that you never know who is looking for you on social media sites. Now that technology has been advancing and privacy has been decreasing. As it is easier to find one another on Facebook I find it very unsettling how privacy is hardly an option now a days. Knowing that people can change their identify on any media site is very sad and scary not knowing who you are friending on an site.

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Victoria C
10/8/2013 11:53:46 am

Hannah, that's a great point about privacy concerns on social media. I've had my share of "creeps" requesting me and it makes me wonder how they come across me in the first place. Social media is definitely the biggest problem concerning privacy today. We really have to be careful about what we share

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Kevin L
10/9/2013 02:50:37 am

That is a good point about the random men and women or even kids who would follow you on social media. These people just follow random users just for the hope of getting a follow back. They like to say they have a lot of followers but it makes me uncomfortable to know someone i'm unfamiliar with are seeing my posts. Therefore I keep my sites on private also!

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Megan C
10/7/2013 01:06:49 pm

Depending on the situation privacy may or may not be important. When it comes to certain things like contestations, friends, finances, and most of my family are things I try to keep as private as possible. As for my thoughts I tend to speak my mind and, some may consider thoughts private but it is my decision to voice those thoughts, thus making them not private anymore. I feel if someone has the courtesy to as me personally rather than going around asking others I will have no problem answering their questions. But if the feel it would be more effective to try and snoop and ask my friends rather than straight ask me, I find that incredibly rude. Technology has defiantly changed the idea of privacy. I tend to share more of what I am doing, with whom, and where more than I have ever done before. My private life is still private because I choose what I want to be put out for others knowledge. Once that line is crossed and everything and I mean everything that is on my mind is put out for everyone to know than my private life will be completely gone. I do not plan on that day happening; regardless of with people think I do censor what I say and how I say to avoid what could be considered rude. Even though twitter, facebook, instagram, linkedin have become part of everyones life; what is chosen to put up on those accounts are all up to the users of those websites. If they want something to be private do not put it up. I follow that as well, if I am going to possibly regret putting something up I will not do it.

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Taylor Saja
10/8/2013 02:47:47 am

Megan, I agree with you on privacy being situational. Certain things are meant to be kept private while others can be shared if that is what the individual wants. Also, technology has done the same for me about sharing information. I only post what I do not mind others to see, and if I think at any point I may regret posting it, I will not put it up.

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Brianna Guilherme
10/9/2013 06:59:34 am

Megan, I agree with you on the fact that depending on the situation privacy may or may not be important. I believe that certain things should be kept a secret and not published to the whole world. Family, finances, friends or things in that nature should be kept private since no one else needs to know about those situations except you.

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Meaghan O
10/10/2013 11:59:06 am

I agree that I would rather have someone ask me a question personally opposed to them trying to find out the information from someone else. If I had a question about someone I would most likely just ask that person out of respect. Also I agree that what is put up on social media is the decision of that user. If you don't what people to know something, then don't put it somewhere for the whole world to see.

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Victoria C
10/7/2013 01:54:34 pm

Privacy is extremely important to me. I value it as much as everyone should, even though not many do. People sometimes misunderstand this need for privacy in others as a desire to be alone or may even see it as rude, but we can't do so quick to judge. Though it's hard, I try to live a private life. It's so hard to though today, especially at this point in our lives. Everyone wants to know what grades others get, where they're applying to college, and other things like that. Some have no problem revealing this information, but I try to be more hesitant when doing so, especially with grades. It's simply nobody else's business, but if it happens to come out, then so be it. I also think technology does not allow one to live a private life. While you can control what you post, you cannot control what others post, such as pictures and information about you. You can look at anyone's Facebook or Twitter profile and find out a lot about that person. On these websites, one may feel obliged to share information, just because it's easy and readily available.

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Sara Ponce
10/8/2013 07:02:39 am

I agree with you Victoria that people may feel obliged to share information since it is so easy. You can literally post your number for millions of people to find and once you do, even if you deleted, one can still find it. Everything you post on the internet stays there for years even after you delete it. Everything you do or post online has records that anyone can find which is so scary. I don't think people think so far ahead or deep into the idea that a serial killer now knows their number which they can use to find their address.

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Jessica H
10/9/2013 08:26:48 am

I agree that privacy is a must. Sometimes it is hard to keep a private life, but as you said, it is possible. I like how you mentioned that you don't like to advertise your grades, and you're right, it isn't anyone else's business what you get on an assignment.

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Taylor Saja
10/8/2013 02:44:21 am

Privacy is important to me for the most part, but it depends on the situation. Personal things I'd like to keep to myself and only share them with people close to me, such as friends and family. Mainly because it is no one else's concern and although some people may care, the rest are just curious. But I do have a Twitter account where I tweet things I obviously do not mind people knowing, otherwise I would not be posting them. I also have an Instagram account, but I have it on private so only people I allow are able to view my photos. I am able to live a relatively private life, by monitoring what exactly I put online for others to see. Technology has dramatically changed my view on what it means to live a private life because even if you do not have social media sites, your friends may, and they could always put your picture up with a caption of what you are doing. So unless you are extremely aware of who posts what, it is difficult to live a completely private life. Technology has also impacted my view on living a private life because some people are not afraid to share a lot of information on public sites, which is surprising to me. For example, many apps today have a location tag available, so on the pictures you post on say Instagram, it will show where you are. I always shut this option off because it is dangerous, if your account is not on private, anyone could find out your location.

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Sara Ponce
10/8/2013 06:59:55 am

I agree Taylor! I always shut off the option to tag your location because like you said it is dangerous and really scary. Someone with bad intentions can show up at your empty house, or to where you are, all because you posted a picture. You think it's just something that happens on TV shows, but those TV shows are based off of real life events.

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Rebecca H
10/9/2013 02:27:39 pm

I agree with both Sara and Tay. This is actually a point that I didn't even think of. Its scary to think that if you don't have your location tag off, that someone can find out where you are and try to get to you. It is also really hard, as Tay said, to live a private life. With all the apps that are out today like iphone locators and things like that, its easy to be found at any given time period.

Megan V
10/9/2013 11:46:16 am

Good point Taylor. Even if you are not involved in any social media sites, your friends may very well be. This means that you must be aware of what they post and even say about you online because they could indicate where you are without you actually telling anyone. Technology today makes privacy impossible.

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Kerstin E
10/9/2013 12:48:52 pm

I agree that the level of privacy depends on who you are sharing with. A person will obviously be more open with a person they are closer to rather than a stranger. I also agree that it is very hard to live a completely private life.

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Mackenzie M
10/9/2013 02:00:48 pm

I agree that it is hard to live a completely private life with technology. Good point that anyone can tag you in pictures and posts. You don't even have to be the one telling others what you are doing, anyone else can do it for you, and sometimes without your knowledge.

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Dan Trombetta
10/8/2013 07:34:13 am

Privacy is important to me, even though I don't think I have too many secrets. I value my right to be in charge of what people know about me. I feel that i definitely can live a private life when i choose to. My parents give me plenty of privacy so i don't have to be secretive at home. For me, technology hasn't changed my view of a private life. I don't have a smart phone and I don't use social media so people don't always know what I'm doing. There are plenty of people out there that are constantly posting every aspect of their lives and then wonder why that can't have their privacy, but I am definitely not one of them. If I have a secret I have no problem keeping it private. This is probably because of the fact that I don't use social media. I guess the price you pay for privacy is being out of the loop.

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Eric J
10/8/2013 07:55:13 am

Privacy is important to me. At times I like to be left completely alone and privacy helps me achieve this. The fact that you can just google somebody and find out where they live, their home phone number, and their parents name concerns me. I don't believe information like that should be that easily accessible to the public. It is one thing if the government has access to this but the average Joe, I don't believe, should be able to find all this out. Personally I have been able to live a private life. I chose not to use social media as much as others and I feel that is one main way people's "privacy" is ruined. Technology has changed people's privacy a lot.But I don't believe that somthing posted on the internet is privacy. POsting it to a website allows for the world to see it is just a matter of how hard they want the information.

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Ryan P
10/9/2013 08:44:41 am

I agree with Eric's view on the lack of security on the internet. It'f frightening to know that anyone, anywhere, at anytime could be scrutinizing your actions, as well as collecting your personal information. It is certainly a concern of mine as well as many others.

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Dilsara L
10/10/2013 10:43:47 am

I agree with Eric! It is really creepy to know that someone could just google your name and instantly find information about you that they shouldn't be able to. Technology today makes having a private life almost impossible.

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Matthew D
10/8/2013 10:38:35 am

Privacy is big to me. I feel that there are boundaries that people need to understand and that going past them is unnecessary. I don’t understand why people feel the need to announce everything they do on social media. I am able to keep a private life. I don’t post on social media sites very often and without a phone it’s almost impossible to contact me outside of school. Social media makes it nearly impossible to live a private life even with different settings. There are always people that can get into your information. I feel that the less information you put on them the better, which is why I try to limit what I put on them. With technology we are able to know exactly what someone is doing, where they are, and who they are with at any moment. It really breaks down the personal barriers and brings everything to light.

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Dan B
10/10/2013 11:08:44 am

I agree with you Matt. With social media people post whatever they want. Where they are, what they're doing, and even who they're with. It doesn't matter what setting their privacy is on, people are still able to access it. They need to be aware that not everything should be shared and once it's online it's not longer private.

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Aaron Bullivant
10/8/2013 11:55:07 am

Privacy is important to me but I know how things are that there truly aren’t a lot of private moments in everyone’s lives. I am able to live a relatively private life because I am not really the type of person that goes on Facebook all the time and tell people what I am doing. But at the same time I do every so often go on and say something. Before technology really made its way into my life I was able to keep a much more private life but as time went on my image of privacy had changed to what it is today. Privacy seems to me more of a luxury today than it may have been back 12 or 13 years ago. Technology has definitely changed my view of privacy. You hear every so often about things that the government can do to spy on you such as looking through the webcams of our computers or even tapping into the phones that we use. A lot of the time that type of information is used to help the American people but we don’t really know what cost that protection comes at. That technology that the government uses to look into our “private” moments can also be accessed by people outside of the government. People that know what they are doing can easily get inside of those government programs and use it for their own reasons. Privacy is very important to me but I have learned through time that privacy is a luxury that seems to be unobtainable at times.

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Taylor D
10/9/2013 09:43:39 am

I agree with you Aaron that if you don't abuse the social media networks you can still interact with friends and get the full effect of it without if deter who you are as a person because every one knows everything about you. If you don't make the problem and you don't post everything to the internet you can have privacy.

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Mrs. E
10/10/2013 03:54:16 am

Aaron, I'm glad you mentioned something besides social media. While it has taken a toll on our privacy, there are bigger issues at hand that our of our control and you nailed them!

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Jeff H
10/8/2013 03:52:48 pm

Privacy is important to me in the sense that I don't like to share my personal information with complete strangers. I like to have a feeling of privacy when I'm in my home. For the most part I feel as though I am able to live a relatively private life. I have social media accounts but I try not to put too much personal information on those sites. Technology has definitely changed my idea of a private life in a couple of ways. Before there was Twitter and Facebook people lived very private lives. In the past no one besides your family knew what you were doing during the evening, now all of your followers on twitter can know what you ate, who you ate with, whether the meal was good or not, and much more. Technology has undoubtedly impacted the way we live our lives.

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Kevin L
10/9/2013 02:41:59 am

Yes, I believe privacy is important to me. I enjoy the time to be able to think and make decisions without other's opinions. I think I live a private life but to a certain extent. I control what things people know about me but at the same time there isn't that much for me to hide. However, technology today allows you to control privacy but to a certain extent. When you have a social media username, you could turn the location option off when you post pictures, or you are able to post what you please. But within the database your name sits next to everyone else. Who knows who is able to access that and find out all the information that you have given when signing up for the site? The government could basically oversee everything you put online or what you put through technology, so that is the aspect of technology that you cannot control. Personally, I try to just put the information I want people to know on social media and keep the rest out of technology. But as technology is advancing, more in depth and privacy breaking inventions will come to light and if someone isn't okay with that, they always have the option to not purchase the item. So many people complain about confidential information being exposed, but they have the right not to buy the intruding item.

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Kyle C
10/9/2013 11:59:59 am

Kevin, I agree with you in that there are most likely a lot of things the government could find out about us and there is a mystery within the online world. I also agree that you that I don't want to tell people my whole life but just keep in touch with friends. Social media is very powerful and ourselves who sign up for these sights are the ones who have control of what we put out there.

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Casey S.
10/10/2013 07:33:29 am

Kevin I agree with you that even though a profile may be on private, it might not be it couldn't be seen by anyone. As you said technology is getting more and more advanced and retrieving wanted information could become easier to achieve, such as someone's personal information. Also I agree that if someone controls what they want to put on the internet it could give him/her a relatively private life.

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Brianna Guilherme
10/9/2013 06:49:15 am

Privacy is very important to me. I do not like when people are always in my business and asking questions when they do not need to know all of my business. My sister is like this, she is very nosy and wants to know everything of my life. She has even gone as far as going through my phone and room when I'm doing something important. I believe that I can live a relatively private life. It is not very difficult to live a private life, just keeping your business to yourself can help a person live a private life. Yes I tell my friends some things that are going in my life and certain experiences but I don't tell them about things that they do not need to know such as my health, money, or family. I feel like there are certain things that you keep separate from your public life to your private life. Technology has changed the idea of having a "private life". With today's technology you are able to go back into people's history and see what they were doing on a certain day. Just like Instagram, on Instagram you are able to follow someone or request to follow them and one you are following them a person is able to go back in their history and look at all the photos they've posted from yesterday to a year ago. Also with technology they can now track what you do and what you search on the computer. The government is now able to go into your private life and with a click of a button they can find out everything about what you certain day from what calls you made to where you went to what you bought in that one store with that one credit card. Technology now does not certainly allow the idea of a "private life" since they basically track every move you make.

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Jessica H
10/9/2013 08:12:23 am

To me, privacy is very important. Some things just aren’t meant for the whole world to know. Sometimes it’s best to keep things to yourself or between you and your close friends and relatives. I’d say that I do live a relatively private life. I have a few very close friends whom I share my thoughts and feelings with. I typically don’t advertise my life on social media sites. I do have a Facebook account, but I almost never make posts on my wall. I also have an Instagram, but I only post pictures every now and then, and I don’t use the geo-tagging feature. I feel that technology only reveals as much about yourself as you let it. It’s completely up to you as to what you post and how much you post.

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Ryan P
10/9/2013 08:36:32 am

Privacy is of great importance to me. I feel like everyone needs a little time to themselves at times, including myself. Everyone, including myself, has secrets that they may or may not prefer to share, and they feel that the privacy pertaining to these secrets should be respected. I personally feel as though I live a relatively private life due to the fact that i don't constantly reveal whatever I'm doing to everyone. I try to limit the things I want people to know about me. Technology has provided a major obstacle in regards towards one's privacy, with social media as the main contributor. With the vast amount of different social media sites, one's privacy is seriously threatened. Unless you choose to make your profile private, anyone in the world can search your name and find you. With such a frightening thought in mind, technology has obviously made me consider to monitor what goes on my social media profiles. With the whole world potentially watching you online, one can't help but feel a threat to their privacy.

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Becky G
10/10/2013 11:39:51 am

Ryan, I agree with you about social medias being so revealing. People are so careless when it comes to their social medias. Some of them will update their status every time they do something new, thinking that people will care that they're eating a bagel. This is completely unnecessary, because in my opinion, I don't necessarily care if you're eating a bagel. Also, just because someone makes their profile private, doesn't mean that it is 100 protected. Nothing is ever 100 percent protected. But it is very easy for anyone to find you just by simply googling your name.

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Taylor D
10/9/2013 09:38:15 am

Privacy is important to me but I think that's its one of those things like respect that must be earned. I think that privacy should be a something to work for not to b handed out. If you have nothing to had then why do you need so much privacy. Yes privacy is nice and your own personal things that don't need to be out in the public are nice to keep quite and to yourself, but in those situations its nice to have privacy and have it respected. I also think that privacy has something to do with trust if you don't trust someone or don't respect them then you probably would invade their privacy. Some times people invade the privacy of others because their curious and nothing more. I think that I am able to have privacy. I don't think that technology has deterred my ability to have privacy because I don't use it that way. When ever something is added to the internet or to a social media website I know that I am sending that information to anyone and everyone and I have to accept any consequence that come from that.

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Megan V
10/9/2013 11:41:44 am

Privacy is very important to me. The thought of being watched 24-7 is very disturbing to me. Everyone is their own person therefore we each deserve our own privacy whether it be certain information that one may not want to share or a conversation with a friend. It's not even that we may be trying to hide something its the fact that someone else is getting into somebody else's business when they should worry about themselves. I am able to live a relatively private life. Of course i don't keep everything a secret but i do have privacy in my life. Technology has really taken a toll on the idea of a private life. Most people are on social media sites such as Facebook and twitter. These allow for anyone to be able to look you up and access information about yourself. The idea of anyone going onto the internet and finding everything out about you is very scary but it is all possible. The closest thing we have to being private is either setting your social media sites to private or staying off of the internet completely (which is near impossible in todays society). Even google records the history of what you have searched and it later pops up in ads on the computer screen.

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Mrs. E
10/10/2013 03:55:19 am

Meg, I'm glad you brought up the ads on computers. I was going to bring it up tomorrow if no one else did. How does my Pandora know where I live and give me advertisements for local businesses?! Leave me alone!

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Sarah W
10/9/2013 11:47:44 am

Privacy is very important to me, as it should be to everyone. It is certain that there are some things about yourself that you shouldn't share and people should never know. Most of the time, I don't have anything to hide, but there is no reason everyone has to know everything about me. I believe I do live a fairly private life. I share things with a very select group of people that I trust. Of course if I don't know someone, they have no reason to know things about me and I have no reason to tell them. Technology hasn't affected my privacy too much. I have all of sorts of social media, but unless I tweet about something or post an Instagram picture, people probably won't know anything ever happened. Also, all of my social media sites are private, so unless I approve someone to follow me, they can’t see my things. Sometimes it isn't good to be too private because some things shouldn't be kept a secret. I like to be surrounded with people I'm comfortable with and be able to have a sense of privacy while still expressing my feelings.

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Kyle C
10/9/2013 11:54:42 am

Privacy is something that I find important to me. I really have nothing to hide on my phone but I still keep a passcode so my phone is something that is pretty private to myself. However the first thing that comes about when talking about privacy is social media. Technology has created a world where if someone wanted to, they could find out about you in about two minutes. That is why I personally don't tweet or post anything that I wouldn't want my parents or adults seeing. Social media is a very open thing and can be fun if used right. We do not live in a very private lives when it comes to online because people are posting things all the time, but if you are respectful and use social media the right way, things can be good. Also, if you don't want people to know of a problem or something you do not have to tweet it and let everyone know. Friends and family are always there for you so if you want to live a private life and deal with problems that is possible. I believe that technology has been able to allow people to pull up your online footprint in a second, so people have to be careful what they post. Whenever you hit send, it is out there, and even if you think it is deleted it can still come back to bite you. I try to be as smart as I can with letting people know what I am doing or feeling, and respect and use social media the right way.

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Tommy B
10/10/2013 10:46:13 am

I like what you said about things being deleted. Many times people post something online then regret it very shortly after and try to delete it. It takes years for things to be deleted off the internet and people do not know this. This makes our lives even less private.

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Kerstin E
10/9/2013 12:42:53 pm

Privacy is very important to me. I don’t think other people should know every little detail about other peoples’ lives. I think privacy depends on who you are with. Personally, there are certain people in my life that know everything about me. Privacy may be more important around people you aren’t as close with. I am able to live a relatively private life. I think whether you live a private life or not, depends on the person and how much information they expose. Technology has drastically changed the idea of a private life. Once something is on the internet it isn’t leaving. People are putting personal information on social media sites. Other than being very dangerous, this is completely the opposite of having a private life. Whether someone posts personal information on social media or not the government can still access anything on the internet as well as cell phones.

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Aaron Bullivant
10/9/2013 01:16:46 pm

I agree with Jeff, I want a private life but with a phone always at my fingertips it is very easy to forget that what you put online will be seen by possibly hundreds of people. Privacy is seems to be unobtainable with this sort of thing always at peoples fingertips.

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Mackenzie M
10/9/2013 01:52:18 pm

Privacy is extremely important to me. Therefore, I try to live a private life. I keep most things to myself unless other people actually need to know. As for social media, I do not have a twitter or make statuses on my Facebook. I have an Instagram to edit and post pictures, but I use discretion and only accepted a small group of followers. With changes in technology and social media, the idea of a "private life" has definitely changed. People post what they're doing and/or thinking every day, but don't think anything of it because it has become normal. Even with the constant sharing, they still consider their lives private. Other aspects of the internet also allow everyone's information to be public. People can find out anyone's age, birthday, address, phone number, picture, etc with Google, taking away another aspect of privacy.

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Clara M
10/10/2013 09:16:44 am

Kenzie, I agree with your statement that people think their lives are private even when they share things everywhere. It is just as easy to make things in your life private as it is to have the whole world see, or at least able to see.

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Rebecca H
10/9/2013 02:24:22 pm

Privacy is extremely important to me, especially in today's society. This day in age, there are many online predators that like to prey on teenagers through media websites. Even though many of my social media cites are not on private, I usually don't post things like "home alone" or "at the milford mall" because that goes out for everyone to see. My life is relatively private in that I don't share information with everyone. Things that don't need to be known to the world, shouldn't be shared. Technology has changed the idea of a private life because it doesn't set any boundaries. Everything that everyone has done and posted about via twitter or facebook, can be found at any given moment. So when things such as "home alone hmu" is posted on twitter, anyone is able to access this information. This can be helpful, but ultimately it is harmful and can place someone in an unwanted, and potentially dangerous, situation. While media cites can be useful in sending private messages to friends and family members, other people can send messages to you as well. If your privacy control settings are not set to block strangers, anyone can try and talk to you. They can access pictures and phone numbers and even addresses. So in society today, is there really even such a thing as privacy?

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Lizz Lizotte
10/9/2013 03:13:27 pm

I value privacy, but, in most cases, I don't need it. When I'm at home at night, I don't necessarily want the entire world to know that I spent an inordinate amount of time watching an America's Next Top Model marathon, but I'm okay with it. I'm not ashamed of many things, so I'm typically very open about everything. Of course, that's not to say I wouldn't be a bit spooked if someone was watching me sleep, but I'm generally fine with people knowing what I'm up to. I do believe I have the full ability to live a private life, but privacy in an age of security cameras is subjective. I don't feel too watched by security cameras because, to my generation, they have always been around. We've always been watched by a blank lens in public. Social networking isn't really part of a private life; but social networking is VERY optional. While it has encouraged ideas of a public life, it has, in no way, stunted the idea or acquirability of a private life. Technology hasn't destroyed privacy, but it has normalized publicity. And I don't see anything wrong with that.

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Mrs. Elbakry
10/10/2013 04:08:31 am

What an interesting way to put it, "Technology hasn't destroyed privacy, but it has normalized publicity." Your generation doesn't know what it's like to not be "connected" at all times.

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Adam L
10/9/2013 05:32:50 pm

Privacy is relatively important to me. I do not care, for example, if people know that I have gone on vacation or was hanging out with friends. However, there are parts of my life that I feel people do not need to know. This would include things like a personal conversation. To give any specific example would contradict this point. For the most part, I feel that my life is private, or at least I control what others see of my life. This means that most things that people know about my life have been shared on purpose. Like previously stated, whenever I hang out with a bunch of friends, some sign of it ends up on social media. That part is not private. However, the majority of my time, I am not hanging out with friends. That part of my life is private. I am able to have intense conversations with people about controversial topics or someone’s personal problem and have it not show up on my Timeline or Twitter feed. Technology has redefined my idea of a ‘private life’ is. I used to consider anyone that I knew something about their life that they did not personally share with me to have a public life. However, since I have been exposed to this culture of social media for so long, I would consider one to have a private life if there were posts about significant things that they did. This would even include fun gatherings with friends or. However, when people start sharing what they are doing every minute, I believe that that takes away from the private life.

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Kevin K.
10/9/2013 11:56:00 pm

Privacy is the key to expression. An individual is not truly an individual if their privacy has been invaded, but once that happens that individual is degraded to just a soul. Privacy can be used to show people what they want to see, what you want to see, or however you choose to express it. Privacy should play an important role in an individual’s life. The importance of privacy is absolutely vital to way I live my life. I am aware that technologies exist that allow you to post anything and everything online no matter how private, but using them in a controlled manner is the only way to use them. For instance, I am not one of the individuals in society who would post: “I just woke up and now I’m eating breakfast #food #tired #uh #eggs #somuchfood.”
People are absorbed in social media and some are even addicted. Individuals are able to set themselves apart from what they know and how they differ. If an individual posts everything online, then they have nothing to set themselves apart from the people reading those messages. They are no longer and individual. In 1984, Big Brother takes away people’s expression and creates the same effect happening with social media. The people of Oceania are not individuals, the party and even more so the proletariat section are mobs of people without identities. When people express themselves through social media they adapt to that same surrounding.
I have still managed to live a relatively private life, however. I can accredit this achievement to the controlled use of social media. People can get to know me by talking to me, not by reading in social media about me. Technology has changed my view on how much people in 20th century value their privacy. As far as I can tell, people don’t value their privacy nearly as much as they did twenty or thirty years ago. The difference are in the social media. There is not screening or guide telling you the things an individual should post, so they post their identity online for everyone to see. Personally, I do not add to the problem. I went on Facebook recently to post information for my blood drive and was bombarded with people posting things I didn’t need to or want to see. Technology has not invaded the “private life” but it is used today as an invasive tool. Social media absolutely has the potential to be used correctly, but currently it is not.

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Delaney
10/10/2013 02:52:43 am

In my life, privacy is extremely important. By keeping myself off most social networks and limiting myself on what I can post about and what I will not share with others, I can easily keep my private life private and what I want to share with others accessible. Although, with today's media, it can occasionally be difficult to do so. With things like twitter, Facebook, and other social media sites, it can be hard not to tweet about an unfortunate occurrence or not to Facebook stalk your ex's new girlfriend who by the way is such a downgrade. In previous years, a private life was keeping things regarding your family and relationships to yourself. In today's society, privacy is simply not updating your twitter feed every two minutes about what kind of bread you want on your grilled cheese from Panera. Sadly, people these days with wanting privacy as having something to hide, even though in most circumstances that is not at all the case. Over all though, privacy has completely changed from past years.

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Zach Pranger
10/10/2013 03:44:42 am

Privacy is very important to me. I don't like people knowing things that are my business. Even though I don't have scandalous things to hide, I still hate when people take my phone or go through papers of mine. I like to keep personal things private and only put things on social media that I wouldn't mind everyone seeing. For this reason I believe I am able to live a relatively private life. I try to restrict what is put on the internet of and by me to things I approve of. Technology has dramatically changed what I think of a private life. Social media allows a scary amount of information about you to be readily available to anyone even if you aren't "friends" or "following" eachother. When I hear about a private life I no longer think about locking your door, I think about a locked twitter account or a private instagram. Technology has drastically changed the private lives of people. If you choose, people can know every aspect of your private life. Technology has had a big impact on allowing people to still live a private life.

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Casey S.
10/10/2013 07:30:27 am

I do believe that privacy has a certain level of importance to me. I do have more than one social media accounts so that limits the amount of privacy I do have. I feel that I tend to be one of those people who posts a lot of my lie on sites such as Twitter. However, I would not enjoy someone knowing every single detail and action of my life as tat happens in 1984. Twitter may allow people to see what I want them to see but they cannot watch my every move I am able to live a relatively private life because I can chose what I want and don't want to share with other people. Family issues and personal issues can be kept private, whereas, if I'm going shopping or what I thought about the last episode of Pretty Little Liars can be shares. Technology has definitely changed the idea of a private life. Some people chose to share every action, thought, ad location on the internet completely eliminating their privacy. Sometimes people may not even realize that other people are being informed about their private life. Even a protected profile could be seen by anyone who knows how to break that barrier. A random person 3000 miles away could know you went to Forever 21 at 2 pm with your friend.

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Clara M
10/10/2013 09:12:40 am

Privacy is important to me. At the age that I am I find it very hard to live a private life. Before the age of eighteen most people have to share information with their parents. In my household if there are secrets it's kind of a form of betrayal. Technology can help to keep some things to yourself. Things like pass code locks and all for phones and other electronics can help keep your life separate. But at the same time technology like in 1984 can keep privacy nearly impossible. We even see it in our school, there are cameras watching things you do everywhere. So I think it really depends on how the technology is being used. Also the perception of the person counts.

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Dilsara L
10/10/2013 10:39:58 am

Privacy is very important to me because I can't stand when people snoop around in my business. I really don't have anything to hide on my phone or laptop, but when people try to go through my devices, I get aggravated because its invading my private space. I always have a passcode on my Iphone and a password on my laptop so it's not easy for people to go through my stuff. However, I do have a twitter and Instagram account that makes it easy for people to see what I'm doing or where I am. I tend to steer away from tweeting useless information such as where I am going and what I am doing because it gives information about myself to people that do not need to know it. From what I know, I believe that I live a relatively private life. But with today's technology, it's easy for someone to look up information about me on the internet without my consent. Technology has definitely changed my view on having a private life because everyday I witness someone put up the location of where they are on Twitter or Instagram. This is dangerous and unnecessary. As a result, I try to be as smart as I can with letting people know what I am doing or where I am, and use social media the right way.

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Tommy B
10/10/2013 10:42:05 am

Privacy is important to me. I try to live a somewhat private life but at the same time I want people to know things about me. I will post on social media sites but never locations of where I am or anything personal like that. I try to keep personal facts about me to myself but technology has made that difficult. Now, you can post something and your post will automatically say where you are and even how long you have been there. Social media sites are not the only way technology has changed privacy, though. The government has the ability to see anything they want about you and sometimes even see you on cameras. I don't believe people can live "private" lives anymore due to the advancement of technology.

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Dan B
10/10/2013 10:55:54 am

Privacy is very important to me. I don't enjoy when people go rooting through my belongings without my permission. If I have privacy and someone respects that privacy, I feel as though that person trusts me. I believe that I can live a rather private life. My parents don't go through my stuff without my permission (that I know of at least). Technology has completely changed the idea of privacy. Before social media came out people generally kept information with their friends and family. However, with things such as twitter and Facebook, people post things about their lives constantly. Giving strangers information to their plans for the day, emails, and even phone numbers. Even if someone places their privacy settings on private, people are still able to search hard enough and bypass these settings and require certain information.

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Becky G
10/10/2013 11:27:46 am

I would have to say that privacy is a very important aspect in my life. My family and I all try our best to live a private life. It is sometimes difficult to do so, though. I try to live a private life. When I leave my house for school in the morning I make sure that I hide all of my valuable belongings, just in case something were to happen. When it comes to my social media sites, I try not to add anyone that I don't know. And I usually make my profile a 'private profile'. No one can ever be 100 percent private, it is almost impossible to do so. Between phone numbers, street addresses, bank accounts, etc, no ones information is ever completely private. It can be fairly easy for someone to find out a lot of information about someone through technology. Technology is most definitely not private. If you google your name or anyone's name, you will find pictures of yourself, or whoever you googled, right there. This is because the internet is never private. What you put on the internet stays on the internet, even if you delete it.

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Meaghan O
10/10/2013 11:53:36 am

Privacy is important to me. I consider myself a pretty open person. I don't have a lot to hide, but I also like having a choice of keeping things private. I think it's important to have that option. I do have a twitter and instagram, but I don't use them that often. My family is pretty respectful of my privacy. I think this is also because they trust me a lot. Technology has made it harder for people to have private lives. You can find almost anything about anyone online. I think people can determine how much privacy they will have based on if they choose to use social media and what they choose to put on it.

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Steven P
10/10/2013 12:21:48 pm

Privacy is extremely important to me. Nowadays keeping your privacy is a very difficult thing to do. With almost everything you do being monitored and watched online now, anybody can find out what you're doing or even where you are. You never know when someone is watching what you are doing. In order to keep your privacy you must make sure all of your accounts and profiles are on 'private', which still doesn't guarantee total privacy. You used to be able to keep your life very private by just watching what you were saying, now you must check everything you say or post or do online to insure your privacy. It is almost impossible to keep your life private in this day in age.

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Sedyra
10/10/2013 12:22:29 pm

Privacy is important to me. I would say some aspects of my life are private. I think that it is very important for some things to stay private. While I have a twitter and Instagram I only share information that I do not care if it is shared. I think things like my love life and personal life should stay private. Technology has changed my idea of a private life because now instead of things that you do being a secret things are now so easily shared. People have technology such as cell phones and social media to help spread information. So everyone knows basically everything about everyone else. It makes the process of sharing people's lives easier and faster. Also many people will expose there own privacy. They'll do things such as tweet what they are doing and give it away. I think privacy isn't as vital to people in today's society than in times like the 70s. This is because now people have the technology to share whereas back than not much technology was used or as advanced as today.

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    English 12 H

    Please respond to the question in at least 10 sentences AND comment on another classmate's response. You can certainly disagree, but BE RESPECTFUL of the opinions/feelings of your classmates.

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