Staff Editorial | Facebook news feed raises questions of privacy

Everyone is talking about The Facebook, again. In the last two weeks, popular social network The Facebook (facebook.com) developed and implemented a new feature called a “news feed,” which provides up-to-the-minute information on the activity network members. Just days after the new feature appeared on Facebook, thousands of users cried foul, prompting Mark Zuckerberg (creator of Facebook) to issue an apology and to update privacy controls.

But the fact that you can now hide your personal mini-news feed doesn’t resolve the larger issue that Zuckerberg’s letter touched upon: privacy on on-line social networks.

What the news feed makes abundantly clear is that students are becoming far too willing to post detailed personal information on the Web without considering privacy or safety. Many users have been Facebook members since its in inception in 2004, which has perhaps resulted in an unwarranted level of trust in the network.

Some of us go as far as to list our cell phone numbers and home addresses, never anticipating that strangers prowl these sites looking for that information. We post photos of parties and friends, not considering that employers access these sites when reviewing candidates for jobs. Although you can create a limited profile or modify your privacy settings, there is no way to fully monitor who is accessing your information. While none of this is new, the incident with the news feed underlines the need for everyone to be aware of what they post on the Internet and who could possibly access it.

These issues, specifically those that relate to employment of college students and their activities on Facebook, have been covered by many large-scale national news organizations, including The New York Times, which has run three articles on Facebook in the last week alone. On Sept. 10, The New York Times published an article specifically about Facebook’s news feed feature, in which one user was quoted as saying, “Because our generation has been so obsessed with putting themselves up on the Internet and obsessed with celebrity, we didn’t realize how much of our personal information we were puttiing out there” (“When Information Becomes T.M.I.” by Warren St. John).

On June 11, The New York Times published an article entitled “When a Risque Online Persona Undermines a Chance for a Job” by Alan Finder, detailing the fact that many companies are now checking out summer job candidates via online networks such as Facebook and MySpace before doing their hiring. There have also been numerous articles about these sites which caution users and parents to carefully select the personal information they make available.

Colleges are also becoming wise to the possible dangers of these sites. Many colleges and universities are building sessions addressing online networks into their freshman orientation programs. They warn students not only of the predatory dangers, but also of access by potential employers. Some colleges are even using Facebook to identify violations to their disciplinary codes, such as underage drinking.

There are certainly many benefits to these on-line social networks, like creating study groups for classes or sharing photos with ease. But those who use Facebook and similar programs should be aware of possible consequences and pay close attention to their privacy settings. Vassar can also aid in this process by more aggressively addressing the concerns that surround involvement in an on-line social networks. Since the popularity of these networks is not fading, the College would be providing an important service if they were to include a session on Internet safety and privacy as part of new students’ orientation in the near future.

For current students who are already in the thick of the Facebook frenzy, there are a large number of privacy options that Facebook users can choose from, and members can also opt out of being in a public news feed. Visit the site—you probably do anyway—and look at these new controls. Because if you don’t, you won’t know who’s looking at you.