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For privacy and control? Definitely not. A huge chunk of my family uses Facebook as the means of communication which means private correspondence is being media

For privacy and control? Definitely not. A huge chunk of my family uses Facebook as the means of communication which means private correspondence is being mediated and read by Facebook's platform. At any whim they can ban a user, delete a message, etc. The same applies to Gmail but at least there is an escape hatch to a different email provider if you are using a custom domain. The centralization of stuff into Amazon, Google, and Facebook's offerings has been extremely destructive to the status quo for control and privacy.

taeric 9y ago
This is only true with our modern bar. And yes, we should continue to get better. I am not calling for a halt of progress. However, women, children, and minorities have far more freedom and privacy than they ever have historically. There are some ways you can look at this so that it seems that corporations have more ability to see into your life. In large, it is really just a rise in their accuracy. Their attempts and actions are actually lessened.
- Maybestring 9y ago
  >However, women, children, and minorities have far more freedom and privacy than they ever have historically. Why should technology get the credit?
  - taeric 9y ago
    Why shouldn't it? Different technologies, sure. But the liberating effects of labor saving devices is pretty tough to dispute.
  - maxerickson 9y ago
    Because a lot of it is pretty simply rooted in economics. If you want your kids to go to school, there needs to be resources for that to happen (and you personally have to have enough resources that you aren't using them for labor).
- jstarfish 9y ago
  > women, children, and minorities have far more freedom and privacy than they ever have historically Zoe Quinn, black men getting shot at traffic stops and victims of cyberbullying might all have a different opinion about that.
  - taeric 9y ago
    This is a bit of goal post shifting. I am claiming we are getting better. Not that we have solved all problems. None of those things are good. But you needn't dig hard to find our culture actively doing these things almost with glee not long ago. Our bar is rightfully higher than it was, and we have legitimate criticisms to overcome. But don't let that detract from the fact that the bar is higher.
    - deleted 9y ago
      [deleted]
stickfigure 9y ago
At a whim, you and your family/friends can stop using Facebook and use any of literally hundreds of other excellent options for communication. That's control. And privacy is much better now than it was in the "glorious early days of the internet" when your two choices were SMTP and IRC and both were subject to monitoring by local sysadmins and pretty much any node your packets passed through. Just because the present is not perfect does not mean the past was better. I much prefer the privacy and control of today's internet over yesterday's internet.
- bsder 9y ago
  Facebook tags photos with my face in it without my permission. How do I as a non-Facebook user stop that? How do I prevent Google from reading my email conversations when a huge chunk of the destinations are on the Gmail platform? I DON'T have control. And I DON'T like it.
  - stickfigure 9y ago
    You can't stop it because you don't control your friends. These are their pictures, their email conversations. I fear the set of Orwellian rules that would be required to make you happy.
    - bsder 9y ago
      I don't mind that my friends have access. Controlling that would be Orwellian. I mind that Google and Facebook have access. They are already Orwellian, and figuring out how to control that would be anti-Orwellian.
- hueving 9y ago
  >At a whim, you and your family/friends can stop using Facebook Said nobody who truly understands network effects or knows someone who depends on Facebook for day-to-day communication with 5-10 people. Quitting Facebook by yourself is easy but it's pointless if your friends don't do the same. Forcing your social circle to switch at the same time (particularly if they aren't technologically inclined) is folly.

taeric 9y ago

This is only true with our modern bar. And yes, we should continue to get better. I am not calling for a halt of progress. However, women, children, and minorities have far more freedom and privacy than they ever have historically. There are some ways you can look at this so that it seems that corporations have more ability to see into your life. In large, it is really just a rise in their accuracy. Their attempts and actions are actually lessened.

Maybestring 9y ago
>However, women, children, and minorities have far more freedom and privacy than they ever have historically. Why should technology get the credit?
- taeric 9y ago
  Why shouldn't it? Different technologies, sure. But the liberating effects of labor saving devices is pretty tough to dispute.
- maxerickson 9y ago
  Because a lot of it is pretty simply rooted in economics. If you want your kids to go to school, there needs to be resources for that to happen (and you personally have to have enough resources that you aren't using them for labor).
jstarfish 9y ago
> women, children, and minorities have far more freedom and privacy than they ever have historically Zoe Quinn, black men getting shot at traffic stops and victims of cyberbullying might all have a different opinion about that.
- taeric 9y ago
  This is a bit of goal post shifting. I am claiming we are getting better. Not that we have solved all problems. None of those things are good. But you needn't dig hard to find our culture actively doing these things almost with glee not long ago. Our bar is rightfully higher than it was, and we have legitimate criticisms to overcome. But don't let that detract from the fact that the bar is higher.
  - deleted 9y ago
    [deleted]

stickfigure 9y ago

At a whim, you and your family/friends can stop using Facebook and use any of literally hundreds of other excellent options for communication. That's control. And privacy is much better now than it was in the "glorious early days of the internet" when your two choices were SMTP and IRC and both were subject to monitoring by local sysadmins and pretty much any node your packets passed through. Just because the present is not perfect does not mean the past was better. I much prefer the privacy and control of today's internet over yesterday's internet.

bsder 9y ago
Facebook tags photos with my face in it without my permission. How do I as a non-Facebook user stop that? How do I prevent Google from reading my email conversations when a huge chunk of the destinations are on the Gmail platform? I DON'T have control. And I DON'T like it.
- stickfigure 9y ago
  You can't stop it because you don't control your friends. These are their pictures, their email conversations. I fear the set of Orwellian rules that would be required to make you happy.
  - bsder 9y ago
    I don't mind that my friends have access. Controlling that would be Orwellian. I mind that Google and Facebook have access. They are already Orwellian, and figuring out how to control that would be anti-Orwellian.
hueving 9y ago
>At a whim, you and your family/friends can stop using Facebook Said nobody who truly understands network effects or knows someone who depends on Facebook for day-to-day communication with 5-10 people. Quitting Facebook by yourself is easy but it's pointless if your friends don't do the same. Forcing your social circle to switch at the same time (particularly if they aren't technologically inclined) is folly.