The Issue of Privacy

I have been on social media since I was 13 years old....honestly maybe even a little younger. I have already scrolled through my social media plenty of times, removing things from my public profile that my older self finds "not as cool" as it was when I posted it at 13. Thankfully, I have never posted anything I truly regret on social media. I have tried to always keep my profiles clean, and not embarrassing. However, even with that, I still am a completely different person than I was when I began posting. Furthermore, social media is a completely different place. Even though I have removed a lot from my public profile, I know they're still there and can be very easily recovered. That is scary for me, who only truly has to worry about a few cringy selfies and way too many pictures of my dog. 

There are so many people who have gone through huge changes in their life. If those people grew up with social media, I'm sure they feel the same way as me. For the people that actually have made bigger mistakes on social media, and have tried to erase them, they can't. Nobody can.

This is why cancel culture has been allowed to flourish like it has. People bring up old tweets and Instagram pictures from 10 years ago and try to cancel an influencer or celebrity. Every celebrity's response is the same when something like this happens. "That was 10 years ago, I have since deleted the tweet, I am very sorry, That's not me anymore, etc." What's crazy is that response is normally not even enough for people. I just find it hard to believe that none of them have any posts floating around cyberspace that they wish they could delete permanently forever. 

The comparison of social media posts to tattoos really struck me, because it made so much sense. Posting on social media is the same intensity as getting one, maybe even more. Social Media is so much more public. It definitely has changed the way I look at posting. 

The government really should be doing more to protect our privacy. There should be laws in place about what data companies can store. As far as I know, there is not much regulation on what companies like Google and Apple can keep of your personal data. That's a little concerning. I personally don't really care if they see me looking up "SNL Best Moments" for the 500th time, but it just makes me wonder about "where does it end?". 

Siri is always listening to you. That is a fact, however, Apple says that she doesn't remember anything before you start asking her a question...I don't know about that. 

Always Listening