June 6th, 2008 by Lloyd Gofton
It seems that the open online generation is beginning to have second thoughts about the content that it shares with the world via the web.
According to a press complaints commission survey into the media’s use of personal material sourced from social networks, and the web in general, sharing has quickly turned into protecting.
The survey revealed:
- Almost 80% of social networking site users would be more careful about the details they put online if they knew the media might use it.
- 89% wanted guidelines introduced on what the media could use.
- 49% of respondents said it was wrong for the media to use information that they had posted online without asking consent of the person concerned.
- 58% were fairly or very concerned about the lack of control about how they were depicted on websites.
We have already seen the result of employers searching for a prospect’s background on the web and turning up various images and text that the average candidate wouldn’t want their prospective employer to see, and now it’s spread to the media.
To be honest, i have little sympathy for people that freely share content one day but then want the brakes applied when it comes to using that information in the media. I do have some sympathy for people that didn’t know that they were being filmed, or if the content is pure fiction, and in those cases yes, regulation would be advisable, but wholly unenforceable.
However, for those that feel the need to share their most intimate/private moments and content on the web, even in so called ’safe environments’ such as friend-invited Facebook, the old rules still apply. If it’s on the web, it’s in the public domain and you’ve waved your rights.
I even find myself agreeing with the chairman of the PPC, Sir Christopher Meyer, who said: “In the digital age, self-regulation, with its sound principles and speed of operation, has never been more relevant.”
I must be getting old, as this just seems like common sense…
The BBC has the full story.
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Tags: media, press complaints commission, privacy, social networks
