If you use Facebook, and likely even if you don’t, you’ve no doubt heard Facebook is making some changes again. The kvetching about it on the internet is so loud, I wouldn’t be surprised if it could be heard all the way to Alpha Centauri or beyond. It’s really much ado about nothing. Seriously. I’m not even going to bother explaining why nothing much is really changing in how user data is being used and shared, because people who want to panic will continue to do so anyway, and everyone else has probably already figured out it isn’t much of a big deal at all.

What I’ve been finding particularly amusing is the fact that some of the loudest and most panicky voices shrieking about invasions of privacy –because someone might find out what books, movies, and whatnot they like, or what town they live in– are coming from people who have web sites and blogs with biography pages that provide all that information plus a whole lot more (much of it more personal than movie preferences) … and from people who own domain names and don’t pay extra to keep their registration data secret (thus supplying the whole world with a name, address, and phone number). What kind of mental disconnect is necessary to have private data and information plastered all over one’s web site (and whois searches) and then complain that Facebook is going to tell people and possibly web sites what things you like and where you’re from? Seriously?

My Facebook profile was converted to the new system today, so I went through and checked that all my settings were the same way I had them set before, and sure enough they were. The only information Everyone can see (the public at large) is my name, city, interests and likes, my email address, and my web site address. More information about me than that can be found within a few minutes of randomly clicking links on my blog, as it is with most blogs and personal web sites. Not to mention the great receptacle of all knowledge … Google. I assure you, when I am trying to find relevant and important personal information about someone, I do not turn to Facebook for said information. I check out their web site, if they have one, and I search Google. If I am really serious about it, I turn to public records. I have to think if the people bleating the loudest about their likes and dislikes on Facebook being too public knew how much information I could find about them using public records, their heads would explode on the spot.

“But, but, but…” they say. “I don’t want the fact I support marijuana legalization/like sucking toes/am a Tea Party Patriot/etc. to be public knowledge!” Well, I’m going to give you a free clue … a bit of advice from someone who lives a rather open and public life: if there is something about yourself you don’t want the public (or anyone) to know about you … something you would not stand on a street corner and discuss loudly enough for passers by to hear, never EVER type it into a text input box anywhere on the internet. It’s inevitable that as soon as you do, someone you don’t want to know about it will know about it. Furthermore, if you don’t want web sites tracking where you are going and what you are looking at, disconnect your computer from the internet and leave it disconnected. It’s virtually unavoidable that someone somewhere is going to know where you have been and what you have been doing, and it starts with your internet service provider. It’s the nature of the beast to leave breadcrumbs of our comings and goings all over the web.^†

Anyone who wants to continue to panic about Facebook and privacy can go right ahead and do so. I’m sure they will. Once a frenzy sets in, no one pays attention to whether or not something is actually worth getting outraged or panicked about. I find it entertaining so do please continue with the wailing. The weekend is coming up, so I’ll have plenty of time to read the bleating and laugh … while looking up personally identifiable information on the loudest bleaters that’s already out in the wild on the internet.

I mean really, one guy wrote a screed in a comment box at a news web site about how “Facebook has gone too far!!!” and then links his web site in his comment. His web site, with his own domain name, that lists his full name, address, and telephone number. I guess he just didn’t want to miss out on one single hit to his site! But Facebook? Yeah, it’s gone to far for him, what with sharing what movies he likes and which actresses he finds attractive.

1. † Oh sure, you can jump through a bunch of hoops and attain some level of anonymity, but I guarantee your web surfing experience will be diminished somewhat and even then, someone somewhere will still be tracking some information about you. [↩]