Personally, i think this is a drastic step. Rather than bury your head in the sand in an attempt to avoid the dangers of the digital age, you should instead learn to interact responsibly and securely on the Internet.
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Web 2.0 Suicide Machine
If you are sufficiently freaked out by the perils of a public presence on the Internet then investigate the Web 2.0 Suicide Machine. The Suicide Machine "lets you delete all your energy sucking social-networking profiles, kill your fake virtual friends, and completely do away with your Web2.0 alterego. The machine is just a metaphor for the website which moddr_ is hosting; the belly of the beast where the web2.0 suicide scripts are maintained. Our service currently runs with Facebook, Myspace, Twitter and LinkedIn! Commit NOW!"
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I just got done watching the video tour of the website and it’s completely ridiculous/hilarious/absurd. It was worth a good laugh. And while I think the name of the website and the little rope at the top of the screen are all really funny, the concept behind the website and the message it’s promoting should be taken seriously, especially in light of the issues we’ve been talking about in class.
First of all, I think it’s interesting that the site assumes that having a Facebook or a Twitter means that you’re hooked on it—that you don’t have time for people and that you don’t socialize normally anymore. Now, I’m not denying that Facebook has an addictive quality about it. But I think it’s sort of weird that Facebook has that effect, and I think it would be worth it for people to really reflect on what about Facebook keeps people on such a tight leash. Maybe this is an example of the fact that it’s more about us than the technology itself?
But going off that, I feel like, at the minimum, having a Facebook is like being listed in the phonebook. Sure, you can be unlisted—but maybe a neighbor or an old friend needs/wants to reach you for some reason. I think there are good reasons why people should at least make themselves available on Facebook, even if they only check it infrequently and rarely use it.
And finally, I think it’s silly that this website thinks that deleting your Facebook completely eliminates your internet alter ego. What about all the pictures your friends are uploading of you onto Facebook— pictures they can tag with your name and all kinds of captions and comments? And then all the people who can look at those pictures, save them, and send them to more people? When you think of it that way, maybe it’s better to be on Facebook so you have a chance to monitor the info people might be putting out there about you. Knowledge is power, right? Anyway, It’s pretty funny that this website acts like it’s savvy about the internet, but it seems to be just the opposite.
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