Social networking has helped us to instantly connect to people around the world. We can share all kinds of things about our lives and update people on the other side of the planet with what we’re doing every second of the day. But how much information is too much information?
I blog, I use Facebook, Twitter and various other online applications but I still manage to keep huge amounts of information about my life private. I’m not trying to be secretive or to hide anything, it’s simply that I choose to choose what I reveal about myself and those close to me.
I don’t mind telling you that I’m trying to lose weight. I did pretty well last year, slipped up a little over the festive season, and am now back on track to start reducing the numbers on the scales again. What are those numbers? Sorry, that’s my business.
Of course if you want the world to know your exact weight every time you step on the scales you could always get a set of Withings Wifi Body Scales. I love many of the features of these scales. Just step on and they automatically record your weight, fat mass and BMI, then transmit the information to your chosen weight management application online. Brilliant. As someone who records their weight alonng with cycling statistics every day, this could be a huge boost, but I certainly wouldn’t be using the new Twitter feature.
You can select to tweet your weight every time you step on the scales or once a week, once a month or whatever you prefer. I’d prefer not to let everyone on Twitter know my weight at all but I can see that it’d be a useful feature for those seeking some external accountability.
So how much is too much? How do you draw the line on what you put online? Experts say that you shouldn’t put anything in an email or online that you wouldn’t be prepared to have splashed across the front page of newspapers around the world. Are people sharing too much? Have you ever wished that someone close to you had held back a little more? I’d be very interested in your response. Please leave me a comment or two.
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Recently a spate of ladies have been posting their bra colour as their facebook status….
As a male….you ladies need to know that that is really unhelpful!
I saw a similar comment elsewhere online today. It’d be interesting to hear what others, both male and female, think about the phenomenon.
I understand that it’s to highlight breast cancer but is it a legitimate way to do that? Does the end justify the means?
(While I don’t generally allow anonymous comments, this commenter is known to me and I’m sure they have a legitimate reason for remaining anonymous.)
It seemed fairly harmless, so I joined in. Often I find things are ‘suggested’ via facebook that are not to my taste, inclination, or humour. Sometimes they are against my political or religious beliefs … and all I can do is ‘ignore’ them.
Yes – TOOOOOOOOOOOO much is shared on facebook, and again, I have to ignore. There is certain language used I don’t like, there are certain jokes and ideas that I don’t like … but again, as in the ‘real world’, we have to use our best judgement, and ignore the bits we don’t like. And if something is really offensive to us personally, then we can make a decision to remain passive, or to take a stand.
I think the biggest concern is when kids are on facebook, and can see comments left by ‘friends-of-friends’. As a parent, I’m concerned about the monitoring of kids internet usage, and things that they can see that we’d prefer they didn’t ….. but that all goes back to monitoring internet usage generally anyway.
And lastly, if people don’t like facebook, they can choose to de-register!
Cheers. F x
Generally I don’t really care what other people put as their Facebook status but if they’re going to put something random, then they should elaborate when people ask. A couple of times, I’ve noticed people biting others’ heads off for being curious about their status when if they wanted to be secretive, they shouldn’t write it in the first place.
Maybe it’s just me, but I don’t get easily offended about people being open and honest. I’m probably not the most private person around but I do draw a line when I’ve seen Christian friends writing about getting drunk or having sexual thoughts about celebrities etc. We are still representing God, even online.
.-= sarah´s last blog ..From Head to Hand: The Head to Hand Divide =-.
How bout the colour of your bra??? Even if it is some misguided attempt to raise awareness about breast cancer (how?? i don’t know).
Felt a little awkward yesterday seeing way too much information about my female friends…
.-= Deano´s last blog ..A Kung Fu – Christian Convert’s ideas on Martial Arts =-.
I was wondering what the cryptic colour comments on fb were. Now I kinda wish I’d stayed in the dark!