Could our need for status drive out privacy online?

August 12th, 2010 francois Posted in Interesting Links | 9 Comments »

statussm No one will argue that privacy is slowly disappearing in online environments – it is just a fact of life when every thing you do can be recorded and stored in databases.

But it goes beyond that – we want status in online environments. It’s an age-old thing that humans have wanted for hundreds of thousands of years – it gave us access to better mates and more food. As Lahlou says in his paper “Identity, social status, privacy and face-keeping in digital society” – it still allows us to control our environment.

So how is our drive for status in online worlds driving out privacy?

It’s simple, really – in most cases, achieving status in online environment can only be achieved by showing proof of past activity, which is why we have an interest in having our actions traced, recorded and displayed.

So it is interesting how privacy is not just being lost because of the ubiquity of the technology that we use to establish and maintain social relations, it is being driven out of the system by our desire to achieve status.

Another Human 1.0 consequence…

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Tweets that mention Could our need for status drive out privacy online? -- Topsy.com Says:
August 13th, 2010 at 11:55 am

[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by francois gossieaux, calixte. calixte said: La course à la reconnaissance sociale sur le web favorise la traçabilité & réduit la sphère privée: http://bit.ly/auaK6s par @fgossieaux [...]

Ari Herzog Says:
August 14th, 2010 at 1:56 pm

Perhaps the question needs to be asked why status is so important — and whether it is more important to have status from the self or status by others.

francois Says:
August 14th, 2010 at 4:39 pm

Hi Ari — thanks for taking the time comment on my blog. We seem to be hardwired to want status, as it has given us many advantages, so I don’t think we have a choice but to deal with it. As far as status vs. self or group – the status for which we’ve been hardwired for eons is social, so it derives from others and not from the self – although I am sure the latter has some importance on our well-being as well…