Monday, October 21, 2013

Facebook removes another layer of privacy for users

Facebook announced a few days ago that users can no longer choose to be anonymous in searches - http://searchenginewatch.com/article/2300217/Facebook-Users-Can-No-Longer-Remain-Anonymous-in-Search. What does that mean for you? Well, you will show up in searches done by anyone - a criminal, hacker, stalker.... You can still hide your posts from people outside your circle. But there's nothing stopping people from finding you on Facebook. The only option is to delete your account.

It's interesting that while more and more users are seeking anonymity, traditional social media sites like Facebook are making it harder to be even private. Which is why there's a widespread trend to turn to anonymous social media sites like SocialNumber.com. I had posted a blog on a recent study by Pew Research a few weeks ago in which a vast majority of respondents admitted they they try to hide their identity on social media - http://thesocialnumber.blogspot.com/2013/09/86-of-internet-users-have-tried-to-hide.html

This trend is expected to continue as users are having meaningful and candid conversations on sites like SocialNumber.com where there are no repercussions and according to users it's quite liberating.
Join the movement of anonymity and express yourself freely.

- M.K.

Wednesday, October 16, 2013

Express grievances on traditional social media like Facebook - NOT!

A recent New York Post article talked about issues with posting grievances on social media sites like Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and others - http://nypost.com/2013/10/13/should-you-air-work-grievances-on-social-media/. The article highlights many examples of people who complained about their compensation or other issues online and got fired. There are a lot of disgruntled workers out there who want to vent their frustrations. But, expressing these feelings on the traditional social media is not a brilliant idea. You are completely exposed and your co-workers, boss, and pretty much everyone else can read your posts. Not only your current boss or HR person can be offended resulting in your termination, your future employers could also hold your comments against you and you might not get the job due to your dis-loyalty to your previous employer.

Traditional social media is good for basic updates that are innocuous. Anything controversial or of personal nature should be completely avoided. That's why more and more users are switching to anonymous social media sites like SocialNumber.com where they can talk about any thing they want and vent their frustrations without any negative implications. On SocialNumber.com, where you are just a number that you get by signing up on the site, no one knows your true identity and you can express yourself freely. For example, users have created a group called Bad Bosses - http://socialnumber.com/discussion/reports-being-born where they talk about their frustrations against their bosses. It's an open discussion and users give advice to one another without any one revealing their or their bosses identities.

Anonymous social media is truly the platform for freedom of expression.

- M.K.