My nieces changed their profile names on Facebook. As I understand it, this isn’t some new form of teenage rebellion – dissociating themselves from their parents by changing their names – but a tactic that many kids are employing to make it harder for them to be found by admissions officers, potential employers, and others whom they might not want looking at their profiles. Given that we live in an age of “open, discoverable, and transparent,” this is kind of counter-intuitive. Or maybe not.
There is a new study today which points toward this phenomenon as reported in Read, Write Web:
According to a new study from Pew Internet and American Life Project, technology does not lead to social isolation, as many often suspected. Instead, researchers found that online participation and mobile phone usage leads to people having larger and more diverse core discussion networks. (Discussion networks are defined as being the places where we can discuss “important matters” with friends and confidants.)
They’re not isolated nor do they want to be. They want to be open. But not. They want to be found but only by the right people. Kind of like when you get a call from a strange number and the caller asks “is this Keith” and my response is a polite version of “Who wants to know?”. Is giving our your real profile name the 2009 version of giving out an unlisted phone number? Maybe.
I’m kind of torn. On the one hand, why would you post anything that makes you less attractive to schools or employers? On the other, it’s hard to know where that line is. Obviously, a photo of you drinking out of a large vodka bottle, particularly if you’re under age, isn’t a great idea. But where is the line? Expressing support for health care reform or an anti-abortion stance can be just as offensive to some folks and how do you know?
We want to be social as a species (well, most of us – the others work at the Post Office – THAT’S A JOKE!!). The tools we have to socialize today are just that – tools. As with a hammer, you can build a house or you can break your thumb. But sometimes, it’s not clear which you’re doing.
How do you feel about this? Are you trying to hide in plain sight?
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Consult Keith 
There’s just too much information out there for people to see about you, because contrary to what facebook would have you believe, of those 800 “friends” you have on facebook, how many of them are really your “friends”? Especially when it comes to minors, my job as a parent is to protect them, and in today’s world, it’s just getting harder & harder, with internet, cell phones, texting, etc. I miss the days when friends had to call the house phone to talk to my kids.
Now, I wanted to “hide” from you, but because email is a required field, you know who I am. Just can’t get away from it. Big brother is watching.