Two Slashes

As much as I’ve ranted and raved about how much the current generation of “social networking” (aka “whore-yourself-out-and-see-who-knows-(or-doesn’t)-know-the-most-people” networking, I’ve also realized that they’ve become a part of Internet culture that may very well be just as much a necessity as an instant messenger screen name, or even more importantly your e-mail address.

A pair of students conducting video interviews stopped me today to ask my opinion on Facebook’s recent decision to open up profiles to search engines. (Which if you couldn’t tell already was the inspiration for me delving a little deeper into the issue here and now.)

In a way, I see social networking as not only a necessity, but a beneficial one. Picture your favorite social networking site as a gigantic phone book, only filled with the information people have volunteered. Picture the friends list on that site as a personal address book; those listings out of the “white pages” of the site that you know personally, and have a lot of contact with, but the difference between this address book and a standard paper or personally-kept one is that instead of you updating your information, your friends do it all for you.

Like I said, the interviewers were asking opinions about Facebook opening up profiles to search engines. Having recently acquired an account myself (yes, I know what you’re thinking), I’ve been able to poke around with the site and see exactly what information people have a habit of posting or not posting.

I see the decision as double-sided, really; on one hand, it makes it even easier for the people you want to find you to, well, find you. Perhaps a long-lost elementary school friend will finally catch up with you and get back in touch.

On the other hand, this same information is available and potentially being presented to potential employers, your mother, and anyone else who punches your name into a search engine. And with the ever-increasing rate at which the “background check” for a job includes a Google search to see how much and how well-standing a presence on the Internet you have, it becomes essential that you not only be creative and show your personality, but maintain your dignity and uphold the idea that you actually have a maturity level beyond that of a giggly fifteen-year-old girl.

For most people who have common sense, the content of their profiles is benign, but I would like to point out that I have seen plenty of profiles that could use a bit of a sanity check to more appropriately represent their owners, and in some cases to protect their identities. Let’s be mature and smart about what we do, people.

For example, setting your cell phone number and home address to be visible to the world are probably not the most intelligent things one could do. So to help you stay safe, I’ve compiled a short list of recommendations to help you avoid being the biggest target for miles.

• NEVER, EVER list your street address, and depending on the size of your city, it might be wise to even avoid listing your that. Bigger is better, obviously, since there’s more of a “needle-in-the-haystack” problem with each additional person in your town, but you never want to be able to have anyone come right up to your door without you having given the location to them. I really don’t think I can emphasize enough the importance of this one single bullet.
• AVOID using your phone number(s), especially mobile phone numbers, in a profile. These are very easy to harass (prank phone call anyone) and can often be problematic, not to mention in some cases cell phones can be traced. Instead, use e-mail addresses, and perhaps a seldom-used instant messenger account, both of which you can ditch or filter for unwanted attempts at communication, with no further effort required beyond the “Block” button.
• NEVER post anything that might get you (or anyone you know) charged with a crime, be it something that could get you in trouble with a police department, or even simply your school. And I’m talking anything. And with the movement to online mediums such as social networking sites, it makes it even easier for universities to keep an eye on students and their activities. (Remember how I just pointed out the address book image about how people’s information comes to you? Same thing…all they have to do is wait.)  So, as an example, don’t go around posting pictures of yourself or your best friend holding a beer…someone will find it and you’ll be caught.
• DON’T post anything that you might later regret, even to the slightest extent. Remember, this is the Internet, and news travels faster than the light shining out of my laser pointer. The moment you let someone know, you’ve pretty much let the world know, and that can mean a world of pain when it comes to your romantic or professional lives. And now that Google can come in and read portions (if not all) of your profile, it can be archived for future public consumption, even after you’ve removed it from your profile.
• DON’T add everyone who asks to your profile; there’s a reason they ask you to confirm the friendship - it’s to confirm that you actually know and trust the person requesting to be your friend.  By “whoring yourself out” you introduce hundreds, if not thousands, of people you don’t know to a free-for-all access to all the information you have posted.  So think before that random hottie sends you a message asking to be your friend; chances are it’s not even a female but an obese guy with three layers of skin on his stomach and flies buzzing about his head.

I’m not saying that social networking should be bland and boring; it’s at the heart a form of self-expression, albeit one demonstrated to the world. The problem is that most people just don’t know when to quit - and end up committing the virtual equivalent of streaking around.

(Finally…a post worthy of avoiding the ‘Geeky’ label. At least, I think so…)

There have been plenty of ways in which people have been able to filter out their communications. For example, e-mail allows you to read any message you want, whenever you want, without having to read the others first. Voicemail has gotten to the point where you can do the same, a la iPhone (I say “Blech!” at the iPhone, but to be honest this is a very useful feature, one that should have been implemented ages ago).

But while these are useful, you still have to deal with the notifications (in most cases) that someone’s even trying to get in touch with you. Most cell phones beep (by default) when you’ve got voicemail or a new text message (of course, this can be disabled), and you can hide yourself on most instant messaging services by marking yourself as Away and setting your client to not harass you. And let’s not even get into the spam circles of junk mail/e-mail/phone calls…

But while you can do all of that with the “current-generation” of communications, what about some of the older things…things that haven’t changed much in years. Yes, I’m talking about your standard hardwired telephone.

While some people find that simply having a single cell phone and dropping the house phone in favor of giving everyone their cell phone number is a way to reduce bills, the typical household still has at least one landline running to their home. It’s great as a communications device; it’s simple and it works, and you don’t have to worry about recharging it (short of a cordless handset…but since you generally don’t put those in a purse or pocket and forget about them for a week, they still follow my point). But where’s the ability to screen calls, or filter out the obvious junk.

If there’s one thing I believe the typical phone service needs to stay in the game at this point, it’s the ability to allow their users to filter their callers. Sure, there’s a Do Not Call list, but has anyone actually followed that, and how many people can actually be bothered to notify the FCC (or whoever the heck deals with the violations) that someone has indeed violated it.

At this point in the game, I would have envisioned a web-based and phone-based system for setting up call screening. Nothing overly elaborate, but perhaps a list of recent calls with the option to block them always or at a certain time (useful for neighbors with no sense of night and day ), a la this s***ty mock-up. Believe me, people will take advatange of something that they can make as routine as their e-mail, without having to jump through hoops.

Now obviously, with such blocking power, there would have to be a way to get around this. So for that, I figure some of the more important government numbers would not be subjected to such blocking, as would important divisions of corporate agencies, such as a debt collector notifying a resident that they’re a few months…the list is endless, but no doubt it would help.

Of course, what to do with the screened calls? That could be another option; for some, the voicemail would probably be an ideal place, like your nightowl neighbor, but for others, what about playing the phone-disconnected three-tone “whistle” and message? And all the while…no phone ringing at 3 AM, or because of some quirky insurance salesman interrupting your dinner trying to sell you condoms because of a new “per-child insurance tax” your policy is being subject to.

I think it’s about time the tried-and-true methods got a bit of a revamp. Change is good…especially change that doesn’t interfere unless it’s specifically set up to. Come on…this shouldn’t be something that people need to install a phone company’s worth of equipment in their home for some peace of mind…but what do you think?