Dear Steemit Friends,
In the old socialmedia days, there was a dutch social platform called Hyves. Founded in 2004 and stopped in 2013 after a big media company took it over (de Telegraaf). It had more than 10 million users. You could have personal conversations with friends, add dancing banana emoticons (ooh how I miss that) and create blogs.
I was a fond user of hyves. Loved the fact you could change the colors and fonts of your profile. Everybody's profile was unique, different, classy, tacky, bright, dark, sparkling or flat. You could be anybody there!
It was personal, you shared your story, your personal life, your experiences ... without an instagram filter on it. It was real.
With the landscape of social platforms growing, Facebook and Myspace becoming more popular, Hyves stood it's ground. Until the big media company took over. A lot of people deleted their account, because they didn't want to be mass covered in adverts and they didn't want that newspaper to own their data. They didn't want to be the product... they wanted to be a person. They surely cared about their privacy.
That got me thinking? What is changed? Why do people care less about their privacy these days?
Is it because they feel it is a battle lost? Or because they feel they can't control it? Or has technology took a big swing at them and they can't comprehend it anymore? Or do they just not care anymore?
I believe that there is no one answer to that question, because we all have our own reasons. But what I do believe is that a large population is used to getting things instantly, easily and with as less effort as possible. The only thing they want to do is pour in the powder, add water and stir. There, your soup is ready...
So giving away your data, in order to get that thing you want as smooooooth as possible, is a small price to pay. An email address, a home address, a phone number... "They already have it anyway", "I've got nothing to hide", "You can't outrun it", "I don't care".
Imagine, you are at home and your cooking a wonderful soup from scratch. The doorbell rings and somebody you don't know enters your house. You can't get rid of that person. But wait, he walks back to the front door! Is he leaving? No, he opens the door for a whole bunch of other people to get into your house. They open up cupboards, closets, turn on your television, use your phone, put on your clothes, look into your personal documents, write things down and are asking when the soup is ready. Your homemade soup... Are you going to feed them your homemade soup?
I wouldn't. But the majority does, on the internet.
Don't know where I am going with my story, just need to write it down I guess... All I can say is that I am aware of my privacy and are apprehensive with giving it away. And when I talk to people about it, there are just a few ones who agree with me, but most peeps look at me like I am a crazy and that "I am worrying to much" or "that you even have time to think about that". But I want to be the crazy dancing banana... I want to know that I have a choice. I want to know who I giving my soup.
In the meantime, here is a dancing banana.
