Privacy

New media, though not written on paper, is a documentation of information. When you post to new media, it stays in the network forever, regardless of whether you delete it. It has been added to the long files of documentation involved in the coding. Even the newer ephemeral new medias, like Snapchat, do not truly disappear when you think they do. They exist forever in the cloud. When you submit yourself to new media, you sacrifice your privacy and confidentiality. Every email you send is accessible to whoever tries hard enough to access it. Every Facebook post adds to the chronicle of who you are, and can be accessed by those who pay, regardless of whether they're your Facebook Friend— employers, the government, etc. It sounds like paranoia, but it's the hard truth. New media exists within the internet, and nothing on the internet will ever be as protectable as a physical belonging. If you wrote something in your diary, you could hide it and you would only be hiding it from those who have access to your home. If you write something on Google Docs, all someone has to do is figure out your password from afar, and log right in from across the world. Of course, you're only as at risk as you are important to someone or some group. If you're writing love poems about the boy who sits in front of you in class, chances are that one boy isn't going to find his way into your blog drafts (if you post them to your blog, not as drafts, you're only asking for someone to find that, though). If you're threatening the U.S. government, they're going to get all of your information in a split second. Privacy varies in weight. For most people today, the privacy that they are sacrificing through their use of new media isn't enough of a risk or worry to prevent them from doing so. It's important for people to be aware of the weight of their own privacy. Many young people go overboard in throwing away their privacy, and post information to new media that land them in great trouble, though. It's a matter of remaining aware.