The end of privacy

I came across this New York Times article recently -

"The Web Means the End of Forgetting"

Which discusses several stories about how the internet has basically stripped us of the ability to be ourselves. Thanks to Google and social networking, we must constantly be aware of our actions and the photos we may find ourselves in. It's a fascinating read, and I've begun to realize how this may be affecting me more than I could have ever imagined.

Much like the example in the article of the woman who was stripped of her teaching degree because of drunken photos that were discovered by her superiors, I too have begun to wonder if this phenomenon is holding me back from the careers (or relationships) that I try to pursue.

This happened earlier today, when I realized just how outlandish my profile picture on Facebook was. I changed it to something much less crazy (though the newer photo consists of me singing while in a Ghostbusters costume, if that gives you an indication of just how crazy the original photo was).
If you were to approach me several years ago, I would've had no problem dropping profanity via a status update or giving my cell phone a silly voicemail. But these days, it almost feels as if we must act like we're in a coveted position of importance, such as the many celebrities who are constantly gossiped about. Choosing the words we decide to post carefully, and hiding our photos from those who aren't our friends (though perhaps hiding them from everyone but ourselves would be the wiser move, in doing so would destroy the essential foundation of a social networking site - the ability to comment on the things your peers are posting).
 Mel Gibson has taken a lot of heat for his racist rants, and many have claimed that his career has suffered as a result of his actions, which I wouldn't argue. Ice T recently spouted off on Twitter after being arrested by a cop for not wearing a seat belt. I don't know who to feel more sorry for, the cop in question for having his full identity and badge number revealed to everyone, or Ice T for all the negative publicity he's generated over his backlash of Twitter updates towards the officer.
There is no more privacy, and if you get caught with your pants down, rest assured, the people on your friends list aren't going to be the only ones to hear about it anymore.

 Similarly related, Blizzard Entertainment, makers of World of Warcraft, stirred up a huge amount of controversy when they announced that they wanted to eliminate the anonymity of posting on their forums and communicating, by forcing all of their users to socialize with their full identities revealed. Once again, the idea of free speech would go out the window entirely were this to happen. The 1st amendment states that we have the freedom of speech, but who wants to publicly admit an unpopular opinion or say something potentially offensive to others? I guarantee there would be no more "Rants and Raves" section on Craigslist if they adopted the same policy! (And the section for those looking for a booty call? Yeah, the likelihood of that sticking around is pretty much nil as well!)

The ability to be anonymous is the absolute greatest feature of the internet, and social networking is slowly erasing that. Now, I'm not entirely against this, given that it's inevitable anyway, but I think the notion of potential employers trying to check the personal information of their candidates is a bit ludicrous, as mentioned at the beginning of the New York Times article. Some of us like to have a beer once in awhile. We don't always get photographed during our finest moments, especially after several of the aforementioned beers, but does that make us any less of a worker than Joe Average who has nothing but pictures of his family and dogs on his Facebook page? I don't think so. But is there anything you can do about it anymore? Really, the one solution is to simply be much more conservative of what you decide to share. Better to talk about your crazy antics while with your friends in real life, than to discuss your escapades to the millions of people online waiting to hear your gossip and spread it like wildfire.