What would it take to get you to quit Facebook for good?
Cambridge Analytica, the U.K. data firm which acquired 50 million user profiles in the U.S., and may or may not have used them to help the Trump campaign, is just the latest in a long line of Facebook-related mishaps surrounding security, privacy, ye olde fake news, and so many other issues. But it remains almost as popular as ever, or at least it has been up until now. The online campaigns encouraging us all the quit Facebook are ramping up. So I wondered, what would it take for most of us to actually quit Facebook for good?
Future apologies from the first generation of parents with a digital paper trail
Dear sons: it has occurred to me that I am the first generation of those who will leave a digital paper trail. This means that every withering status I’ve posted about parenthood, every unflattering baby photo of a catastrophic nappy explosion, every snigger posted online about a missing tooth, or eating your Halloween sweets after you’d gone to bed (major dick move, genuinely sorry), or self-deprecating comment about it all just being too damn much will be available to you some day. Your IT skills already intuitively surpass my own. So in advance, I am sorry.
Telling my Facebook-obsessed family I don’t want photos of my kid online
As I consider having a kid, one thing I feel very strongly about is not blasting photos of them all over social media. Preserving my future child’s privacy and right to choose is something I feel strongly about. But, I don’t even think something like that crosses my share-everything-on-Facebook family members’ minds. Any advice on how, or when, to broach this subject? I don’t want to become that mom who bites anyone’s head off who posts a photo of my kid on the internet. But I also want people to think before they post.
Why you should share your passwords with someone TODAY
Do you have an online life that’s larger than just email or facebook. Do you write fanfic, like me, and have a bunch of people waiting for your next chapter? Maybe you post advice in a forum on a hobby you love. Are you close to people who only know your pseudonym?
Here’s why you should write down and share your passwords to all your accounts TODAY…
What do you do with emails that are not intended for you?
I have a name that’s not common in my generation, but is common in older generations. When I signed up for email, I chose the simplest form of my name. Now that the other 50 or so people in the US who have my name are also using email, I am having problems with receiving their personal emails. How do you handle emails not intended for you?
Stolen keys, ID, and phone? PSSHT, I got this
I woke up to a phone call from my husband at 6:30 one morning and the not-so-exciting news that his keys, wallet, and phone were stolen from work. His wallet, of course, had his ID and Social Security Card in it, along with a debit card and the one measly credit card we had. I knew I was in for an annoying morning, but I felt fine: our bank shuts down cards the minute you say “stol–” and we had the foresight to opt into our phone company’s insurance program so I knew that would be handled as well.
How to keep your personal information private
If you have utility, internet, or cable bills in your name, they will lead to your home address. If you file a police report or go to court as either a plaintiff or defendant, you may get calls from ambulance-chasing lawyers; those records are public. If you own your residence in your own name, anyone can search property records to discover where you live. Most of you will never face the level of harassment I have received, but taking basic privacy measures can also deter marketers, identity thieves, and other people you don’t want to meet. Here’s how…
If I don’t know you, I won’t talk to you: why I have a cruel blacklisting app on my phone
While attending a small film festival a few years ago, I made the mistake of texting my vote for the festival’s best film. Within a couple days, my phone number had been sold to marketers and I started receiving a ton of text spams.
This made me very angry. I was already dealing with telemarketers calling my mobile, trying to sell me mortgage refinancing and carpet cleaning, and now I had to deal with shitty text spamming too? It started getting to the point where half the time my phone made a noise, it was a voicemail from a telemarketer or a text spam.