The public rose up when Facebook declared all content was theirs forever. Protests made them back down! Did MSM celebrate this as a victory of the people? What could happen when people refuse to sit back and take it? No! Instead they spooked with naked pics and other reminders of how the internet is the ultimate embarrassment.
How To Embarrass a Uprising to Death
Recently, Facebook announced whatever content their users submitted was theirs to do whatever they please with for life. I am sure you have heard about it. People were outraged! So they protested and Facebook changed its policy to a degree! Good on ya protesters! But how was this spun in the media? This article from the Chicago Tribune completely ignores the power of the people and what can happen when we act collectively. Because Lord knows the last thing the powers-that-be want is for us to realize how much power we really do have should we choose to use it. Instead, it rambled on about people being afraid of compromising pics. It warns us even if we didn't do something as daring as pose naked, we could still have an unflattering pic out there somewhere in the near infinity that is the internet.
I think this article definitely exaggerated the risk. I did google my friends and nary a naked one among them. True there are plenty of ways to look foolish on the internet. Perhaps you didn’t realize that what is on your hard drive stays on your hard drive. So you gave an old computer to a friend who gave it to a friend. Or maybe there was a little over flirtation on Yahoo messenger with that poor depressed widow you have been chatting with for months. Poor woman needed to reach out after her husband died that way in that tragic accident. Got ya! Nigerian romance scammer. Then there is the good old fashion camera bug who snapped you bending over at the office Christmas party! These potential landmines have been around for quite awhile. I don’t know a single person whose life has been ruined. I don’t even know a single soul who has died of embarrassment. Besides there is always a way to do damage control. If incompetent bankers can lose billions, then get subsidized at tax payer expense and be once again put in charge of the hen house, surely the average person can spin a cyper faux pas. Just say the damn pic was photoshopped! And who among us doesn’t have a double out there in the world? (Who has far more fun than we do!) Perhaps there are employers who refuse to hire anyone whose online persona doesn’t fall in line with the Amish, but do you really want to work for someone that nosy anyway? I think we have enough to worry about these days without the exaggerated fear of our 15 minutes of fame will be a net no no!
I ask you, after you have read this editorial, how did it make you feel? Empowered that a major entity like Facebook was forced to back down to populist will? Or a bit weak in the knees wondering when a cyber gaffe will come back to bite you? If it is the second, then the media has done their job. Modern MSM acts for the benefit of the power elite against our best interests. Far from empowering us, it really takes away our power. People are always saying that the little guy can't make a difference. Here is one case where collectively they did! And what more could we do to take our country back if we just tried? If the threat wasn't plausible, MSM won't feel the need to distract us from the victory with visions of that office party where we danced with the lamp shade on our heads!
http://www.chicagotribune.com/...