Some “I agree,” some “What’s the big deal?”

Well, my piece last week on the Book of Face generated more comment than anything I’ve sent out since I started these weekly(ish) emails. Thanks everyone who took the time to write. Lots of thoughtful comment. It came in at about 2/3 “I agree” and 1/3 “What’s the big deal?” Believe me, I respect both positions.

To be clear, it’s not just Facebook I’m concerned with. Google concerns me as well (I use DuckDuckGofor most of my searches, as they don’t track). The thing is, we’re turning over our data to private corporations. If we’re going to do so, we need to do it with eyes open, and be really conscious and aware of the trade-offs, the upsides and the downsides. I’ll admit, Apple concerns me less (some would say naïvely so), because they make their money selling me shiny stuff (and I have a lot of Apple shininess), where-as FB and the G are advertising companies, and their customers are advertisers, which means their incentives do not necessarily align with their users/consumers. And Amazon? They’re eating retail, and on one hand I say, “Rock on!” and on the other, there’s concern for monopolistic market power.

For those who want another couple of data points:

Why Zuckerberg’s 14-Year Apology Tour Hasn’t Fixed Facebook  (Wired)
Are you ready? Here is all the data Facebook and Google have on you (The Guardian)

And if you’re in the “What’s the big deal?” camp, more power to you. This isn’t a digital, all-or-nothing thing. There’s a lot of complexity that’s worth us wrapping our heads around.

Enough on that. Here’s a palette cleanser that’s completely unrelated: a literacy test given to WWI recruits at Fort Devens where the Yes/No questions form an interesting kind of found poetry. You should have a look, and contemplate the poetic value of the questions.