Have we pushed the boundaries so far that we have crossed the line from transparency to indecency? On December 23, 2004, President Bush signed the Video Voyeurism Prevention Act of 2004 into law. In less than a decade, we have gone from being outraged by secret videotaping to willingly sharing our own secrets in every available medium.
Between blogs, YouTube and Reality television, nothing is left to the imagination. I don’t know about you but I could live knowing a little less about everyone’s private lives. People date, marry, get pregnant, have children, divorce, fight addictions and illnesses in full view of cameras. The allure of mystery has given way to the fashion of telling it all to everyone and if you’re lucky you may profit from your effort.
“One man’s transparency is another’s humiliation.” –Gerry Adams
This need to “tell all” is not confined to entertainment but has changed how we share information at every level. News reports provide gruesome and unnecessary details about crimes exposing victims and their families to further pain. We demand accountability from the business world but hold ourselves to different standards as customers and employees as we share our perspectives, opinions and ideas without censure.
Don’t get me wrong, this blog and my other social media activities validate that I am an active contributor and participant in new media. I am not a sideline observer but one fully in the echo chamber questioning our use and participation. I applaud the ability to share information, resources, and yes, opinions but openness is not without consequence. Though our current culture seems to suggest otherwise, I still believe that we have responsibility for our words and actions.
Let’s examine it this week. What do you think, have we gone too far or not far enough?
Karen Swim says
Conor, Heather, Jamie, Fred, Janice – All of your comments have my head percolating with ideas and made me wish we could sit in a room in big comfy chairs and our favorite beverages and have a discussion. This is one of those posts that I thought…hmm, and of course now so glad I did. Each of your comments are worthy of their own post. Proof that I I am smart enough to surround myself with even smarter people. I’ll be digging into your comments and sharing them liberally. Wow, what a great discussion!
Janice Cartier says
Just because we can, doesn’t mean we should.
On one hand access to more is terrific, more info, more options, more entertainment, more flexibility, fewer gatekeeping restrictions….. on the other hand, access to more is like a train wreck of distasteful and tacky come to town, hell bent on leaving it’s mark and lifting its skirt…a lost weekend of things we just really don’t need to know…but some how…watch anyway…
And as Fred says, that’s just the public stuff…
Last week a tweet from Penelope Trunk gave me pause. I applaud her for it actually. But the responses were surprising to me. Judgement galore…a reflection more of those who chose to respond. And what an eye opener in where we are in some women’s issues. So a rather unexpected, revealing, and highly personal, startling tweet, a few words, had such content, such “can’t ignore this” content, that it gave me a glimpse of no, no we are not there yet. That window, was to me, a very good thing.
Fred H Schlegel says
The pendulum swings. I believe what we are experiencing now are just growing pains of a crowded, technological lifestyle. Over time we’ll filter out what we don’t want to be bothered with and hopefully for those embarrassing moments we’ll see either acceptance that all are human and prone to mistakes or even more likely privacy through being buried in a daily deluge of trivia. More importantly, since it is becoming obvious that no information is private, we’re being given the chance to put rules in place about usage of the ever present data by employers, government and others. Since there really is no way to limit what is public about our lives, we must put in place rules on how the more powerful entities use that info. Sorry to get all George Orwell on ya, but the public info is just the tip of the iceberg.
.-= Fred H Schlegel´s last blog ..Kiwanis Peanut Day – Top Ten List =-.
Jamie Grove - How Not To Write says
We have all the tools to publish what happens at every moment in our lives, but we lack the wisdom and experience to edit all that rough draft and make something interesting. 🙂
.-= Jamie Grove – How Not To Write´s last blog ..On Meeting Writers… =-.
Heather Villa, CMA, MBA, MSM says
Karen,
Much like everything else in the world, I think that there is acceptable transparency and unacceptable transparency. Like you I use Twitter, FaceBook and LinkedIN, I would also say that I do about 50% personal to business tweets. However, there are some things that I just won’t disclose.
I won’t talk about my religious beliefs, my political views, my intimate relationships, or anything else highly controversial or personal. I believe those types of discussions are meant for your immediate family (if not completely personal) and is ‘too much’ transparency.
.-= Heather Villa, CMA, MBA, MSM´s last blog ..How to Develop Organizational Culture in an E-Business =-.
Conor says
Hi Karen,
I agree with you. I could also live without knowing the intimate details. It’s almost becoming fashionable to expose yourself more, like you gain some kind of authenticity or credibility by doing it.
Reading about the suffering of others, their mistakes, lessons learned, can be very enlightening. It can also be a little unnerving, at least for me. Some exposes reek of self-importance and lack any kind of perspective or context. They simply tell all because they can.
I don’t know how progressive it is to do this. I think it’s healthy to get our feelings out, to those we trust and can confide in. But airing our dirty laundry to everyone is a little dangerous, and possibly a little over-indulgent.
How do you know when it’s too much? I have no idea 🙂
Conor