Anyone who has been reading my blog for a while knows that I don’t like to reveal much detail about my life and the people in it. But what most don’t realise is that I am no different in real life. I do not volunteer information easily nor do I divulge much unless I choose to, and usually after I establish a certain connection with a person.

In essence, I am a private person. I do not like to have my information shared around unless I deem it necessary to have that information disseminated. So imagine my dilemma at a social function when photographs were taken and I heard the screeching sound of, “Add me on Facebook and you’ll see all the photos.”

Um, no.

For a start, I was coerced into joining Facebook for the purpose of keeping in touch with friends and relatives abroad. I neither add local friends nor ‘play’ with status updates, comments and the silly apps designed to suck information out of accounts for dodgy purposes. As much as I enjoy discovering new technologies, I am very aware of the way our online privacy is becoming eroded on a daily basis.

For a start, I oppose the social networking craze that has swept some people into a frenzy. I keep different friends for different interactions, therefore I do not see the point of lumping everyone in the same e-basket. In real life, we do not share every aspect of ourselves with every friend. I may confide in Steve about my work situation while I talk in-depth to Julie about my holiday. The same applies for online communication, whether it is public via a blog or through email. Why should I allow Google Reader to share my RSS feeds, some of which are private and personal, with people in my contacts list?

In the past, I have asked friends to remove all photos of me from their online albums. But in this case, since I will not ‘friend’ these people on Facebook, I will never know if they have complied. Therefore I question, who owns the rights to photographs and what happens to them? Is it the person who takes the shots, the owner of the camera, the person whose social function was celebrated, or is it the subject in the photograph?

Disclaimer: There are no photographs of Cléa getting up to mischief, or in embarrassing situations.