true. we’re connected like never before, but it’s also made everyone more cautious about being fully themselves online
The internet, phones and social media have upended ‘privacy’ as people my age would understand it. Anything you do in public can be instantly shared around the globe, and digital records of intensely personal private conversations can be made public if people have a falling out.
People are almost certainly adjusting what they do and say as a result, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. But there is a creeping sense of being under 24/7 surveillance that I don’t think is all that healthy for individual peace of mind or societal development.
The telescreens described in 1984 arrived slower than Orwell predicted, but additional incursions into our privacy are happening at a much faster pace. Tech firms will continue to push this as far as it will go, so it’s up to us to establish where we think limits should be drawn.