Privacy and Stalkers. Oh noes. D:

If you really know me, you’d think I was paranoid. That’s what my sister says about me when I go nuts over Facebook privacy settings.

I don’t let a lot of people see my photos, hence the “Limited List.” I do not let my news to be fed. I’m not one of these Facebook-stalkers that I speak of because I don’t even read the homepage news feed of my friends. The way I see it: if they didn’t tell me about something, it isn’t my business. That’s not a good way of life, haha.

I’m wary of what I post on the internet now. There’s a lot of REAL stalkers out there… and a lot of people can’t be trusted… so just watch out.

Even the people that you DO know can be a bit stalkerish.

Example 1:

Friend A is on my limited list, hence Friend A cannot see any photos [tagged] of me. Yet, Friend A manages to see a picture of me at a certain event. The next night, Friend A asks me “how was it?” even though I never made Friend A aware of my going prior to the event.

Example 2:

Friend B and Friend C are both going to an event at night. There was a Facebook event page of this. Mutual Friend D tells Friend B to have fun. Friend B and Friend C did not tell Friend D about it. Friend B thought Friend C told Friend D, and Friend C thought Friend B told Friend D. But Friend D was just being a bit too bored and started Facebook-stalking.

I used to think posting your full name was really bad. Even though there are many people out there with my name, I still thought I’d get stalked or someone would steal my identity. I still feel that way, but my full name is still posted somewhere. Oh well.

I have also been told that whatever we submit in search engines gets sold to advertisers so they can target us better. Now that’s freaky. I read somewhere we shouldn’t Google ourselves because then the ads agencies can find us! :O

When you’re logging into sites and stuff, especially when the information-transfer includes your address, be sure the site is https:// . There were a few times where the site did not have the s, but I submitted my information anyway.

Just hope one day some weirdo won’t steal your photos and pretend to be you by making a fake social-network profile.

Oh yeah, be careful of WHAT you post. Durrr. Like photos of you getting wasted when you’re underage. Like posting you hate your job. Like posting the job you just got sucked (fired much?). Like personal stuff you don’t want others to know (especially on other people’s “Walls” when it’s obviously public).

You might want to consider tightening your security now :)

who are you

I always knew that we could never really be ourselves whenever we want to.

We’re always viewed a certain way, people expect certain things from us, and we feel obliged to act that way, or compelled to do so to prevent social resentment.

If you have time, read “My Secret Life as a Black Man” by Anthony Walton. Basically, he says, blacks have this certain style of acting dictated by society and family. Even strangers would spite him for doing something “out of the ordinary” because of his skin color. His parents say he’s too much of something else, his white peers think him weird, his black friends think him arrogant. So he tries to appeal to them all by being a certain person in front of all of them. (He also said this awesome line that I can’t remember at the moment and will dig it up later.)

Everyday, you can notice how people act. They’re not fully open about themselves. They speak sparingly. It’s like those small talks you have for the sake of it and nothing gets known. ‘Cause you know what happens when you do act like yourself? People feel weird and they can’t accept it. Hence, you react and only show a side of yourself to them.

At what point can you be yourself?