There’s a clever slogan from a local night club photography website based here in Orlando. It is “We’re not responsible for your bf / gf issues”. This is because everything you do at the night club is going to be documented and displayed for all to see on the internet.
“The End of Secrecy” by Micah L. Sifry might skip over the social aspect in his article but dives deeper in to more meaningful subjects. The internet has made nothing sacred and everything public knowledge. Even the inner workings of our government are displayed on websites such as WikiLeaks for all to see. The controversial website has made public knowledge out of discrete subjects such as “how America conducts its foreign and military policies”. So the question arises: Is this a good or bad thing?
Well it all depends on who you ask. President Obama is quoted saying, “I think that the more freely information flows, he stronger the society becomes, because then citizens of counties around the world can hold their own governments accountable.” This is quite comforting coming from the leader of our country, in my opinion. There’s an old saying that “honesty is the best policy” and the internet is forcing the government to become honest. If a presidential candidate wants to make a claim, it better be true because there are thousands of fact-checkers and millions of information-hungry Americans that are going to call him out if his claims are in fact false.
On the other hand, there are definitely those who still care and will stop this type of free-flowing information from entering through the internet. Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, is facing some suspect rape charges. Many believe that it is just a smokescreen designed by the US Government to keep him in the country. WikiLeaks was shut down, but imitators quickly followed.
The point of all of this is that secrecy is in fact dying. Whether it is a picture of you and your side-girlfriend or the United States foreign policies, it is all becoming accessible at the click of a few buttons. It is safe to say that in these times it is best to be honest to yourself and your people.