Bruce Schneier posted a brilliant essay today. I urge you to read it; it’s not long, but it’s significant.
This is why I stepped back from active use of Facebook.
I was a little sad to do it: Facebook brought me into conversation with friends, which I value very highly. It did so, however, at a cost that I couldn’t assess. In the end, the conversations I was being drawn into were not the kind that I was willing to have in the public eye. Actually, they were the kind that I was happier having in person.
I don’t know what the country I live in will look like 10, 20 or 30 years from now. I don’t know how successfully laws will be shaped to protect privacy. I don’t know what will be available under a search for my name.
Ironically I stepped back into the more naked medium of a blog. This blog is open and searchable by anyone who wants to look. It’s not anonymous. I’m not afraid to speak publically, but I’m not willing to publically voice every thing I wish to say. On a blog, I don’t have the social tension of guarding my words. I don’t need to worry about offending people by keeping silent.
I hope I’m proud of what a search engine attaches to my name 30 years from now.
I hope my kids (then grown) will be too. I love you, kids. I haven’t fathered you yet; I haven’t named you yet, but I’m thinking of you nonetheless.