Technology

Social Media Roundup: Privacy Versus Social Sharing

Obama's approval of a video-sharing bill is good for Netflix, but the bill comes with downsides for privacy advocates. Plus: What value lies in your social media history?

Now, you can automatically tell Facebook your friends that you watched “Arrested Development,” but is the cost worth it?

On Thursday, President Obama signed a bill which allows Netflix to offer a feature that lets users share their movie renting history via Facebook. But the bill came with downsides for privacy advocates: Congress passed on reforms to the 1986 Electronic Communications Privacy Act that would have required the government to get a warrant to gain access to email or other cloud documents.

This begs the question, is privacy losing too many battles in the legislative space? That and more in today’s Social Media Roundup:

Privacy Versus Social Sharing

As social media has become a commodity, the concept of privacy has gotten more wishy-washy. This article by Wired examines the recent approval process. After the approval of Netflix’s launch of a feature in which its users can share their watching history on Facebook and the continuation of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, some of the questions that have plagued society since social networking’s conception have been rehashed: What data shouldn’t be shared? What user information should be protected by legislative means? And how can social media users control their data? This ties back to issues relevant to associations, too: While legislation was recently passed in a handful of states barring employers from asking for recruits’ Facebook passwords, it begs the question whether the next legislative value may go the other way. What are your thoughts on this issue? (ht @CNNMoney)

your Autobiography Is Already Written

You may have noticed Facebook’s “Year in Review” feature became available for members to review and publish toward the end of 2012. Well, Facebook is not the only one making usage data available to its members. Twitter also allows users to download their tweet archives. This article from Fast Company sheds light on the validity behind reviewing social media content. “By facilitating constant, real-time conversation, these platforms inevitably created a detailed log of the past.” What valuable information do you think lies in your association’s (or your own) social media log? (ht @RealDontae)

What cool stuff have you read online today? Let us know in the comments.

(Zoonar/Thinkstock)

Anita Ferrer

By Anita Ferrer

Anita Ferrer is a contributor to Associations Now. MORE

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