Opinions on Facebook: The Evolution of Communication Facebook Edition Part 2

Please read part 1 attached here before reading part 2

As I said in part 1 Facebook has had many issues with privacy. Personally, I have never really looked into the information that the site gathers about me or others but while researching the history I came across this video posted to The New York Times. Please click here to go watch the video! 

I was completely taken back by how much information they gather from their users. I was first shocked in that the fact that they could gather all that information just by me clicking a few buttons. The scariest thing that Facebook could know about its user is their future. the video mentioned that Facebook could predict if its users were going to be addicts or what their future would look like. They literally know my whole life just by me filling in information using the site on a daily basis. 

I first signed up for Facebook to connect with family that lived far away. I liked to keep in contact with my family and friends. When I was a senior in High School, I used the site to connect with my future classmates here at High Point University. Now I use it to stay connected with family back home. I also use it to get announcements from my sorority. Most sororities and other clubs communicate through Facebook groups. It is a great site to keep everyone connected and keep everyone updated with other people lives. 

Before watching the video, I knew that Facebook would gather information on its users, but I never knew the extent of it all. After watching the video, I feel less inclined to use the site. I somehow feel like all my information is exposed for what seems like no reason. My question is why they need to know all this information and how do they get all this information just by me clicking buttons. It is scary to think they we are completely exposed when we enter the online world. How do you all feel about the information Facebook gathers about us? I think Facebook needs to create better privacy settings, so their users feel less exposed. In a world that is connected through the internet it is hard to have a private life. I am not saying that we need to be more private about our lives I just wished not all the information that we shared is made public. I guess that is on us and we need to decide how much we share online and how much we keep private. I think people need to be more educated on the information that is being collected about them because they might rethink what they share online. It is scary to think how much information that is being collected about us if this is just the information that Facebook alone is collecting.