From being the golden poster boy and youngest billionaire in the world to becoming one of the most despised men on the planet. A trajectory that’s neither surprising nor new. But surprising was how an entire Facebook addicted generation directed its wrath at that one man, to whom they couldn’t be more thankful in the past. Mark Zuckerberg, founder and CEO of Facebook, not only famously said that “the age of privacy is over”, he even saw the end to it himself. From allowing people to choose their profile’s visibility to allowing the US government to see it, Zuckerberg has steadily created a database out of unsuspecting social net workers for the benefit of the market. And needless to say, no one is happy about it.
Marcus Santiago, an editor with a local firm agrees that though he wouldn’t be doing anything unlawful, he demands privacy. “Initially, I could choose those who could see my updates and activities as those were default settings. But with so many subsequent changes, one doesn’t know who all can see your details. The fact the people have lost jobs due to their status updates is an example of that,” he tells us.
And Khalid Wani, who owns the firm Music Matters, is even more vehement about his opinion. “I have a feeling that we are being stalked, even though they might claim to secure our information. We might go on posting our albums and thoughts, not knowing that they stay in site’s memory forever,” he says.
While choosing one over the other instantly brackets you in a certain stereotype (gay, single mom, divorced, housewife), it also creates a daily menace that is more visible to the eye.
Srilata Sarcar, a master’s student in international development, is disturbed about the fact that her dad got added to her friend list, without her even knowing about his online existence. “It was unnerving as I am not a young teen anymore and I suddenly discovered him in my list,” she quips.