“You have your way. I have my way. As for the right way, the correct way, and the only way, it does not exist.” – Friedrich Nietzsche
Questioning semantics, the realism of online privacy and the deliverance of content to create a presence, the symposium was a steady debate on the how, rather than the why. Becoming a media-bound Nietzsche, Adrian was heavily focused on unpacking the denotations surrounding the questions, making poignant notes on the different motivations that are present. While the interplay of words and their meaning whirled across Betty’s ideas creating a deeper depth, it was when discussing content, persona and the right of privacy that ideas began to interconnect.
Similar to the quick ideas noted by Giorgia about the progression of technology and defining ourselves online, there is a level of sensitivity surrounding personal information and privacy- and with good reasons. Bringing up the recent celebrity image leaks courtesy of (the recently banned) Reddit thread r/TheFappening, Jason quickly pointed out the tangible properties and issues of online storage methods like iCloud. While the discussion pointed fingers at individuals uploading content and believing too easily in the eroding safety of privacy, others like Ellen were blatantly frustrated that victims of the hacking were to blame for their own violation of privacy.
While I agree that all individuals have a right to privacy (especially around their sexual lifestyle) and can be victimised by other online users, depending on a coded system to maintain privacy or data is just another consequence of a corroding inside/outside container of ourselves. As Neeve listed, there is always a kind of unconscious that effects us, which maybe could be considered when we share our data without much thought on where it’s stored, who has access and what happens to it when we forget about it. We unconsciously depend on ways to store ourselves, and while it may not always be to the extremities of the iCloud example, we need to be actively question who and what we are- or could be or want to be- online and publicly available.