I was somewhat amused at the Nov. 26 editorial, “Our View: Facebook is too big, needs a watchdog.”
The Press Herald Editorial Board is of the opinion that Facebook should be regulated by the government as if it were a utility or government agency. In the editorial, examples of Facebook’s recent transgressions include using the collected data for commercial purposes and allowing foreign governments access to it as well.
As one of the apparent 32 percent of Americans who choose not to use Facebook, I am struck by the Editorial Board’s complaint that with each click, the company gobbles up more private information to add to its unprecedented trove of available data. Does the Editorial Board – or anyone, for that matter, who has similar complaints about Facebook – realize these data are voluntarily entered by each person who chooses to do so?
There is an easy fix for this dilemma: Stop entering every mundane or private aspect of your lives into this platform. I find it ironic that many of the folks who rail against government intrusion into their private lives and object to revealing personal information have no issue with spreading their entire lives on Facebook for the whole world to see.
What did we do to engage our fellow man prior to Facebook? We wrote, we called, we looked each other in the eye.
I am willing to acknowledge there may be aspects of Facebook that serve a useful purpose under certain conditions. I, however, have successfully survived and thrived to this point without Facebook and with each passing headline on another Facebook problem, I am increasingly thankful for not following the herds and remaining old school. Once again, we have proven to be our own worst enemies.
Steven Edmondson
Topsham
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