Signs of the Times

F.S. I guess I was right. Jewelry is for ever men are not!Josh just broke up with me b/c of a feeling in his heart. If anyone wants to call him and tell him what a mistake he is making feel free. 333 345 6789. Other wise I don't want to talk about it right now.

E.P. aw, so sorry F. you sound really hurt and rightfully so. did you see any signs of commitmentphobia with him? tell me more about what he said...feeling in his heart? for other men? how could he break up with you? if you want to psychoanalyze him email me!

The above is a recent status update of one of my facebook "friends". Although we share a lot of friends and other thing in common (even our birthdays, actually) we've probably never spoken more than five sentences... and now I, along with hundreds of her "friends" are exposed to one of her most personal moments, and her ex's weaknesses are already on the psychoanalytic-operating table (why not?! if everyone's doing it on TV these days, it must be for the good of mankind.) Why does it feels so weird/wrong to re-post this, especially with his phone number, yet can more harm come with re-posting what is already known? There are a million ways for anyone to get anyone's number,, do we still hesitate to give it out?

While videoing the fireworks this past July 4th, I turned my camera to capture the crowd. A woman standing nearby put her hand up in defense, a look of contempt in her eyes. I think she was right, but how was what I was doing invading her privacy any more than the cameraman who was broadcasting our faces world-wide? Did she think I was a perv or that it was more personal because I was in sole possession of the footage? If that's the case then what about the fact that anyone can get anything they want on youtube? Is it just what we don't know don't hurt us?

How would you feel if a classmate walked in on the second day of class, stood three inches from your nose and began taking pictures of you listening to the lecture? What if a journalist did it? What if that classmate was a self-proclaimed journalist? Would it matter if she was going to put in the community paper, the New York Times, or on Facebook?

I think this will be a great debate that will help define the next century. How do we define privacy, and is there any point in fighting for it?