If you’ve read my blog in the past, you know that I'm a proponent of Google+ for social media. While Facebook is far and away the leader, I continue to see inherent flaws in the way Facebook’s privacy functionality works for users. A recent incident at the University of Texas bears this out.

Unintentionally, several gay college students were outed to their families, as well as anyone else that the students were connected. Regardless of where you stand on a person’s sexual orientation, the desire of the students was to keep their preferences private. The students had updated their privacy settings, yet Facebook’s privacy structure allowed the outing to occur.

What bothers me is this:

a). Facebook appeared unapologetic, instead choosing to explain why the privacy breach occured
b). Facebook isn’t looking to fix the problem

There’s a value in connecting with your friends, colleagues and relations simply and easily. And yet at least with Facebook, it’s really difficult to compartmentalize these connections which makes it difficult to compartmentalize your life. Such is the era we’re in. With Facebook, as well as with the wider internet, your life is more transparent than you realize, whether you know it or not.