A new «generation» of social networking services, which already enjoy considerable popularity, seeks to overturn the two fundamental pillars on which social media have been based for a decade – namely the use of members' real identity and the unlimited duration «lifespan» of their posts.
In the form of applications for «smart» devices, a portion of these applications allow their users to communicate completely anonymously. Other services provide the ability to exchange content that «self-destructs» after a few minutes. Thus, they ensure that there is no chance for anyone to be exposed by a photo or a comment that was «uploaded» perhaps years ago, and later forgot to delete.
The two pillars were essentially created by Facebook, which became synonymous with social networking in the previous decade. At the same time, however, it also became the most characteristic example of the fact that «whatever goes online stays online forever», even having negative side effects in real life, since the network obliges its members to use their real full name.
Even though until recently these two features were non-negotiable for Mark Zuckerberg, in recent statements he left open the possibility of anonymous use in future platform applications. Also, the attempted acquisition of Snapchat, a photo-based social network where images are automatically deleted, shows that Facebook overlooks that the ever-increasing personal exposure on social media (the so‑called oversharing) is not ultimately an inviolable rule.
According to Tarun Wadhwa from Forbes magazine, the shift is due to the ever-growing popularity of «self-destructing» messages. Of course, Snapchat is mainly used by teenagers for sexting, i.e., for exchanging provocative photos that has turned into a dangerous trend, since it is not absolutely certain that the images will be lost irretrievably. However, the editor adds, the logic of automatically deleting content has begun to attract older people, or even businesses, as a measure to protect their privacy.
Moreover, applications like Textsecure, Wickr, Confide, Gryphn and Telegram Messenger also ensure that the content is transmitted encrypted, resulting in only the sender and the recipient having access to it. Indeed, encryption and the ability to set a timer for message deletion appear to be the reasons that on February 24, within a 24‑hour period, Telegram Messenger gained 4.95 million new users – many of whom came from the WhatsApp service that Facebook had just acquired.
The same functionalities are also offered by Wickr, which at the beginning of January announced that it will offer $100,000 to any hacker who finds a «backdoor» in its software. Wickr can also transfer text files, photos or videos, unlike Confide, which specializes in written messages, as it is aimed at business executives who want their communications to leave no «digital traces». Primarily intended for corporate use is also Gryphn, which is available only for Android devices.
On the other hand, applications such as Whisper or Secret promise a return to anonymity, which was the norm before the advent of Facebook and, according to Wired magazine, will be one of the dominant trends in social media in 2014. Their creators admit that the branding imposed by Facebook made social networking safer and its members accountable for what they post online. However, the price is self‑censorship and a lack of authenticity, they point out, since each user crafts their «digital self» as they would like to be rather than as they truly are.
Thus, Whisper operates as an online community where anyone can anonymously confess any thought, having attracted millions of users in its two years «life» , who each month view over 3 billion pages. Secret was released a month ago and, unlike Whisper, allows iPhone and Android device owners to share «secrets» only with contacts in their phone address book, while still hiding their identity.
Concern
The increasing concern for personal privacy protection is not limited only to social networking, but in reality concerns all uses of the Internet: according to a recent Ericsson study in a fairly heterogeneous set of countries (USA, Mexico, Sweden, Egypt, Pakistan and Thailand), 56% of people who «surf» daily express reservations about the «fate» of their personal data. Data that, besides the internet services to which they assign them using them, are also targeted by secret services.
At the same time, however, only 4% of the participants in the survey said that for this reason they have decided to use the Internet less, with 93% recommending more careful online behavior as a solution, as well as technologies that reduce risk. A percentage that explains why recently services that place emphasis on privacy protection are gaining ground. An illustrative case is the «search engine» DuckDuckGo, which does not record users’ activity and saw its traffic double in recent months, reaching at the beginning of January 4.4 billion daily searches, a record number for its history.
The ground also benefits from online tools that allow anonymous surfing (such as Tor software or virtual private networks). In fact, in June the first smartphone developed from scratch for this purpose will be released. Named Blackphone, the phone from Cilent Circle will incorporate a modified version of Android and the encryption services it has developed.
Source: kathimerini.gr
