Privacy on Social Media: What you can do

The rise of Social Media platforms and the emergence of monopolistic technological companies has been meteoric. The introduction of online platforms was truly an innovative idea. It connected many people and created a space for people to express their opinions. An invention which started with mediocre goals eventually grew into something phenomenal. Nowadays, a profile on a social media platform is not a part of an individual’s identity, but a reflection of it.

However, as the old saying goes, nothing comes free. Tech companies offering access to their social media platforms for free have to earn revenue in one way or another. Offering advertising and promotion plans alone isn’t going to cut it. There has to be a more consistent and reliable method of generating revenue. The hidden hand is data. In this age of information, data can be a valuable currency. Social Media companies have capitalized on user data for quite a time. And they have grown into large scale enterprises which strategically build their monopolies buy merging and acquiring any potential competition.

Big tech companies offer their services on their terms. Obviously, they reserve the right to revoke their services as according to the terms and conditions which they have had their consumers agree to. And since they currently have a monopoly on Social Media and other online content sharing platforms, internet users have limited options.

Concerns over invasion of privacy seems to have stirred public opinion over demanding government regulation of data being collected. And many cite capitalism as the root cause of all this. However, I believe that there are few ways to deal with this issue without the intervention of the state. The government overseeing the collection of sensitive data is a very fragile endeavour. There are things that a social media user, as an individual, can do to maintain their privacy and minimize the use of their information.

Explore Alternatives

With Tech Giants moving on to collect sensitive information of users of their platforms, a new trend in developing more secure platforms has come to light. Although there aren’t a lot of prominent alternative platforms available currently, the growth of this trend seems promising, and there are a few handy applications you can use whenever you feel you need more privacy. For an example, if you’re feeling you need to search certain stuff without being logged, there are search engine platforms such as DuckDuckGo. And if you feel that the information you share with people through messaging apps should not be collected in any manner, there are apps like Signal.

Problems create opportunities. Concerns of privacy created an incentive for people to develop communication platforms with privacy as priority. A free market is arguably one of the best environments for pursuing new business opportunities. So, one could always be in the loop checking on recent developments. Monopolies can be broken if there’s enough support and momentum given to entrepreneurial pursuits which explore alternatives.

Break away, create a voice

When you sign up to use a certain social media platform, you’re agreeing to their terms. And if you feel that changes in their policies are not working out, you can always withdraw. You can let others know what made you do that. Yo can make your voice heard. For an example, the popularity of Signal grew so much in a short time thanks to the reaction of whatsapp users towards the applications new data collection policies. Another example is where twitter stock prices fell shortly after they banned Trump’s accounts. Investors fear authoritarian policies, and barring the means of communication of the world’s most powerful politician is clearly a demonstration of power.

Of course, banning an average user would not get a fraction of that attention, but ideas can spread like wildfire, especially among investors and the business community. One can always spread legitimate information, and it could eventually snowball into a trend, just like how Signal went viral after the chatter about

Understand how stuff works

Sometimes, you can’t change the rules of a game, but only choose the game you’re going to play. If you have to play a game, it’s important that you know the rules. It’s important that you have a sound knowledge of the terms and conditions of the social media platform that you’re using. Having some knowledge of which data are being collected from a profile, how they are collected, and how they are used would always help in taking steps to maintain privacy on a social media platform. If you have a good idea of what they do with your information, you would get a better sense of what should be done such that they won’t get what you don’t want to give.

There are plenty of guidelines on the internet on the responsible use of social media. There’s always going to be a trade-off. However, you can decide what that trade-off will be.

Regulate your online habits

There are studies which suggest how certain usage patterns of Social Media platforms can be detrimental to one’s mental health. Depression, low self esteem and addiction are some of the mental illnesses that can be caused by irregular use of social media. There are also studies which suggest that certain Social Media usage habits can improve an individual’s mental health. Learning the productive use of social media platforms can indeed help improve an individual’s wellbeing. There’s no set formula for this, I’d say that, apart from a few basic guidelines, the rest would be to each their own.

Likewise, if you are conscious about what information you share on social media, it’s better if you keep watch on your online activities, and regulate the information that you provide and share with other people.

Conclusion

The use of Social Media Platforms is an indispensable mode of individuals and organizations connecting and sharing information with each other. What began as niche online spaces have now evolved into major modes of communication. The owners of these platforms have also evolved into major companies which now have monopolies in the market. To meet the costs of operating large scale platforms which have millions of users, these new tech giants have created a new sales model where data are products. And also, their censorship policies have become less liberal. Privacy and censorship issues driven internet users to distance themselves from these platforms and explore alternatives. There have been repercussions for these policies in the market as there are examples where stock prices of social media companies have plummeted significantly.

I believe that individuals and markets can indeed do much to address these issues. Change starts from an individual, and a few key points are explained in brief in this article about how social media users can take steps to control the information that will be used. One can dig more into these points and get a better comprehension of them. I hope that this small bit of advice helps!