[NetBehaviour] The Facebook Suicide Bomb Manifesto

[netbehaviour]

The Facebook Suicide Bomb Manifesto

Bruce Sterling

Sean Dockray wrote:

Everyone now wants to know how to remove themselves from social 
networks. It has become absolutely clear that our relationships to 
others are mere points in the aggregation of marketing data. Political 
campaigns, the sale of commodities, the promotion of entertainment – 
this is the outcome of our expression of likes and affinities. And at 
what cost? The reward is obvious: we no longer have to tolerate 
advertisements for things for which we have no interest. Instead our 
social relations are saturated with public relations. But at least it is 
all *interesting*!

Unlike the old days, when we could invent online identities daily, our 
social networks today require fidelity between our physical self and our 
online self. The situation is unbearable.

The frightening consequence of it all is that we believe in the value of 
these networks. We understand perfectly well that our privacy is being 
renegotiated without our consent; the rules are changing in plain view; 
but we still participate! It is like a new form of money, something we 
realize is a myth, but we act like it is real and that is its power. We 
can’t leave because everyone else is there! Or because we are invested 
in the myth ourselves.

The question is how do we extract ourselves from this predicament?

more…
http://www.wired.com/beyond_the_beyond/2010/05/the-facebook-suicide-bomb-manifesto/