TMI (Too Much Information)

Looking at social media, it is easy to see that there is Too Much Information out there and that could easily fall into the wrong hands.

Some PR professionals back in London introduced me to the benefits of social media in journalism and PR. One of the first things they advised me to do was to privitize my Facebook account. This came as a shock to me initially as I didn’t think anyone was interested in stuff like this but they informed me that the first thing they did as a firm was to peruse Facebook to see what sort of person they would be hiring.

So lesson No.1 when it comes to social media – never click this:

But it seems that many of us have a lot more information out there than we think that can’t be hidden with a click. According to Mischa Tuffield’s blog, my very own National Health Service, the British Government-sponsored healthcare scheme, has attached Facebook social features that allow your searches on the NHS website to be tracked and shared with a third party or even a fourth party.

I am used to living in a country where you are monitored quite closely but this is definitely TMI for the Internet. I can live with a few drunken shots of me trying to make out with a houseplant but to share my most private medical information is unnecessary at best and at worst a worrying move towards some kind of online Totalitarianism.

And why do they even need information this private, this specific? I can understand if Target or Walmart want to know what I am shopping for and to be honest that's information they can have (if I'm lucky my peanut M&Ms obsession will get them refilling those aisles a little quicker) but surely my medical searches help no one?

I worry about a future where, instead of being offered winter jackets when I check my email I am offered laxatives or pregnancy test kits. Where once I was put on mailing lists for new DVD releases now I am on lists for creams for rashes that I'd prefer to remain between me, my doctor and the inner lining of my jockey shorts.

I may be able to walk into the doctor's office and they'll already know what's wrong with me but then I might be able to walk into a bar and the bartender will also know what's up with me after a quick look on Facebook.

Unfortunately it seems that there are no handy privacy settings on the Internet at large, I can hide those pictures of me with my pants down but I can’t hide my most personal medical ailments. I am learning that while I want to share information using social media there is plenty of information I do not want to share. The best thing we can do is be careful what we say to who and when we say it. Much like real life, I guess…