Our lives, in terms of our history, our
personality, our undertakings, etc. can be divided among two distinct areas
based on preference, the private sector and the public sector. We may attempt
to show a different face to our peers than that which exists in reality. We may
desire to prevent certain details of our private lives from surfacing to the
public. However, in modern society, the line between such distinct areas has
grown thin. With the unprecedented rise of social networking systems, data with
regard to our individual life has become increasingly available. Subsequently,
privacy for the individual has been heavily diminished. This conflict, which
can be characterized by the seemingly inverse relationship between data and
privacy, is a central element in Dave Eggers’ The Circle. As Mae delves further into her employment at the elite internet
giant, the Circle, and as technology within the company progresses, Mae’s
privacy continually diminishes as data pertaining to this sector of her life
continually accumulates within the Circle’s all-encompassing, omnipotent
system.
As an employee of a company whose philosophy is “all that happens must be known”, Mae is forced to part with the level of privacy she previously enjoyed for the sake of the Circle’s overall data bank. One major example of this is the concept of PartiRank, which gauges an employee’s comparative involvement with those also in the company. PartiRank “takes into account zings, exterior followers of intra-company zings, your comments on others’ zings, your comments on other Circler’s profiles, your photos posted, attendance at Circle events, as well as comments and photos posted about those events (pg. 101)” Essentially, this implementation by company executives forces Mae, and all employees for that matter, to engage publicly with her coworkers, adding data, which might typically be considered private, into the Circle’s system. It’s as if Mae must surrender her privacy as an internet identity for the sake of her job.
According to Circlers, personal experience that is not shared with the world and consequently added to the company’s database, is selfish. On one occasion, Mae was reproached by her supervisor, as she ventured on an impromptu kayaking trip and did not add her experience to the collective memory of the world. Not only must Mae sacrifice some sense of privacy in terms of her internet presence with her coworkers, but she’s also required to document and publish moments of her life that would be ubiquitously considered as highly personal and deservedly private. Just as Mae’s present experiences are required to be made public, her past experiences have been made public, via the Cloud, as well. This is illustrated in Mae’s invitation to the “Portugal brunch” on account of the fact that she has pictures on her computer from a visit to Portugal five years prior.
As exemplified by instances within the novel, data, which the Circle values so heavily, is acquired at the expense of privacy. In turn, an inverse relationship between data and privacy is formed. Though decidedly exaggerated, the fictional depiction of this relationship by Dave Eggers sheds light on some relevant issues within our actual society. Social media, monitoring of internet traffic by government agencies, and other modern-day systems which facilitate knowledge and communication certainly pose benefits. However, when privacy is breached for the sake of such facilitation, does the reward really outweigh the cost?
As an employee of a company whose philosophy is “all that happens must be known”, Mae is forced to part with the level of privacy she previously enjoyed for the sake of the Circle’s overall data bank. One major example of this is the concept of PartiRank, which gauges an employee’s comparative involvement with those also in the company. PartiRank “takes into account zings, exterior followers of intra-company zings, your comments on others’ zings, your comments on other Circler’s profiles, your photos posted, attendance at Circle events, as well as comments and photos posted about those events (pg. 101)” Essentially, this implementation by company executives forces Mae, and all employees for that matter, to engage publicly with her coworkers, adding data, which might typically be considered private, into the Circle’s system. It’s as if Mae must surrender her privacy as an internet identity for the sake of her job.
According to Circlers, personal experience that is not shared with the world and consequently added to the company’s database, is selfish. On one occasion, Mae was reproached by her supervisor, as she ventured on an impromptu kayaking trip and did not add her experience to the collective memory of the world. Not only must Mae sacrifice some sense of privacy in terms of her internet presence with her coworkers, but she’s also required to document and publish moments of her life that would be ubiquitously considered as highly personal and deservedly private. Just as Mae’s present experiences are required to be made public, her past experiences have been made public, via the Cloud, as well. This is illustrated in Mae’s invitation to the “Portugal brunch” on account of the fact that she has pictures on her computer from a visit to Portugal five years prior.
As exemplified by instances within the novel, data, which the Circle values so heavily, is acquired at the expense of privacy. In turn, an inverse relationship between data and privacy is formed. Though decidedly exaggerated, the fictional depiction of this relationship by Dave Eggers sheds light on some relevant issues within our actual society. Social media, monitoring of internet traffic by government agencies, and other modern-day systems which facilitate knowledge and communication certainly pose benefits. However, when privacy is breached for the sake of such facilitation, does the reward really outweigh the cost?
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| Book Cover- try not to judge it |
The general thoughts of Mae and her connection with the Circle are put together well. I would using specific examples from the text.
ReplyDeleteReferncing the kayak issue with Josiah was a great peice of evidence to support your argument. It's a great example of her lack of provacy within the companty.
ReplyDeleteGood points! My only advice is to stick a little stronger to the prompt, as the connection between data was a little lost and you concluding paragraph was a little off topic, but otherwise well-written.
ReplyDeleteYour content is so good that it kind of sucks that your formatting is so all-over-the-place. The text of the blog is HUGE, and the comment section is really tiny. Also, you have a lot of big paragraphs that look kind of intimidating. However, your connections between data and privacy are very clear and very well-supported. The content is great, and fixing your formatting will definitely take this blog from an A to and A+.
ReplyDeleteI really liked that you ended the post asking your readers a question. You are clear in your thoughts. I also found it interesting that you chose the word "inverse" to describe the relationship between data and privacy. Overall, good work!
ReplyDelete