Facebook? What is that?

First, I have a confession. I don't have a Facebook profile any more. The reasons are varied and have to do with my undiagnosed psychosis, so leave it at that. I understand the social networking phenomenon as a technological and cultural agent of change and respect that, however it is for examples like the case I'm about to describe that I don't use those things any longer.

I'm referring to this case study. The basic ethical question raised from this particular instance is what are the ethical boundaries that need to be drawn when dealing with reporting and Facebook. In the case, Bailey, the reporter, friended a suspect's former girlfriend in the murder investigation in order to gain access to her "walled garden" of posts. Del Rocco, the ex-girlfriend, posts some colorful and insightful comments in regards to the case. The reporter and the editor hit the gambit of what is private and what is semi-private or public.

I'm going to take a very relativistic stance on this issue, and I hope that I don't fall off this limb. There is a certain amount of privacy that one can assume throughout their life, that much should be guaranteed to everyone. However, in reference to Facebook, unless the individual is engaged in private interpersonal communication, the messages are not private. I realize there are numerous settings that Facebook allows for its users, but when it comes to posting things on your Facebook wall, all communication is public. As far as the responsibility that Bailey had to identify herself as a reporter when requesting a friendship with Del Rocco, there is none. Bailey has done nothing against the law, or Facebook terms of use. As far as ethically, this represents no breach of privacy for Del Rocco, as the information is public as I discussed earlier.

From the editor's point of view, there is a wide amount of leeway that I'm going to grant. Again, referencing the determination that all information posted on social networks is public, the editor has the direct responsibility to determine the relevance of the posts, and their value to the story should not be tainted ethically. Bass, the editor, would not be breaching Del Rocco's privacy by publishing her posts, unless they were somehow gotten by nefarious means. i.e. hacking into her phone, private interpersonal communication, email. But in this case, none of that occurred. The most that anyone could say that was possibly egregious was that Bailey hadn't identified herself as a reporter. Even then, that is a debatable point.

Your take? I loved everyone else's views on this issue. Sorry that I was nearly two hours late. I neglected to realize the due date was Saturday, I thought I had another day. Have a good weekend!

On bacteria and economics

I want to begin this post by asking a philosophical question. If you had the absolute power, either overtly or covertly, to distribute wealth amongst the people of your nation, then how large a discrepancy would you allow between the richest and the poorest?