Leadership, “Reputation Matters” Forbes, November 26, 2013
Social media and the Internet are rapidly changing our expectations of both privacy and anonymity. This has profound implications for corporations, governments, and individuals alike.
What is more important, privacy (the ability to keep private information or conversation out of the hands of anyone but those for whom it was intended) or transparency (the right of the public to know the facts and motivations behind actions that affect them)? As a society, which do we value more – truth-telling (which can easily turn into lies and hate talk) or named accountability (which can stop revelations from taking place because of possible repercussions to the teller)?
These days we seem to be ambivalent – or to want it all: privacy when it suits us; transparency, when it feels right; anonymity when we can choose it; but accountability when others are posting anonymously about us, or those things we care about.
Yet we all suspect that there is almost no such thing as privacy anymore, or real anonymity on the Internet. What does this mean for corporations and other organizations? […read more]