Companies such as Twitter and Facebook will sometimes make content moderation decisions that seem hypocritical, inconsistent, and confusing. But private failure is better than government failure, not least because unlike government agencies, Twitter has to worry about competition and profits.
This was intentionally manufactured by Facebook. Facebook implemented it’s “accountability culture” starting with its rule about only using your real name and photo on its service and encouraging you to disclose other information in your profile, and from there it just got normalized. It was entirely to gather data for advertising purposes, but now we associate that level of openness with “accountability”. Entire generations are now being raised with this as the norm. Privacy is no longer a priority, or even really seen as an option.
This is to your detriment. Your privacy protects you from predators of all kinds. You really should be guarding it carefully. Disclose what you feel is important on a case by case basis, but even your mental health status and beliefs are exploitable by big business and small-time bullies and abusers alike.
Even if you’re not overly fussed about what people know about you, just understand that not everyone has the luxury of feeling the same. Some people have stalkers and abusers they’re trying to evade, or don’t want to attract new abusers into their lives by being that vulnerable and open again. Some people have extreme social anxiety. Some people are protecting other people in their lives. Some people just don’t want their grandmothers to find their smutfics. Some people are Internet privacy advocates who keep their details private as a political statement and as a matter of principle.
You are not entitled to anyone’s information, and you do not owe anyone yours. You are allowed to just be an anonymous username until you feel safe to disclose more.
You are not entitled to anyone’s information, and you do not owe anyone yours.
