The Advocates for Awareness of Watchtower Abuses (AAWA) [WARNING]

by Simon 226 Replies latest watchtower scandals

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  Nickolas

  I couldn't disagree more. Your assumptions are that people only have one online persona, whereas they have many just as we do in real life.

  I have one set of jokes I tell to my mates. I have another set I will tell my mother, and I have one special joke saved up up the company of vicars.

  In real life, we are different things to different people. "When in Rome".

  Anonymity is an illusion. Believing you can be anonymously polymorphus on the internet or in real life is a delusion. Both nouns are perfectly at home in the present context. How difficult it must be to assume different personalities because you feel a need to represent yourself according to the prejudices of your audience. Which personality is actually you? If you act one way when in the presense of a certain person or group but act in another way in the presense of another, how can anyone be sure who you really are? Who are you being now?
• 

  talesin

  I had a f/b group I was administrating, and there IS an option that allows you to prevent members from adding to the group. It was a major SNAFU by AAWA, and easy to avoid if they were being smart and careful.

  It's a good example of people who are too wrapped up in emotion, to do things properly. The devil *is* in the details! Even when taking the utmost security precautions, though, Facebook is NEVER safe, because they change their security protocol whenever they feel like it, and you may *think* you're secure, but then the rug gets pulled out from under you.

  I only went 'public' last month with my real name on f/b. This was not because of JW, but for general safety / security. It's important to wade in, and not dive - that's when you may hit a big rock and break your neck.

  tal
• 

  mamochan13

  Well said, Tal
• 

  Bangalore

  What a disaster this has turned out to be. Hope it will be sorted out soon.

  Bangalore
• 

  Bangalore

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• 

  still thinking

  I think the only good that has come out of this whole debacle is that people are much more aware of privacy issues on Facebook.

  I have reviewed my settings...and am not as willing to share as much information as I used to. We really do need to be aware that if we give our privacy away on the internet...we cannot get it back. What's out there is there for good. Which is why people like the AAWA org need to act more responsibly with other peoples information.

  AND re AAWA....what a waste of space they are.
• 

  Mickey mouse

  Nickolas humans are not one dimensional beings as you suggest. Ironically the organisation we have all escaped from advocates that we should be (first, foremost and always a Jehovah's Witness) but that is not psychologically natural or healthy. I do not behave in the exact same manner with my children as I do in a board meeting. Context is key. We all moderate our behaviour in different settings.
• 

  ballistic

  Mickey Mouse

  Nickolas, I think you are way off the mark on this one. If this one dimensional self is what you aspire to, maybe you should be meditating to become a Buddhist monk, or maybe smoking something. ;)

  I wonder if you are trying to "play down" what the AAWA did by saying "well, it doesn't matter anyway because all these people have a facebook account, and facebook is known to be rubbish at security and anyway, if you have an online persona, it's already out there."

  Which quite frankly, is rubbish.
• 

  Fencing

  Facebook is quite literally the WORST possible social platform to do anything you're trying to keep "secret". The group system is a sick joke, that has been controversial ever since they introduced a couple years ago. You have abosolutely no control over what groups you get added to, because anyone who is in your friends list can chose to add you to a group without your permission. Not "invite" you, ADD you so that you are a full member of that group. And even if the group is private, the fact you're now a member of that group will show up in your timeline, unless you've specifically locked down your timeline and profile so no one - not even friends - can see anything.

  Also, Facebook has a long history of randomly changing privacy settings and outing things that you had previously put private. They want everything you post to be public, because it increases search hits and makes it more valuable to advertisers. This is why they deliberately make privacy settings convoluted and confusing. Facebook is not concerned about your privacy, at all. It's literally contrary to their revenue goals.

  The rule of thumb is this: ANYTHING you post on Facebook should be considered public, even if you think you've locked it down. But unfortunately, people just don't understand this and will continue to get embarrassed by Facebook.
• 

  Nickolas

  The economy was in its third year of recession when I graduated university. 1975, and jobs were scarce. My first was as a logger in a remote camp more than 200 miles northwest of the city. Five nights in the bush, home on weekends. As it happens I was at the time studying to become a Jehovah's Witness. A young man about my age, who I had seen and heard on the dais directing traffic at that summer's district convention, showed up as the new camp clerk. We hadn't met formally. He was being introduced to the men at a Wednesday evening meeting in the mess hall by the camp foreman and I was delighted and encouraged to catch sight of him once again. Here was "a good association", someone with whom I could commiserate and I was very much looking forward to presenting myself to him one on one after the meeting. He was asked by the foreman to say a few words. He was articulate but what came out of his mouth was unexpected, at least by me. He used derivatives of the word fuck several times - here as a noun, there an adjective, there an adverb - apparently to appear tough and gritty in a likewise environment. Each time he used the word I felt a whack, like an electric shock. After dinner I knocked on the door of his room. He opened it, smiled broadly, extended his hand and said he was glad to meet me. When I told him that we had already met, and where, the blood drained from his face. The next week he was gone.

  There is a difference between privacy and anonymity. This is a conversation about being true to the person you are no matter where you are. It goes without saying that there are multiple facets to our personalities that we manifest under different contexts, Mickey mouse, but if how you act in front of one audience would cause you embarrassment if witnessed by someone from another audience then you need to take stock of who you really are. Your children should not be shocked by the business persona they might see in the boardroom any more than your associates should be taken aback to see how you conduct yourself as a father.

  And putting words in someone's mouth, ballistic, says more about you than about the person you're misrepresenting.