I found Cohen's article the most disturbing of any that I've read so far for this course. She states that "undifferentiated disclosures threaten our ability to manage our boundaries, with potentially drastic consequences for the processes by which we articulate our identities" (Cohen, 889, 2010). I understand this to mean that we need some idea of how we are seen in the eyes of the Other in order to shape our interactions and communicate effectively. I'm reminded of Shakespeare's immortal lines from As You Like It: "All the world's a stage." The whole monologue is relevant to this discussion. Just as actors on stage gauge their audiences and adjust their performances based on the feedback they receive, as actors in society we need some idea of what others are thinking about us in order to construct, with any degree of confidence, the performance we present to others. If privacy is destroyed to a great enough degree, actors in society cannot be selective, confident, and convincing about their performances. And unconvincing performances are just as awkward to watch in society as they are on stage.
--Brandon Kidd
Works cited
Cohen, J. (2010). The Inverse Relationship between Secrecy and Privacy. Social Research 77(3).
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