Social Media is Killing Our Privacy!

By Kenyon Geetings

Thirty-three. Obviously thirty-three is a lot, or a little, depending on context. Thirty-three words in a blog? That's only thirty-three percent of this first paragraph! Thirty-three hot dogs? Well, again, context matters. If you're Joey Chestnut in a hot dog eating contest, then it's nothing. If you're like me and think that while they are a taste sensation, where each morsel is a joy — a celebration in a bun — but that there is such a thing as too many hot dogs, then thirty-three is a sizable amount. All of this is to say, context matters.

So when I say that a 2017 study of over half a million teenagers found between 2010 and 2015 that thirty-three percent more of these teenagers exhibited high levels of depressive symptoms, then you might think of one of three things. First off, you might simply not care, and that's fine, but I would urge you to keep reading as you may learn something. Second, you may be optimistic (or possibly you read the statistic incorrectly) and think that thirty-three isn't that high of a number, so clearly this must not be a huge issue. Or lastly, you may realize that smartphones were only introduced in 2007, and that paired with the statistic that by 2015 ninety-two percent of teenagers owned one, that these two studies might have a correlation.

Now, I can tell what you're thinking next: “how was I supposed to realize the correlation between these two studies when you hadn't even given me all the information?” And if that is what you were thinking (and it is, since I can tell what you're thinking next), then strap in, because this is where it gets even more interesting.

Believe it or not, I'm not the only writer who has been intentionally hiding information from their readers. Portrayed often in detective fiction, especially by Agatha Christie in her novel The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, the concept of hiding information from the reader isn't anything new. In fact, hiding information from people is probably done more now than ever before. It has become common for people to show the “good” parts of their life on social media, while concealing the uglier parts of daily life. This secrecy is why some studies believe that teenagers and young adults are being so negatively affected by the use of social media. But Agatha Christie didn't need any scientific studies to know how to effectively use this strategy of secrecy to her advantage, with several of her characters having “something to hide” (Christie 145). And as I will show, these secrets negatively affected all that were involved.

Let's first take a look at Christie's narrator, Dr. Sheppard, and examine why he had something to hide from his social life. At a surface level, it may seem painfully obvious why Dr. Sheppard wanted to hide his murder of Roger Ackroyd from those around him — because he didn't want to get caught. It is not until we begin to use our “little grey cells” that we start to question his true motives for doing what he did (355). Why would someone attempt to cover up their own murder by getting as close to the investigation as possible? I believe that this was done purely because Dr. Sheppard loved attention and had a bad case of FOMO (aka fear of missing out). Dr. Sheppard, like many people addicted to social media today, was afraid that if he was not around at all times, he may miss out on something important. While this is eventually what led to his ultimate downfall, being in the action was more important to him than hiding. To put it bluntly, Dr. Sheppard was kind of narcissistic because of the fact that he loved to watch his own work play out, as Poirot puts it “The truth, however ugly in itself, is always curious and beautiful to the seeker after it” (205).

Clearly Dr. Sheppard's tactic of hiding in plain sight was effective, as even up until the very end, only Poirot was capable of suspecting him. But it also demonstrates just how “open” people can be on social media while living a completely different life behind the scenes. This is not a matter to take lightly. As I'll go on to show you, living a double-life has negative implications for more than just the primary party.

Next up on Christie's list of people living double lives is Ralph Paton and Ursula Bourne. Or rather maybe Ursula Paton, as we eventually find out about this secret marriage, against Roger Ackroyd's wishes, between Ralph Paton (Roger's son) and Ursula Bourne (a parlor maid at Fernly Park). Marriage, something that is known for its ups and downs, is still generally something to be celebrated. This was not the case with Ralph and Ursula as they wanted no one to know of their secret union. The reason for their secrecy may very well only be because of a “discrepancy in time” and that under normal circumstances they wouldn't have kept it a secret (386). Nevertheless, this confidential information not only affected Usrula and Ralph in their own ways, but it also affected Flora as she was planning on marrying Ralph as well. At first glance it might appear that keeping these secrets to themselves was a good idea, but in reality it did more harm than good. We see this with Flora as she was looking forward to marrying Ralph for a “chance of liberty, money and an enlarged horizon,” but she never reaches these dreams because of Paton's secret (341).

As with social media, hiding relevant information is a battle hardly worth fighting. Eventually the internet will find out, and then you are faced with repairing the facade or having to remove it entirely. This futile task not only harms the image of those involved directly, but it can lead to even more isolation to those invested. Another study from 2017 showed correlation between perceived social isolation and time spent on social media. The more that people live in this “fake” world, the more likely they are to experience isolation from their real world friends and peers. Just as Ralph and Ursula lived in their fake world of marriage, social media offers an almost “too good to be true” way to get away from the troubles of real life. When finally forced to step out of this counterfeit utopia, the realization of life's struggles begin to hit, and it hits hard.

Alright, so we've gone over the number 33, and have concluded that it can be both big and small, important or irrelevant, but what about the number one? The number one shows up a lot in our life, and in lists of data, it actually occurs with a probability of 30 percent. It's the first non-zero natural number, so does that make it insignificant? Surprise! Context matters once again. Further on in Christie's novel we learn that Miss Russell has been hiding a pretty big secret, which is that she has ONE illegitimate child. This son, cleverly named Charles Kent after the county he was conceived in, “turned out badly” as he frequently drank and took drugs (321). It was obvious to Miss Russell that in order to keep up her good appearances at Fernly Park, she would have to continue to keep her son a secret — even after he wanted to come visit her.

In comparison to Miss Russell's actions of keeping her son a secret by not being able to engage in his life, social media also has the ability to take away children's ability to engage with their parents and friends. Studies have shown that kids that are spending more time in front of screens also have more difficulty developing relationships, understanding emotions, and generally are more dependent on others. As with the example of Charles Kent, without true human interaction with parents, children can grow up severely deprived of the necessary skills to be able to function at a high level in society.

Agatha Christie's The Murder of Roger Ackroyd ultimately teaches us that everyone's lives are not as perfect as they seem, and that everyone has something to hide. In fact, you, the reader. almost definitely have something to hide, too. Maybe it's something simple, like sharing this blog with your friends and telling them how important it is, when in reality you only read the slightly misleading, clickbaity title. Or perhaps it's way worse. Whatever it may be, Christie's words should not age with time, but rather, it should give us insight into the new problems of social media that we face today.