On Tagging & Stuff
Saturday, September 09, 2006
Now that the last tagging wave is over (through Jordan Planet to say the least), I can share some thoughts I had in mind about tagging while I was reading some responses to tags that have been floating around recently.
For those who do not follow blogs much; tagging is a game where a blogger publishes his answers to a number of pre-written questions, usually personal, and then asks (tags) other bloggers to answer the same questions on their blogs and pass it on to others, pretty much like a chain letter. In tagging, however, the recipients are asked “in name” to respond!
Most people can’t find anything wrong about tags, chain letters, or even spam! To them, nothing can go wrong only because they forwarded an email to 100 of their friends and relatives, or just because they answered some questions on theirs blogs! Computer Geeks, on contrary, are very serious about such issues and feel greatly threatened and annoyed by the passing of such waves of letters or tags!
So who’s right of the two? Is tagging that much dangerous? and what are the risks of answering a tag and passing it on to others?
First of all, let me start by saying that no one knows the Internet better than computer geeks! Therefore it is natural to assume that the decisions they make regarding web activities are based on more thorough understanding of the Internet, its effects, and its relevancy to the real life. Hence the answer to the first question is: Yes, tagging is definitely dangerous!
But why? What’s really wrong about answering a couple of questions?
The reason that makes tagging such a threat is that in most cases it violates Geeky Internet Law #1:
If you've read so far and are now wondering “why shouldn’t I share my personal data on the Internet?” then I suggest you disconnect and stop using the Internet from now on :D
Sharing personal info on the Internet is the worst thing you can ever do! Unfortunately, the “Why” isn’t always clear as it should be! I usually compare this Internet law to driving laws; you can’t always see what could go wrong if you violate a simple driving law, but with some thinking you can come up with many possible scenarios where your violation leads to an accident!
One tag that had my complete attention, or better say “drove me nuts”, is the “What’s In My Bag” tag, which has been circulating between female (and even some male!?) bloggers around. I was shocked because bloggers who answered this tag were letting people know what’s inside their handbags and they were doing it gladly! Jano, Khalidah, Wedad, Roba, Rambling Hal, Salam, 7ala and Moey (!?) answered the tag! Most of them even provided pictures for their bags’ contents!!
Was it safe to answer that tag? I don’t think so! What can go wrong because of it can’t be determined that easily, just like I said, but I can imagine more than one scenario where somebody could make use of knowing what’s inside somebody's else's handbag! Keep in mind that many of those bloggers have posted their pictures on their blogs and recognizing them outdoors won’t be a hard task.
I may sound a bit silly but believe me; whoever you are, there are many people out there waiting for a good chance to screw you! We all have rivals, foes, or people who just don’t like us much; don’t give them any chance :)
I hope I made clear (in my own geeky view at least) how can such tags be hazardous to your safety people. I was glad to note that other bloggers like Qwaider recognized the problem too, check his comment on 7ala’s post :)
To end with, I’d like to introduce a new tag that I myself came up with today. I am tagging you Qwaider :P
1 - How much money do you usually carry around in your wallet?
2 - How much time (on average) do you stay away from your car?
3 - If you’re leaving your place and wanted to hide the house key somewhere for your brother/sister to take it later, where would you hide it?
4 - In your own opinion; what items in your place are worth breaking in for?
5 - If somebody wants to blackmail you, what would be the best approach?
(P.S : It’s just a joke people, mesh tro7o mjawbeno :P)
For those who do not follow blogs much; tagging is a game where a blogger publishes his answers to a number of pre-written questions, usually personal, and then asks (tags) other bloggers to answer the same questions on their blogs and pass it on to others, pretty much like a chain letter. In tagging, however, the recipients are asked “in name” to respond!
Most people can’t find anything wrong about tags, chain letters, or even spam! To them, nothing can go wrong only because they forwarded an email to 100 of their friends and relatives, or just because they answered some questions on theirs blogs! Computer Geeks, on contrary, are very serious about such issues and feel greatly threatened and annoyed by the passing of such waves of letters or tags!
So who’s right of the two? Is tagging that much dangerous? and what are the risks of answering a tag and passing it on to others?
First of all, let me start by saying that no one knows the Internet better than computer geeks! Therefore it is natural to assume that the decisions they make regarding web activities are based on more thorough understanding of the Internet, its effects, and its relevancy to the real life. Hence the answer to the first question is: Yes, tagging is definitely dangerous!
But why? What’s really wrong about answering a couple of questions?
The reason that makes tagging such a threat is that in most cases it violates Geeky Internet Law #1:
Never share you personal info on the Internet!
If you've read so far and are now wondering “why shouldn’t I share my personal data on the Internet?” then I suggest you disconnect and stop using the Internet from now on :D
Sharing personal info on the Internet is the worst thing you can ever do! Unfortunately, the “Why” isn’t always clear as it should be! I usually compare this Internet law to driving laws; you can’t always see what could go wrong if you violate a simple driving law, but with some thinking you can come up with many possible scenarios where your violation leads to an accident!
One tag that had my complete attention, or better say “drove me nuts”, is the “What’s In My Bag” tag, which has been circulating between female (and even some male!?) bloggers around. I was shocked because bloggers who answered this tag were letting people know what’s inside their handbags and they were doing it gladly! Jano, Khalidah, Wedad, Roba, Rambling Hal, Salam, 7ala and Moey (!?) answered the tag! Most of them even provided pictures for their bags’ contents!!
Was it safe to answer that tag? I don’t think so! What can go wrong because of it can’t be determined that easily, just like I said, but I can imagine more than one scenario where somebody could make use of knowing what’s inside somebody's else's handbag! Keep in mind that many of those bloggers have posted their pictures on their blogs and recognizing them outdoors won’t be a hard task.
I may sound a bit silly but believe me; whoever you are, there are many people out there waiting for a good chance to screw you! We all have rivals, foes, or people who just don’t like us much; don’t give them any chance :)
I hope I made clear (in my own geeky view at least) how can such tags be hazardous to your safety people. I was glad to note that other bloggers like Qwaider recognized the problem too, check his comment on 7ala’s post :)
To end with, I’d like to introduce a new tag that I myself came up with today. I am tagging you Qwaider :P
1 - How much money do you usually carry around in your wallet?
2 - How much time (on average) do you stay away from your car?
3 - If you’re leaving your place and wanted to hide the house key somewhere for your brother/sister to take it later, where would you hide it?
4 - In your own opinion; what items in your place are worth breaking in for?
5 - If somebody wants to blackmail you, what would be the best approach?
(P.S : It’s just a joke people, mesh tro7o mjawbeno :P)
11 Response(s) to "On Tagging & Stuff"
Qwaider قويدر said:
LOL ....
Wallahi ya Ghaith YOU ARE AMAZING DUDE!!!
I love this post.
Seriously, these form of "electronic-waste" need to go ...
Yes, it might be fun when you're 10 year old and someone hands you something stupid like this, but come on, we're grown up people (I hope?) and we really can do without.
I know why it caught everyone like FIRE! ... Everyone is getting too dry with ideas, and this came as a free post to remain in the front lines... Sorry Bloggers, but this i exactly how I see it
Jano said:
i didnt read all of the post bt the thing is ; they are things in anyone's bag lol nothing new! you can see that the same response applies alot of people.. its obvious that one holds wallet, mobile, pen maybe, tissues, and keys, bla bla bla.. so its just for fun.. take it easy man :)
Khalidah said:
Chill guys .. or might I say geeks :P
It is really not a big deal ... and as Jano said; these are items that everyone carries around, nothing was out of place or strange ...
I might understand that answering some VERY personal questions can be extreme, but this was really not one of these ... it was very simple
To Qwaider;
This was not because we ran out of ideas and we just wanted to be there for people to visit our blogs; at least I speak for myself ... we don't have to be 10 years old to be able to enjoy a once in a while funny post ... we don't have to always talk about serious things now do we? besides; blogs are a free space; one can say whatever they desire on it ... just like you do on yours; so when you are tagged; you are free to choose to answer or not .. it is not that difficult and as I said earlier; not really a big deal ...
Devil's Mind said:
Not all tags are equally privacy intruders; It is important that one keep a strick eye on what he says (especially on public internet places) but if they do take caution tags wouldnt be so bad! Chain letters are a different story because they are mainly annoying and are used to harvest emails, so chain letters are a big no regardless of their content...
Regarding the "Never share personal info"; I dont think one has to be more cautious than real life: I mean if a person in real life asks you what your credit card number is you wouldnt answer and same goes for internet...
Ghaith said:
Qwaider
Thanks man! :D
We do share a lot of stuff in the cores of our minds you know :)
Jano & Khalidah
Sorry if my post made you uncomfortable in any way, I didn’t mean to point out that you did something wrong or anything! I kinda felt guilty when I read your posts because I of all people know the risks of publishing personal information on the Internet and I didn’t do anything to stop that tag.
Anyway, I think you’re still missing the point here! Listing what’s inside your bag is wrong whether or not it’s stuff that all people carry around! It might not be “that much” dangerous to mention that you keep your mobile and few books in your handbag, but it is certainly risky to say that you carry a K750i and list the books you carry around, and worse of all: provide a picture for the bag’s contents giving people every single detail they need to know! :S
Those details can be used to trick you, your friends, or your family to steal one of your stuff, or even steal your whole bag (la sama7allah). Giving personal information at this level is far beyond the safety limit, I hope you understand :)
Devil’s Mind
Yeah, that’s why I said that “most” tags violate the privacy laws!
Actually there are tags that do not aim at extracting personal information about the blogger, but rather focus on other points, just like Abed’s Tag. Answering those tags won’t be of any harm, though one has to keep an open eye on what he/she is saying, just like you said.
However, I disagree on your second point; people have to be more careful on the Internet because the “audience” here is countless.
In real life, you usually speak to one, two, or a group of people; you don’t usually speak to a “crowd”. In most cases you have some kind of an idea about the people receiving the information, and you can thus decide the level of privacy that would protect you.
On the Internet, though, you can never estimate the size of your audience, nor can you see where the information is going. Thus it is advised to keep a more open eye on the Internet!!
Lubna said:
good point Ghaith
Ora said:
Hum... looks like somebody watched "Conspiracy Theory " Yesterday!
Ghaith said:
Lubna Thanks!
Ora La walla 7deret “The Sentinel” oo “Slither”, elhom 3alaqa? :P
Abed. Hamdan said:
Ok Ghaith,
I think I'll 100% contradicts you :)
From a geeky point of view, If I want to bust someone's ass, so her/his IP address is enough for me. I don't really need to know what did she/he eat yesterday to be posted thro tag :)
I agree, that sharing personal pics is dangerous, but not that dangerous. It could be used on unpleasant sites, but so what ??
And, what's so dangerous about sharing what's in the bag ??
If I want to steal from someone, ok, I previously know that she carrys money in her bag, I don't need to wait her to blog about it.
There's, of course, a limit on what we should share, but from a geeky point of view, tracking a user through the internet doesn't need personal information to be posted, Geeky ways don't depend on personal information.
Those tags are annoying, but not dangerous, I beleive. :)
Ghaith said:
Abed.
I wasn’t talking at all about busting people or causing them harm through the Internet!
My point was: personal information made available through the Internet can be used to cause people harm in real life :)
Of course if it was only about the Internet the whole subject would be different; we won’t have much to be afraid for in the first place :D
I also wasn’t talking strictly about stealing, nor about bags! Publishing what’s inside your bag can be taken advantage of to steal your bag contents, your bag, or even other non-related belongings. It can also harm you in ways other than stealing, maybe fool you, trick you into something, or else …
The golden rule is: you don’t think “How can the wolves hunt me”; you only don’t stand where wolves can get you!
u know who this is said:
There r also people who screw u just for the heck of it. U c..... to me screwing people -no pun intended- is basically the most fun anyone can get without being forced to cuddle afterwards...
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